Bus/RV insurance

[FlyingMonkey]

Just wondering what most people with buses converted & licensed as RVs are using for roadside insurance. I have my bus insured through my Auto insurance agent & I have been a Good Sam Club member (not an endorsement) in the past. My biggest fear is having a mechanical breakdown on the way to Burning Man with up to 9 people depending on me getting them there safely & on time.

I always make sure that it's as ready for the journey as I can but it's an older bus with over 100,000 miles so it's not inconceivable that something could happen.

While were at it, tell me your horror stories

[Elliot]

You rang, M'Lord?
(Elliot un-retires from ePlaya, ever so briefly.)

That tow truck was fairly new and cost $650,000.
In 2017, I made the October payment on it.
Wait... make that... Good Sam Roadside Assistance and I made that payment.

Good Sam Roadside Assistance paid the roughly One Grand to tow Millicent to the nearest town big enough to have a mechanic, and I paid about $10 a mile for the rest of the way to my house.

The annual premium is not peanuts, but this works like any insurance -- it bails you out if something happens that you cannot reasonably pay for all at once. And even if you could raise the money in a couple days, that will not impress the towing company. But when an outfit like Good Sam Roadside Assistance guarantees the bulk of the bill, they will light the boilers in that PeterBeast.

That's may experience from Millicent's breakdown on I-5.
How things might work for you on County Road 34 near the mega-metropolis of Gerlach... I cannot possibly guess at.

Be advised: Good Sam Roadside Assistance is completely separate from Good Sam Club membership.

The horror story?
The Cummins 5.9 diesel engine has an oil cooler that lives inside an opening in the block, in the engine's coolant (water) jacket. The cooler is essentially a small radiator -- tubes and fins. Heat is transferred from the engine oil to the engine coolant (water and antifreeze) and then from the engine radiator to the air.

The cooler sprang a leak. Thus... oil at 30 PSI pushed against coolant at 7 PSI, and oil won. The unholy mixture then poured out of the radiator overflow tube until the engine would run out of oil and morph into a flower planter box.

How I caught it in time.... Well, I suppose I simply am that good.

Safely home, I fabbed a test fixture and pressurized the cooler with air in a bucket of water.
Air bubbled out and showed me where the leak was.
$250 and a couple scraped knuckles later, Millicent was good as new.

In Dust We Trust.

[FlyingMonkey]

Thanks Elliot.
Great information as usual. I knew I could count on you. I was not aware that the roadside insurance was separate from just being a Good Sam member. That's really important.

Sorry to disturb your ePlaya (semi)retirement. I have kind of done the same.

[pappachuck]

and if actually rent a vehicle. Does the dealer insurance covers?

[FlyingMonkey]

and if actually rent a vehicle. Does the dealer insurance covers?

Ask the dealer specifically what is covered (get it in writing). I'd rather be over insured than have a rude awakening 1/2 way up a mountain on the way to the Burn.

I plan on having my normal insurance that I put on the bus & Good Sam Roadside Assistance. Overkill? Maybe but compared to all my other Burn related expenses I'll err on the side of caution & actually make it there. Breaking down on the way home......not as important, but I'll be covered.

[Molotov]

If you have any roadside assistance plan, read the fine print, and call the company if you don't understand it. If you break down or get hopelessly stuck on the playa, many plans won't cover you because the "vehicle was intentionally driven off road" or it was more than X number of feet from a paved highway.

However, as Elliot previously stated, they can be a lifesaver on the highway.

Caveat emptor.

[pappachuck]

So who covers whatever goes wrong on the Playa? In case something goes terribly wrong.

[Ratty]

Guess. Come on. Take a guess.

[Skuzzy61]

Guess. Come on. Take a guess.

ROFL! Atta girl Ratty!

[FlyingMonkey]

So who covers whatever goes wrong on the Playa? In case something goes terribly wrong.

Stand up, walk to the nearest bathroom. Look in the mirror & keep repeating that question until the person in the mirror answers. I'll give a hint....The answer is really radical.

Ok, I'm an asshole. But......

[FlyingMonkey]

So who covers whatever goes wrong on the Playa? In case something goes terribly wrong.

Stand up, walk to the nearest bathroom. Look in the mirror & keep repeating that question until the person in the mirror answers. I'll give a hint....The answer is really radical.

Ok, I'm an asshole. But......

Edit:

Ok, I my comment had zero value added. What ever isn't covered by your roadside insurance will have to come out of your pocket. I've seen many photos of RVs & buses sunk up to their axles in the Playa mud. I'm guessing those were costly mistakes if not covered. If you are really concerned about it ask specific questions to your insurer because no one here can accurately give you an answer.

Plan on having "unforeseen" expenses, try to not do anything stupid (like driving on wet Playa) and hope for the best. Some people get vacation insurance above and beyond their normal roadside. Maybe that's your answer.

You can't plan for everything so at some level you need to not worry about every "What if". That doesn't mean that you shouldn't plan for things like break-downs, getting stuck, getting sick.......