QuestionQUESTION: Hi,
My grandparents' car got towed from the street on Dec. 29,2009 because of expired sticker registration. Today, Jan. 5, 2010, 8 days later, I tried to get the car from the towing company and they are charging is $645. It took me awhile to get the release paper from the police station because the car registration was suspended. The DMV was close for a three day weekend and it takes two days to clear the suspension. Anyway, the towing company said to get the 95 Toyota Camry is $645 because $175 for towing service, $70 lien sale fee and $400 for storage fee(50 times 8 days=$400). My grandparents couldn't afford to pay for the fees, they're both retired and they have a fixed income. We tried to bargain but they said they can't lower the price. Since, we don't have that amount of money, we decided to leave the car. Pretty much giving the car away. The problem is and my question is that the towing company said there are still going to be fees to be charge later on to the registered owner if you leave the car. The towing company said "if you leave the car, they have to keep the car for 45 days before they can sell it and while the car is there, it is being charge lien sale fee for $70 a day, the towing company said that's $2000 fee. If the car is sold for less than $2000, then the difference is going to get charge to the registered owner. For example, the fee is $2000- $1000(amount the car is sold)=$1000,this amount will be charge to my grandparents. Is this right?? We already surrendered the car to them. In addition, the towing company said, "in order to not get charged like that, you give us the pink slip and pay $375." I replied, " We're already giving you the car and you want us to give you the pink slip and pay you $375?," and they answered, "Yeah." Isn't this a rip off? We left the car there because we can not afford it. $645+170( release car from police station)= $815 not included the registration fee from the DMV.
ANSWER: What state are you in?
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QUESTION: California, la county.
ANSWER: Unfortunately California is one of the states that allows towing companies to charge for these ridiculous charges. You best bet is to try to bargain with the towing company before it gets to that point. You can research the California on line through the DMV web site. They do have requirements for amount the can charge, disposition of unclaimed vehicles, etc.
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QUESTION: We went back to the Towing company and decided to get the car and pay the total fee of $695. The lady that helped us yesterday is the same lady that helped us today. She did the paper work and gave is the receipt. When they pulled up the car in the front lot. My dad said he would not be able to drive the car because the tire is popped. We told the lady the tIre is popped and we also told her that the car was in good condition the last time we saw it. We know it's good condition that's why we looked for money and came back for the car. She said she can't check the paper work until the time between 4-5pm because she already dropped the paper work in the safe box. So, she wouldn't be able to check to see if the car was in good condition when they towed it. We got that. We will come back around 4-5pm but we asked her if we can leave the car until then because we can't drive it because of popped tire, and she replied that to leave the car, we're going to have to pay for another $50. We asked her what we should do because we don't want to pay for another $50. Then she said they can tow the 92 camry back to where it got picked up for a fee. We told her that we don't want that because we are trying to avoid anymore fees to pay because we have no more money. We argued that we're going to have to leave the car and not pay fees because it is not our fault that she can not check the paper work. Then, she complained that we were giving her a hard time since yesterday. We replied that she has been the one giving us a hard time. She tells us to come back again this afternoon because she has no access to their paper work and she complains that we are the one giving her a hard time. She's not the one missing work, school, looking for drivers to drive us,dealing with a car fees and now, a car with popped tire. Moreover, the guy, her coworker stepped up and tried to help us and told us that we can leave the car there until 4-5pm and we will not get charge unless we leave it for another day. We said "No, we're not gonna leave the car for another day, we're going to come back at 4-5pm." My grandma complained about the lady's attitude that she should have been courteous and patient because she's doing customer service, and the guy apologized.
We came back at 4:30pm and the guy said the boss is not there yet to open the safe box and he said that we can leave the car there until tomorrow with no fee. Hopefully, there's no fee that'll get charge.
AnswerIf the tire was not damaged before it was towed then the towing company is responsible for the damage. A simple flat would be different since it may have picked up a nail or something. If the tire has been damaged I would try to document that. You may need to contact the State Attorney General or the towing company's insurance company. There are several web sites dedicated to predatory towing where you can ask attorneys on line when you encounter problems with towing companies.
