What is a reasonable price to tow a small car 18 miles on a flatbed truck? My brother in law just paid $275! He told me AAA or insurance would cover it, but apparently that didn't work out. If I had known, I would have rented one of those U-Haul car trailers for like $50 and towed it for him. Yes, he is a bonehead.

PS: I might just buy one at this rate, but that's the subject of another thread.

 

ouch! live and learn

 

18 miles?
I could see a bill that big if that 18 miles was offroad, and it started with a major stuck.

I have towing on my insurance, only a couple bucks a month and it covers a tow up to 50 miles.
Only had to use it with my Ford, way back when, and it payed for itself 100 fold.
Never got rid of it when I had the Toyota or now with the Dodge.


phox

 

I would say that classifies as a rip off. But I guess when you owe the wrecker you can charge whatever you want. That and if the Tow driver was under the impression he had insurance he may have jacked the price up a bit.

 

Why didn't get get a quote?

 

When I was towing cars, the most expensive price was $50 for the truck and $4 per towed mile. There was never any hidden fees, fuel costs,......A towing company could even charge $65-75 for the truck and $4 per mile. AAA is supposed to cover the member, not the vehicle, but they do have to check to make sure the towed vehicle has valid registration and insurance. They are not supposed to tow the vehicle if those two items are not in place. However, I worked for one company who would allow someone's AAA card to be used if he was allowed to write the tow for 100 miles, making it cost AAA about $250. If my calculations are correct, this should only have cost your brother around $135-$150 depending on if any additional items needed to be used in the tow, such as skates, chains, lockout, whatever..... I would honestly call the towing company and ask for a breakdown of the price. $275 is absolutely ridiculous.

 

Local guys here charge $65 for a short trip like that, or $100 if you wake them up in the middle of the night. Awhile back I had to have my son's car towed and I had him use a place near where he was broke down. It was $85. I thought that was too high. $275 - whew.

 

I drove a tow truck in a college town in my younger days, if you didn't get a quote to start with...that was his first mistake, second I would contact the tow company and ask for an itemized bill and a copy of their basic charges, if that doens't get a refund threaten to turn it over to his states attonery gerneral for fraud! ALWAYS GET A QUOTE BEFORE THEY TOW, if he had AAA it should not have been any costs to him unless he had the basic plan which covers 3 miles or the closet garage, I think the gold AAA card goes up to 100 miles.

 

Around here they charge $65 to load the vehicle on the hook or flatbed, then $2.75 per mile. AAA covers 4 tows per year up to 7 miles... 10 miles if you are a Gold member. After the first 7 or 10 miles as the case may be the driver charges the AAA negotiated rate. I'm not sure what the negotiated rate is now. I would call AAA and ask them. This guy sounds like he's making lunch money and AAA should know about it. The tow company could lose it's AAA status.

 

Ok I just looked it up. It's 7 free miles for the basic AAA. 100 miles for AAA plus. 200 miles for AAA Premier once a year and up to 100 miles for the next 3 tows per year. I know that AAA does have a negotiated rate for it's members on remaining miles but I think it varies regionally so it isn't on the paperwork. Everyone needs AAA. One tow pays for the membership. It's the best deal going. The discounts are great too.

 

Had a blowout on the Harley at 1am a year ago. Called a local wrecker service that is "good" to the bikers in the area. 10 mile tow cost me 125 bucks.

 

Fred was this in the city?

Like someone else said $50 hook up and $3/mile is expensive but standard. Maybe $4-$6/mile in any new york borough.

I really CANNOT see why people with no towing coverage don't have AAA.

$60/year... will pay for itself in 1 tow. and $60/year will get you 100 miles, 3 seperate times a year!!!! Not to mention the other benefits!!!

One time when my wheel fell off, the cops were being jerks and made me use their tow company. AAA paid me back in full no questions!!!

Also I think you will find that Very rarely a tow truck company will ask for your registration or insurance. They don't care. They already made the trip out to get you, all they want is your card.

 

Last summer over Memorial Day weekend, I went to Nebraska to visit my grandparents, well when I left to drive back home, I got about 20 miles outside of their town and my right front wheel on my truck decided it wanted to try to fly off. Lug nuts worked loose and sheared off and left me stranded.

So anywhoo....small town and only one tow truck. So I call the guy and he comes out and gets me and tows the truck to my uncles house maybe 15 miles away.........charged me $215 smackers for towing it!!!!!! I was so flippin mad but he was my only option to get my truck there so I HAD to pay. But the thing that really made me mad, was that he is a family friend and I've helped him with a ton of stuff in the past........but yet he couldn't help me out on this...........what a jerk!!!


~Nick

 

My buddy hit a deer this winter with 4000kms on his new Duramax and they charged him $540 to tow it 65kms back to town. Insurance pays for it so yeah they jack it up alright, plus only one company in town so no competition.

 

I just got a tow for my 97 ext cab dually in stroud, Oklahoma. Tranny was out. I was towed off (roll back wrecker) of I-40 toll road to Stroud, approx 12 miles and was charged $112. Driver was nice. Did good job. It was approx. 6pm, so it could have been after hours charge. I thought my charge was fair. Plus I have road side assisstance thru my Insurace thru STate Farm. Only 2-3 dollars more per month. Good Investment. Free unlock, gas/diesel, jumps, tows etc. So I got my entire tow refunded my State Farm.
Just My Personal Experience.