do you have to pay the towing company if you don't want the car anymore?

[alphatarget1]

A friend's car got towed from her apartment complex because it had a flat tire. She does want to retrieve some stuff though... Any ideas?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Well, you can either pony up to get the stuff, or not. You could try calling the towing company, but don't expect that to go over well.

How bad of a car is it that even with the likely outrageous and questionable legality of the cost of getting it out is worth abandoning it?

 

[IcePickFreak]

Call the towing company and ask? I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time they've been asked, and I'm sure it happens quite often where the people never even contact them. They have enough connections in the scrap business to get their money back out of the car if she doesn't want it. She can probably sign off on it so they can get rid of it right away instead of being legally obligated to park it indefinitely, in which case I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let you get any personal effects out of it.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Looking around, it looks like the towing company gets a lien against the car. That doesn't count the personal possessions inside.

But for a flat tire in her own apartment complex, I think it's iffy that the tow was legal in the first place unless there's a condition in her lease specifying something like that cars must be kept in good repair.

 

[zerocool84]

Looking around, it looks like the towing company gets a lien against the car. That doesn't count the personal possessions inside.

But for a flat tire in her own apartment complex, I think it's iffy that the tow was legal in the first place unless there's a condition in her lease specifying something like that cars must be kept in good repair.

It bet it wasn't the lease company that towed it, it was the apartment manager. For all we know the car was sitting for a long time until the manager called to get it towed.

 

[DominionSeraph]

It bet it wasn't the lease company that towed it

I was talking about the lease on her apartment.

Parking privilege for the resident should come with the apartment. If there aren't exceptions spelled out that she was in violation of, they can't just declare that it's there without authorization.
And there may be signage requirements that have to be met before a car can be legally towed, too. (Some states require a sign saying "Unauthorized vehicles will be towed owner's expense," before the owner of a private lot is allowed to tow without notifying the vehicle's owner)

 

[Rifter]

I dispatch for a towing company, it is VERY UNLIKELY that they will allow you access to the vehicle untill the bill is paid as thats the only leverage they have against you to pay the bill, if the car is a POS they know you arnt going to want to pay the bill and get the car back.

Trust me they dont want it sitting in there yard taking up space for 90 days, thats how long it take to get a scrap order in BC canada anyways so they can legally scrap the car. It takes alot longer(120-150 days) to get legal rights to sell the vehicle and also costs alot more in admin fees but if its a POS and not worth more than $2000 they will most likely just get a scrap order.

As for the legality of having it towed 95% of strata's/property management companies around here have something in the lease/renters agreement about the vehicles parked on the property being in good condition/driveable(no eyesores as it reduces propery value) and also having valid insurance. All they need to do to get it towed in my city to follow the bylaws is to have our company signs posted(they have our company name, lot location and say unauthorized vehicles will be towed at owners expense) for 24 hours or more before they can legally start towing.

 

[boomhower]

Call the towing company and ask? I'm sure it wouldn't be the first time they've been asked, and I'm sure it happens quite often where the people never even contact them. They have enough connections in the scrap business to get their money back out of the car if she doesn't want it. She can probably sign off on it so they can get rid of it right away instead of being legally obligated to park it indefinitely, in which case I'm sure they'd be more than happy to let you get any personal effects out of it.

They don't have to keep it indefinetly, most places it's 30 days and it's theirs, some places its longer.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I dispatch for a towing company, it is VERY UNLIKELY that they will allow you access to the vehicle untill the bill is paid as thats the only leverage they have against you to pay the bill, if the car is a POS they know you arnt going to want to pay the bill and get the car back.

In the US they'd have to give you access to the contents unless the law gives them a lien against the contents as well. (A google search shows Oregon law does under a most conditions. But it also specifically exempts contents under others.)

 

[Rifter]

In the US they'd have to give you access to the contents unless the law gives them a lien against the contents as well. (A google search shows Oregon law does under a most conditions. But it also specifically exempts contents under others.)

I did not know the OP was in oregon. And thats pretty stupid if they have to give you access they would end up with alot of unpaid bills, i know we would if we had to allow owner to access before the bill was paid.

 

[slashbinslashbash]

I did not know the OP was in oregon. And thats pretty stupid if they have to give you access they would end up with alot of unpaid bills, i know we would if we had to allow owner to access before the bill was paid.

