Towing Issues: Fees for towed car I no longer own., verifiable proof, transmission shop

Question
In February I transferred (on paper) title to my ex wife. She misplaced the title and did not go to the dmv to officially process it. Later the transmission went out and she had it towed to a shop. Because of how much it would cost to fix the car, the shop agreed to take the car, fix it and sell it. But she still couldn't find the title and she was very busy, the shop gave up and put it on the street. I just got a form in the mail from a towing company stating that they have the car, and I must pay $480 amnesty fee before Jan 6 or I will owe them $2935. Can they really do this legally? That is a huge amount of money, and even $480 is very difficult for me to pay right now. While I think I could prove that the car was legally transferred to my ex, I partially support her so it is the same as if I still own it. She does not want me to take any action against the transmission shop that put the car on the street because she says they are good people.

Can they legally charge me that $480 amnesty fee and keep the car too? What recourse do I have?

Answer
Let's break this down into parts. First the title was never transferred properly, no bill of sale, tax agency or DMV not notified when sold, don't want to get the ex involved, etc. the car is still your responsibility. Second is the transmission shop, if there was no contract, bill of sale, written consent of disposal, etc. you can not claim the transmission shop owned the vehicle. A judge would view your vehicle as a car at a transmission shop for repairs. Now here is where it gets tricky and may help you depending on the state you live in. If your wife had a signed work order for repairs the transmission shop has procedures they must follow to remove the vehicle. The transmission shop just can't push the vehicle into the street for abandonment, if that was their claim. Also, if your wife ever gave money to the transmission shop and has verifiable proof as a receipt this could also help as your vehicle is not abandoned. This is a whole different case of worms so I'll stay on the main subject. Most repair shops with signed work orders must notify you by certified mail that the vehicle will be removed if not claim by so many days as allowed by your state. What is the transmission's shop verification on the mailing if required by law? If there was no signed work order then your vehicle can be removed by a towing company if there are posted tow signs because your vehicle is viewed as trespassing or private property. The transmission shop would have to authorize the private property tow and have some sort of written contract or agreement with a tow company. Once the towing company has the vehicle in storage they would have to contact you by certified mail which is usually within 5-15 days as stated in the state code after the tow. The certified mail notification varies state to state but is written as a state statue because lienholders and registered owners must be notified in a timely manner. Have you ever signed or received any certified mail? I suggest asking and when such notification was sent and ask to see the proof. As a side note many people claim they never received anything but the towing company will have official USPS receipts, signatures or attempts. An attempted delivery by the USPS, unknown address, undeliverable, no known last address will still count against you if the tow company did what they were supposed to do in the time limit. As for the the $2935 when was the vehicle towed, stored, processed, etc.? If the vehicle goes to auction, then what ever the vehicle brings at auction goes toward the bill and you are still responsible for the balance. What is the $480 fee for? So you now have two bills? I suggest googling your state statues on private parking, property liens, etc. I would research it but not knowing your city and state I can't fine tune your answer.