Car Was Unwillingly Towed Away. Questions Regarding Possible Towing Methods.
 

Hi,

My 6MT BRZ was towed away without my knowledge, and I'm worried that the drive train could be damaged if it was improperly towed.

The car was parked with the rear against a wall, in neutral with E-brake engaged. Is there any possible methods of towing that would cause damage to the car? What should I look for upon picking it up?

Thanks in advance.

I had my car towed by the NYPD with it being in the same position and with the e-brake engaged.

When they tow the front wheels, they'll realize it's RWD, pull it out so they can get it from the back and then they'll tow it from the other end. There was no damage anywhere on the car or with the tires. ie the car wasn't dragged. Not only is it going to damage your car, but it's harder to move like that so I'd highly doubt they'd tow it by the front wheels.

But that's the proper way. Who knows how your car could have been towed.

Appreciate your input, I will question their method of towing as well as inspect for tire/body damage.

They'd figure out pretty quickly that the handbrake was engaged if they tried to drag it by the front wheels only. More likely since they weren't able to access the driven wheels, they would have jacked the car up and put the rear wheels on dollies, then towed if with the front wheels, so you should also inspect the side skirts, pinch rails, rear diff, and any other point that could lift the car for evidence of the car being raised carelessly.

I owned a Dodge Magnum that was RWD. The automatic shift knob got stuck in park. The towed it out of my driveway and about 15miles to the dealership by the front wheels (car was in park remind you). Even after I said they needed a flat bed to get it. I got rid of the car, assuming they F-ed up the transmission.

ive seen a driver work with quick precision yanking a car out of a space that was illegally parked (i presume, or repo'd). FWD with rear to driving lane. lowered the boom, grabbed rear wheels and dragged it out for about 25 feet against the parking gear of transmission until he could get the correct position on the free wheels to finish the job. all in about a minute give or take.

EDIT: even then I believe those drivers have slim jims or similar device/ methods to get door open to manually manipulate whatever inside to get a pair of wheels free to tow. not sure the legality of circumstances of entering a locked vehicle is, but im sure they've done it before.

This ^


The problem is that if it was towed for illegal parking the truck driver doesn't care one bit about damage since he is not libel for any damage.

Look for damage around the driver's side window or evidence your window isn't rolling up and down properly. They'll often use a pry bar to pull the window out a little, then hammer a wedge into that gap to pry the window open further so they can get to the interior lock controls to release the brake and put the vehicle in neutral. They're supposed to use plastic tools for that to prevent damage to the paint, but the metal and paint on our cars is so fragile I wouldn't expect that to make much of a difference.

I used to live in an apartment building around the block from the main strip in Nashville. We had signs plastered at the entrance to our parking lot, every ten feet along the fence and on posts in the center warning people not to park there without a permit. The stupid hillbillies would park there anyway. Every Friday and Saturday night the towing company would make the rounds pulling out every vehicle that didn't have a hangtag. Sometimes they would pick up the end of the car that was available to them, drag it out into the lane and then either grab the locked end or pull it up onto a rollback. They never dragged one beyond the parking lot with locked wheels touching the ground, though.

Why was your car towed?

Why was your car towed? Any update?

Things must work differently up there then. Here, tow truck drivers are responsible for any damage resulting from improper towing regardless of the reason they hooked up to the car, and they carry insurance that will cover them for it.

If they saw the Subaru badge, I wouldn't be surprised if they put it on a flatbed. Not everyone knows it's RWD.

No doubt the rules are different in all sorts of places. They would only be responsible for willful neglect here when towing for illegal parking. That means if any damage is caused through pulling the car out of a space while using "normal" practices they are not responsible. Say they hook up too the proper points on the frame too pull the car and the chain slips and pulls off the bumper. They are not libel for that as it was not willful. If they took a hammer and smashed the window, wrapped the chain around the B pillar and pulled the car then they would be libel since it is now willful and not an accepted practice. Now, I need to be clear that these are the rules for towing illegally parked cars. For normal customer contracted towing they are indeed responsible no matter what and do carry insurance for any damage they cause.
I worked for a parking enforcement towing company for about two weeks when I got out of the Army. I couldn't do it anymore since they were shady as hell and I felt bad when they were scamming people instead of just doing the legit jobs.

*liable

Maybe I meant that they were saying bad things about the car!

Did a little checking and they're responsible to exercise "due care to prevent foreseeable harm". With that in mind, being too fucking lazy to do something as simple as looking up the car's wheel drive before hooking up to it incorrectly is negligent to that. Why they hooked up (customer vs. towing infraction) makes no difference.


At least that's how it is here. The owner would still have to have documented proof of damage (mechanic inspection or similar) and the tow company's insurance would probably deny liability, leaving liability on the company itself. Then the company would probably try to deny liability and stonewall, hoping that the driver wouldn't know enough to take them to small claims court, where they would lose.

at my apartment, they flatbed all cars. It means the towing charge is more, but it does mean that if my car ever gets towed, I'm not fucked.

A tow truck driver unwittingly helped me get my '16 FR-S written off by towing it by the front wheels with no dolly. My insurance company then went after him for the cost of the driveline.

The difference here is that towing for parking enforcement and towing for a customer are covered by two totally different sets of legislation and requirements. One is in place to protect the parking industry and those that tow for it (both almost criminal activities in my experience) and the other to protect the consumer paying for a service.

Tow truck drivers are generally pretty knowledgeable about which wheels drive the car and will tow a car properly. They are liable for any damage to the car done as result of towing it. If they knew what they were doing they would have towed it with the rear wheels off the ground at least. Most Subaru's are awd or 4x4, so I wouldn't be surprised if they just put it on a flatbed.

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So, @tian105 whatever happened last September? Any damage?