Can you tow a car with all wheel drive left in park.

[RockinZ28]

Sometimes you won't even know you are parking illegally.

I got a parking ticket a couple weeks ago. I parked on a residential street overnight, but as it turns out, a city to which I have never been to in my life, has a city wide law that states a vehicle cannot be parked for more than 30 minutes on a street between 2am and 6am without a permit.

And of course there are no signs on the street warning you of this law, guess it's just to tax unsuspecting visitors.

 

[LTC8K6]

You can be in your own driveway and still be parked illegally...

 

[Pacfanweb]

That is effed up... and there is no room to argue with them either, after all they have your car.

Yep....I walked past a truck that had swooped in and hooked up to some lady's car....she had pulled into the fire lane so her elderly Mom could get in the car.....she apparently got out, was helping her Mom out of the store that she parked right in front of, and the scumbag tow driver backed in and got her car with the wheel lift.

She confronted him, and as I walked past he was saying "I've hooked up to it, it's 75 bucks to get it down".

Apparently that had been going on for a few minutes, because as I was getting into my car a cop arrived that had evidently been called. I looked back as I left the lot and a saw the car being let down from the lift....hopefully for no charge.

This kind of stuff used to happen all the time around here.

 

[alkemyst]

I'm sure that nobody has any idea what you just said there, since it makes zero sense.......


But, nobody who illegally parks and gets towed is asking for a "free ride"...whatever that means. They DO, however, ask that they just pay the tow bill (which is typically outrageous) and have their car returned in the same working order and condition it was to begin with.

Again, parking where you're not supposed to might either get you a ticket or get you towed....it should NOT get your car damaged.

*sigh* let me explain better for you to understand.

First, there is probably a good reason why it was illegal for one to park where they did.

Second, if you are parked illegally the number one thing to do is remove the car as QUICKLY as possible. This isn't going to be some geek engineering game. Hook up and move out.

So as I said, if you are too fucking clueless to know where to park, go see a valet and have them park you. If you are not where valets are, make sure you are parking in a parking spot that is clearly marked as such.

This whole new thing of people double parking to 'just run in' or 'to load a vehicle' is bullshit. If you need a 'loading zone' the store usually will have one, if not it's called carrying your fucking groceries back to your car.

In the end it's not up to the tow company to assure your car is damage free in a tow. My vehicle takes a special type of truck showing up and usually long ass boards to get it on. If I am parked illegally chances are I am going to be looking at both bumpers damaged and probably exhaust damage as well.

I am not going to go cry on some forum or to a lawyer over it. It would be my fault for being a fucking idiot and not knowing where to park.

 

[Fenixgoon]

now here's a question i always wondered.... let's say you park some place and however many minutes later you go back to your car and it is gone (it has been towed but you don't know that)

how do you know that your car has been towed as opposed to stolen?

 

[alkemyst]

look for the sign in the lot for the towing company or ask inside the nearest business.

Down here they have to be posted.

 

[Raduque]

So, are they at fault for this if they ruin it?

Please, the car could come off the towtruck, be hit by a semi and thrown off an overpass and the tow company wouldn't claim responsibility.

 

[LTC8K6]

In the end it's not up to the tow company to assure your car is damage free in a tow.

Yes, I believe it is. It is up to the tow operator to know how to properly tow most common vehicles. AWD is very common, and tow operators must encounter it a lot.

Tow operators have insurance to cover damage they may do to a towed vehicle.

They are entirely responsible for it.

Getting them to pay is another thing entirely.

 

[alkemyst]

Yes, I believe it is. It is up to the tow operator to know how to properly tow most common vehicles. AWD is very common, and tow operators must encounter it a lot.

Tow operators have insurance to cover damage they may do to a towed vehicle.

They are entirely responsible for it.

Getting them to pay is another thing entirely.

QFT...you must also prove they caused the damage. Just saying your wheel wasn't scuffed/etc prior to the tow is not going to be enough.

 

[yh125d]

QFT...you must also prove they caused the damage. Just saying your wheel wasn't scuffed/etc prior to the tow is not going to be enough.