What, how much does it cost to tow a car up in Vancouver, BC? More than a couple hundred bucks? And you couldn't make that up and possibly more, selling it as scrap? I've known tow places to to scrap cars for free -- presumably they make enough off of the scrap to cover their costs, and to make a profit.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I did not know the OP was in oregon. And thats pretty stupid if they have to give you access they would end up with alot of unpaid bills, i know we would if we had to allow owner to access before the bill was paid.

I was just mentioning Oregon as what came up on a generic google search. I'm not going to search all 50 states individually to give a rundown on exactly what conditions in exactly what states will a lien be granted against the contents of a towed vehicle.

And why would the bills go unpaid? Under what conditions are the contents of a vehicle so shit that it's going to be abandoned going to be worth anything?

 

[Rifter]

What, how much does it cost to tow a car up in Vancouver, BC? More than a couple hundred bucks? And you couldn't make that up and possibly more, selling it as scrap? I've known tow places to to scrap cars for free -- presumably they make enough off of the scrap to cover their costs, and to make a profit.

Depending on the weight of the car and the current metal prices it will fetch between $200(small car) to $500(full size dsl 4x4 pickup) in scrap. The tow bill into the yard is usually $150. So if its a small car we will usually end up losing money, since we also have to pay a driver to tow it out to the scrap yard and all of our drivers are commision based, no salary company drivers.

 

[Rifter]

I was just mentioning Oregon as what came up on a generic google search. I'm not going to search all 50 states individually to give a rundown on exactly what conditions in exactly what states will a lien be granted against the contents of a towed vehicle.

And why would the bills go unpaid? Under what conditions are the contents of a vehicle so shit that it's going to be abandoned going to be worth anything?

The bills go unpaid when a strata/property management company has a old crappy car towed out of there property to our yard thats worth less than $300, i mean think about it if you owned a car that was worth less than $300 would you pay $150 to get it out of the impound or just say screw it and buy another crappy $200-300 car. But if you had personal effects/stereo/cell phone etc in the car that you want then you would be much more likely to pay, which is how we leverage people into paying the tow bill.

 

[kornphlake]

No offense to those who have responded previously, but towing companies are run by crooks. I can almost guarantee anything inside the vehicle of any value has been removed. At least that's what has happened in every case I'm aware of where the value of the vehicle was less than or even close to the towing bill. The tow truck driver assumes you aren't going to come pick up the vehicle so he grabs the stereo and anything else that might be worth something before he even delivers it to the impound lot. The impound lot of course says that the vehicle was delivered without a stereo so they're not responsible for it missing when you come to claim it.

There's not much difference between theft under legal circumstances and theft under illegal circumstances, it's the same crook driving the truck either way.

 

[Zargon]

I was just mentioning Oregon as what came up on a generic google search. I'm not going to search all 50 states individually to give a rundown on exactly what conditions in exactly what states will a lien be granted against the contents of a towed vehicle.

And why would the bills go unpaid? Under what conditions are the contents of a vehicle so shit that it's going to be abandoned going to be worth anything?

people leave cars there all the time..........

no idea if they can legally lock you out

I think the poster above me is a bit overboard, but I did have a VERY nice suede leather jacket stolen from my trunk at a tow yard once, I was pissed

another asshold jacked my car door trying to slimjim it so he could tow it w/o a flatbed, which btw is illegal in my state

 

[slashbinslashbash]

Depending on the weight of the car and the current metal prices it will fetch between $200(small car) to $500(full size dsl 4x4 pickup) in scrap. The tow bill into the yard is usually $150. So if its a small car we will usually end up losing money, since we also have to pay a driver to tow it out to the scrap yard and all of our drivers are commision based, no salary company drivers.

Just because the tow bill is $150, doesn't mean that it costs $150 for the tow. Between fuel and the driver's time, unless the situation is really unusual (long distance haul, or the vehicle is hard to reach/extract), I would guess $50 a tow is more reasonable. The rest is profit/overhead to the company or driver. I don't have a problem with that (I acknowledge that the "retail price" of $150 reflects a lot of hidden expenses, and every company deserves a reasonable profit margin) but the company itself should know that its actual costs, per tow, are a lot lower.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The bills go unpaid when a strata/property management company has a old crappy car towed out of there property to our yard thats worth less than $300, i mean think about it if you owned a car that was worth less than $300 would you pay $150 to get it out of the impound or just say screw it and buy another crappy $200-300 car. But if you had personal effects/stereo/cell phone etc in the car that you want then you would be much more likely to pay, which is how we leverage people into paying the tow bill.

leverage = blackmail.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

people leave cars there all the time..........

