Finding your car after it has been towed can be stressful. You may need your vehicle to do some important things or you’re just worried about how much it will cost to get your car back.
To complicate matters further, some tow companies have extortionate rates and their fees can skyrocket if you don’t pay up on time to get your vehicle back. So, what happens if your car gets towed and you don’t pick it up?
When your car gets towed and you don’t pick it up, the storage fee that is charged by the impound lot will keep accumulating and if you leave it for too long (35- 40 days), the car can be scrapped or it can be sold off in an auction by the lot owner.
Can Your Car Get Towed?
Yes, your car can be towed with or without your permission and with or without warning, depending on the law you and your car brake. In some cities, tow trucks can even drop off cars at the curb before they’re even parked.
Who Can Tow Your Car?
If you have parked your car on public property or maybe the car wasn’t properly parked or was parked unlawfully, a police officer or other law enforcement officials (parking warden) can authorize the towing of such vehicles.
However, the operator of the tow truck needs to follow certain rules and the most important one is that a vehicle can only be towed away by a tow truck driver if “tow authority” has been given and completed.
The city or county where you live may have its own rules about who can and cannot tow your vehicle. For example, some cities require that all vehicles towed from private property must be moved within 24 hours unless it is an emergency such as fire or flood damage.
However, some other cities allow up to seven days before requiring one of these restrictions to be met (this could affect what type of vehicle gets towed).
In addition to local laws about who can remove your car from public roads or private property, there are also state-level regulations about how long tow trucks must wait until they arrive at their destination. This also involves whether you should get a warning or not before your car is towed.
The state-level regulations are also about how long tow trucks must wait before taking action against someone who has illegally parked on another person’s land without permission.
What Happens if Your Car Gets Towed and You Don’t Pick It Up?
Here’s what happens if your car gets towed and you don’t pick it up:
1. The Storage Fees will Accumulate
When your car gets towed, you’ll incur fees for the towing service itself and storage of your vehicle at the towing company’s facility. These fees can add up quickly, as many companies charge both a towing fee and a daily storage fee.
Therefore, if you don’t retrieve your vehicle from impound as soon as possible, these fees will continue to accrue, until you go to claim the car.
This is to say that, the more you leave the car in the impound lot storage house, the more the fees accumulate. So the earlier you pick your car, the better.
2. It May Lead to Legal Action Against You
Towing companies have legal rights to collect fees for their services. If you fail to pay the fees within a certain timeframe, which can vary depending on local regulations, the towing company may take legal action to claim ownership of your vehicle.
This process usually involves sending notices to the registered owner of the vehicle, informing them of the outstanding fees and the consequences of non-payment.
If you still don’t respond or pay the fees, the towing company may proceed with legal actions such as placing a lien on the vehicle or initiating a process to sell it at auction.
3. You Risk Damaging Your Vehicle
During the towing process and while your vehicle is stored at the towing company’s facility, there’s a risk of damage to your vehicle or loss of any personal belongings left inside.
Towing companies are generally not responsible for any damage to your vehicle unless it occurs due to negligence on their part.
Furthermore, depending on your country of residence, some towing companies may not be liable for any personal belongings left in the vehicle.
So it’s important to remove valuables before the towing occurs, and if there are valuable items in the car before it was towed, you can request to retrieve them from the towing company.
4. It Might Affect Your Credit Score
If you fail to pay the towing and storage fees, the towing company may report the unpaid debt to credit agencies, This can result in negative marks on your credit report, which can affect your credit score and make it more difficult to obtain credit in the future.
How Long Before You Can Pick Up Your Towed Car?
How long before you can pick up your vehicle depends on the state. In some states, it can take just a few days to get the vehicle back from the impound yard while in others, it could take weeks or even months.
In most cases, you can pick up your vehicle the same day it was towed as long as you have rectified what went wrong so that the storage fee doesn’t accumulate.
For example, if your vehicle was towed because of unpaid parking tickets, once you have paid your parking ticket fees, you can go and pick up your vehicle from the impound lot.
How Long Before a Tow Company Sells Your Car?
It depends on how much your car is worth at that point
Towing companies want to make sure that they’re getting fair value for their services and will generally sell cars at whatever price they think makes sense for them based on their market analysis and experience with similar transactions.
In most cities and states, impounded vehicles can be held in storage at impound lots between a minimum of 30 days and a maximum of 40 days after which the owner of the impound lot has the right to auction the vehicle so that the storage fees are paid up.
For vehicles that are not in good condition and cannot be sold, they would be sold for scraps and if after scrapping the vehicle, the money gotten doesn’t cover all the storage fees, the company or owner of the impound lot can try to take you to court just to get the balance.
What Should I Do If My Car is Towed?
If you’re towed, it’s important to know what happens next. The first thing that should come to your mind is calling the police. A lot of people think this is a good idea, but there are some things to consider first:
Call the police and ask them for information about your vehicle. They may be able to help you get it back without having to pay for another tow truck ride or storage fees (if you live in an area where companies aren’t allowed).
In case your car has been towed illegally, call the police on their non-emergency line and tell them what happened so they can investigate further.
You might also want to file a report with local law enforcement agencies after speaking with an officer so that they can review surveillance footage from cameras located around the area.
Conclusion
It’s best to avoid getting your car towed because as reiterated earlier, getting back your car after it has been towed is very stressful, time-consuming, and can be expensive. Pay up all ticket fees, do not park illegally, and be very cautious when parking your vehicle to avoid getting towed.