[masraum]

Originally Posted by brp914

This is slightly off-topic. Abusive towing companies that tow poor people's cars over trivial things, then charge them onerous fines and abusive treatment to boot. If you haven't seen this sheriff in action you're in for a treat. His descriptions really capture your attention. I've seen a number of them and they are excellent. In this one, a guy goes to collect his car from impound, he pays his fines, gets abused, loses it, and ends up killed.

I've had cars towed 2 or 3 times many, many years ago. In most cases, the tow company and/or lot where the cars were towed did the same, very questionable practices. They knew that they had you over a barrel, and were happy to exploit that. The good news is that much like touching a hot tap on a stove, you pretty quickly learn not to get burned.

I think back in the mid to late 80s we paid ~$300 to get a car back that had been towed a couple of hours earlier. Then we had a car towed to a shop, and that was $50 for a tow that was 2-3x farther than the other tow. But, much like the folks that price gouge during a disaster or shortage, the tow company knows that if you want your car, you'll pay it, and you always want your car since it's usually thousands of dollars vs their few hundred.