no idea if they can legally lock you out

I think the poster above me is a bit overboard, but I did have a VERY nice suede leather jacket stolen from my trunk at a tow yard once, I was pissed

another asshold jacked my car door trying to slimjim it so he could tow it w/o a flatbed, which btw is illegal in my state

I've raked people at tow lots over the coals on several occasions. They are all shiesters and crooks. The whole profession exists because people in property management are a bunch of pussies that are afraid to say anything to their tenants and just have the car towe instead of talk to the tenant about it. Had a friend have his car towed for the same reason, it had a slow leak, and went flat over night. We went to get a new tire and they towed it when we left.
Had another guy have his truck broken into by the tow driver and he took the parking permit off the window and shoved it in the glove box, closed it up took pics of the truck "proving" no permit and towed it, and scratched it in the process.
Tow truck drivers that help you take a broken down vehicle to a service station or such are fine. The ones that grab and go and legally extort money out of you, can all fucking die.

 

[simonizor]

I've raked people at tow lots over the coals on several occasions. They are all shiesters and crooks. The whole profession exists because people in property management are a bunch of pussies that are afraid to say anything to their tenants and just have the car towe instead of talk to the tenant about it. Had a friend have his car towed for the same reason, it had a slow leak, and went flat over night. We went to get a new tire and they towed it when we left.
Had another guy have his truck broken into by the tow driver and he took the parking permit off the window and shoved it in the glove box, closed it up took pics of the truck "proving" no permit and towed it, and scratched it in the process.
Tow truck drivers that help you take a broken down vehicle to a service station or such are fine. The ones that grab and go and legally extort money out of you, can all fucking die.

I agree. I think that the only time that a vehicle should be allowed to be towed is if the police tow it. The police should then own the towing company and the lot that the cars are kept in. Giving the average joe the ability to go around and tow people's vehicles is just asking for trouble.

 

[DominionSeraph]

But if you had personal effects/stereo/cell phone etc in the car that you want then you would be much more likely to pay, which is how we leverage people into paying the tow bill.

And this is why I'm glad I'm an American.

 

[Rifter]

And this is why I'm glad I'm an American.

Im not saying I agree with it, but the way i look at it is it your own fault anyways. Our company does not patrol, if we impound your car the only way it is going to happen is if your strata/property management company calls us to do it. Or the police call us to do it. So as long as you follow your strata rules and the law then we will never end up with your car.

 

[Rifter]

Just because the tow bill is $150, doesn't mean that it costs $150 for the tow. Between fuel and the driver's time, unless the situation is really unusual (long distance haul, or the vehicle is hard to reach/extract), I would guess $50 a tow is more reasonable. The rest is profit/overhead to the company or driver. I don't have a problem with that (I acknowledge that the "retail price" of $150 reflects a lot of hidden expenses, and every company deserves a reasonable profit margin) but the company itself should know that its actual costs, per tow, are a lot lower.

This is true, the actual cost to the company is not $150, but if its one of the owner operator trucks that does the tow there commision is around %70, so the actual cost is still $100. A driver driving a company truck is only making %30 but then you have fuel and maint cost to consider, actual cost to company for company truck would probably be around $50-60.

 

[Rifter]

No offense to those who have responded previously, but towing companies are run by crooks. I can almost guarantee anything inside the vehicle of any value has been removed. At least that's what has happened in every case I'm aware of where the value of the vehicle was less than or even close to the towing bill. The tow truck driver assumes you aren't going to come pick up the vehicle so he grabs the stereo and anything else that might be worth something before he even delivers it to the impound lot. The impound lot of course says that the vehicle was delivered without a stereo so they're not responsible for it missing when you come to claim it.

There's not much difference between theft under legal circumstances and theft under illegal circumstances, it's the same crook driving the truck either way.

Alot of tow companies are like this i agree, i can name 5 off the top of my head just within 30 miles of where im sitting right now that will rip you off every way they can think of. You really have to know who to call to get a honest tow truck.

However you are going to have at least one good tow company in each city, around here anyways. The reason we have the police/city contact is because all the othet tow companies did rip people off and the police recieved tons of complaints, so the police pulled the contract from them. And since the police contract is 70% of our business its definatly in out best intest to be honest and not rip people off/steal from them because if the police start getting alot of complaints about us then we will lose the contract like the other companies before us did. And we would probably go out of business if we lost that contract, good thing for us we are known as a honest company and have had the contract for over 8 years now.