QuestionQUESTION: Writing from Sacramento, CA. I picked up my vehicle from the towing company. I asked to see the car. They told me there are no damages. I fill out the paperwork and pay the lady. I go to my car and leave (silly me should have checked it out). i drive about 4 miles to my work site. When I get out to put quarters into the meter, I see a crack on my passenger's side front bumper. I drive a 2003 nissan 350z. they towed my car with a flat bed, but during that process I'm convinced that they had dragged it up the bed. I call and they won't do anything about it... How should i go about this situation??????? help!!
ANSWER: Sorry to hear they damaged the vehicle, but I also have to say that things happen... Now first of all, you know that they will deny any damages, and since you left the lot without inspecting the vehicle, they do have the upper hand here...
First clue should of been their comment there is no damage... I would of inspected it before I even opened the door of the car... If you do not touch it they will have a harder time saying it happened at some other point after the tow.
Now unless it can be proved that it was the tow truck which damaged it (by paint transfer, or shape of damages) Cracks in the bumper cover are hard to prove, but yes during the loading of the vehicle on a flatbed there is the risk of the vehicle scraping the deck of the tow truck due to the loading angle.. Its possible to prevent it but a lot of work goes into it.. Use of special ramps does help but not every truck has them..
Only one side of the vehicle damaged does make me wonder about it as a flatbed usually scrapes across the whole bumper assembly or cracks it in several places...
Now you did not mention why the vehicle was towed but it sounds like it was impounded for some reason..
In California now if they towed the vehicle from a private property as an impound they are required to take pictures of the vehicle showing prior damage or that it was illegally parked.. As a police tow, the impounding agency usually does fill out a vehicle condition report which is supposed to show prior damage.
As to covering the damages and getting it handled, you should start with the towing company, and you have said they deny the claim already. That can be a problem, unless it was a police tow. If it was then contact the impounding agency and see if you can get a copy of the report..
Worst case is the small claims court route, but that is expensive at times... But that might be the only route you have...
I hope this helps you.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: yes it was towed from a private property. i parked it at a burger shack in downtown. the spaces are at an angle and their parking lot is very narrow. the only logical way of towing my car was dragging from behind because there was a small piece of cement bumper block in front. now if they had towed it from the front, they could have hit the bumper block. are there any local gov't departments that would investigate these issues?
AnswerOK well as to damages to the vehicle it makes a bit of sense now as to what happened.. Sounds like they set the bumper on the concrete block to me, but that's hard to really say..
Government agencies ? well California has several laws regarding impound procedures.. Check out the DMV web site for information regarding private property impounds ( PPI)
Contact the local police and see if they know of any other ideas as to where to complain or file claims.. Sometimes they even have a towing officer who does investigate private tows..