You can say your transmission wasn't broken beforehand though

 

[Lifted]

This has happened to me, and I did not park illegally.

I was being towed due to filming, probably Law & Order, and my car was parked in the spot several days before they posted the signs that you could not park there on whatever day it was (probably only 1 days notice).

First surprise when going to get the car was obviously a big

"WTF, somebody stole that POS!?"

After looking all over because I'd routinely get home late and forget where I parked, I went to the police station to file a report. They told me it came up as being towed to whatever location a few blocks away due to filming.

Anyway, this was an old beater Subaru GL that happened to be engaged in AWD at the time. The tow messed something up, and I had to go downtown and fight with someone, somewhere, about getting reimbursed for the damage. She told me I need an estimate, so I went to my local mechanic, had him write me an estimate to fix EVERY FUCKING THING that was wrong with the engine and drive-train, then gave it to her and told her you can pay me this or buy the car (probably about $2,500 - $3,000 kbb at the time - so I made sure the damages were about the same).

Anyway, since she's a civil service employee and didn't really give a shit about giving out city money, she approved it, I got my check to "repair" it, sold the POS for $1,500 or $2,000 and used the money as a down payment for a 3 year old Maxima, 97 I think.

All in all, I was very thankful that the Subaru had AWD and that I was somehow able to parallel park with it engaged. :awe:

 

[alkemyst]

You can say your transmission wasn't broken beforehand though

You can, but you have to prove that in court should you end up there.

This is where it's problematic. Still I don't think any penalty should be in place for damage resulting after one parks illegally.

I am all for stiffer punishment for this kind of thing. Last weekend someone left their Expedition in the middle of a parking lane (between the spots left and right of it)...I was behind them for about 1 min thinking they were waiting for a space, but couldn't go anywhere because others were behind me. Security was there calling for a tow, others were pissed trying to get out of their spaces.

They strolled out with three carts full of stuff. I don't know how long others were waiting. The asshats just leisurely loaded it up, one even stopped to take a phone call.

If my wife wasn't with me I'd have been out of my car helping them do the right thing.

 

[Fenixgoon]

You can, but you have to prove that in court should you end up there.

This is where it's problematic. Still I don't think any penalty should be in place for damage resulting after one parks illegally.

I am all for stiffer punishment for this kind of thing. Last weekend someone left their Expedition in the middle of a parking lane (between the spots left and right of it)...I was behind them for about 1 min thinking they were waiting for a space, but couldn't go anywhere because others were behind me. Security was there calling for a tow, others were pissed trying to get out of their spaces.

They strolled out with three carts full of stuff. I don't know how long others were waiting. The asshats just leisurely loaded it up, one even stopped to take a phone call.

If my wife wasn't with me I'd have been out of my car helping them do the right thing.

so how many transmissions do you know of that break in park while the car isn't running? :hmm:

 

[alkemyst]

so how many transmissions do you know of that break in park while the car isn't running? :hmm:

don't know why you quoted me...I am not fighting that battle.

 

[sandorski]

Lift one set of Wheels, Dolley the other.

A Tow Truck Driver can know when a Vehicle is AWD. They have Resources, but often know the possibility exists and take the safest route. Sometimes a Newb will fuck up though.

 

[soydios]

They have Resources, but often know the possibility exists and take the safest route. Sometimes a Newb will fuck up though.

They can always just, ya know, look under the car to see which wheels have driveshafts.

 

[abaez]

This is what always scared me about having a Subaru. Everyone can be all high and mighty about not parking where you aren't supposed to, but living in downtown l.a. with filming almost daily and predatory towing with all the lots here I kind of freak out about it. Luckily it hasn't happened yet.

 

[Rifter]

I dispatch for a tow truck company so figured i would chime in. To answer the OP question no you cannot tow a AWD car with any wheels on the ground no matter what gear it is in, it either needs to be on a flat deck or on dollies.

As for figureing out of its AWD was that a serious question? just look for the driveshafts as mentioned above, its really obvious...

To answer the question about liability up here in canada anyways the tow operator is liable for any damage caused while in tow, and we carry a heavy insurance policy for that. As mentioned above though you will have to prove the damage which can be alot harder than you would think. I mean your tranny could have been on its way out for a long time, how do you prove the tow truck did it, unless you just got it inspected in the last week it can be near impossible to prove.

 

[EightySix Four]

I dispatch for a tow truck company so figured i would chime in. To answer the OP question no you cannot tow a AWD car with any wheels on the ground no matter what gear it is in, it either needs to be on a flat deck or on dollies.

As for figureing out of its AWD was that a serious question? just look for the driveshafts as mentioned above, its really obvious...

To answer the question about liability up here in canada anyways the tow operator is liable for any damage caused while in tow, and we carry a heavy insurance policy for that. As mentioned above though you will have to prove the damage which can be alot harder than you would think. I mean your tranny could have been on its way out for a long time, how do you prove the tow truck did it, unless you just got it inspected in the last week it can be near impossible to prove.

Say I have an AWD car. AWD car is at location A, and location A is not where I live. Tow truck comes by every day and tows the cars from location A. If the tow truck company picks up my car one day and does not use a flat bed, and my transmission and differentials are screwed, it's quite obvious it was not broken prior to the truck dragging it.

The car had to get to location A somehow, so quite obviously the tow truck did the damage.

 

[Rifter]

That could be true, or could not be. You also could have had another tow truck company/friend with a tow truck tow your car with a blown trans/diff to location A in the hopes of getting a damage clam from the tow truck company who towed it from location A. People have tried to do that to us before, 2,000-3,000 is alot of money if they can find a way out people will try it.

Of course if you had a credable witness that saw you drive it in to location A your case would be alot stronger. Like i said proving it can be hard, its made even harder because of the people who deliberatly try and make damage claims knowing it was previous damage at no fault to the operator. You would not believe what people will try and get away with, especially when they are pissed off because you towed there car for what they think is no reason.

 

[EightySix Four]

So, out of curiosity, what is a tow truck driver supposed to do when he is ill equipped to tow a specific vehicle for any reason? (too low, AWD, etc.)

 

[Rifter]

All our trucks have dollies so AWD is not a problem.

If it is to low for a wheel lift to get under the bumber there are 2 options. One if the driver is experianced enough he can jack up the car and use wood blocks to raise the car enough to load with a wheel lift, this would usually require dollies on the other end as to not drag the bumper since its that low. The other option would be to call out a flat deck to do the tow, 2 of our flatdecks are on airbags and can drop really low so that the angle is pretty small, designed for specialty cars, lambo's ferrari's etc. Works well on any lowered car. Could also use a normal flatdeck with lots of wood planks for ramps.

 

[EightySix Four]

All our trucks have dollies so AWD is not a problem.

If it is to low for a wheel lift to get under the bumber there are 2 options. One if the driver is experianced enough he can jack up the car and use wood blocks to raise the car enough to load with a wheel lift, this would usually require dollies on the other end as to not drag the bumper since its that low. The other option would be to call out a flat deck to do the tow, 2 of our flatdecks are on airbags and can drop really low so that the angle is pretty small, designed for specialty cars, lambo's ferrari's etc. Works well on any lowered car. Could also use a normal flatdeck with lots of wood planks for ramps.

Doesn't that take more work then it is worth for you guys?

 

[Rifter]

it is alot of work and we will charge accordingly for load and unload time. And if you are willing to pay we are willing to tow it, our motto is big and small we tow them all.

We also have the local police contract and when the cops call for a tow you kinda have to tow it, doesnt matter how low it is or even if it has wheels at all, its gotta go so we have the equipment on hand to make it happen.

Edit for really bad spelling

 

[EightySix Four]

it is alot of work and we will charge accordingly for load and unload time. And if you are willing to pay we are willing to tow it, our motto is big and small we tow them all.

We also have the local police contract and when the cops call for a tow you kinda have to tow it, doesn't matter how low it is or even if it has wheels at all, its gotta go so we have the equipment on hand to make it happen.

Edit for really bad spelling

Does that cost get passed on to whose car is getting towed for whatever reason?