Car towing charges (CA)

"Scott en Aztlán" > wrote in message
...
> On 7 Jun 2006 19:57:25 -0700, wrote:
>
> >This is something that really bothers me because it seems like tow
> >companies regularly take advantage of people and there's not much we
> >can do about it.
>
(tale of woe snipped)
> Sounds like an expensive lesson. Let's hope you both learned something
> from the experience.
No, he is right- it is real common racket in college towns- over Xmas or
spring break, when the town is half-empty anyway, they collect LOTS of
'abandoned' cars from student neighborhoods, owned by out-of-town kids that
didn't know the non-posted laws. Lots of college kids drive beaters, so by
the time they figure out what happened, the inflated storage and tow charges
are more than the car is worth. When the auction happens a few weeks later,
the storage fees count as the opening bid, and the tow company basically
gets a free car. In the town I went to school in, they didn't chalk the
tires or mark the cars, either. An officers notes, or a complaint from a
****y neighbor, was enough. Yeah, the cops and the tow truck drivers hang
out together.

aem sends...

In article >,
says...
> On Fri, 09 Jun 2006 01:13:10 GMT, "ameijers"
> > wrote:
>
> >(tale of woe snipped)
> >> Sounds like an expensive lesson. Let's hope you both learned something
> >> from the experience.
> >
> >No, he is right- it is real common racket in college towns- over Xmas or
> >spring break, when the town is half-empty anyway, they collect LOTS of
> >'abandoned' cars from student neighborhoods, owned by out-of-town kids that
> >didn't know the non-posted laws.
>
> Be that as it may, that's not what happened in this case, according to
> the OP.
>
> >Lots of college kids drive beaters, so by
> >the time they figure out what happened, the inflated storage and tow charges
> >are more than the car is worth.
>
> If I were the OP, given that the car was basically worthless (they
> were planning to donate it to charity), I would have let the towing
> company keep the car, sell it for whatever they could get for it, and
> **** into the wind as far as getting anything more was concerned.


There are a couple of potential problems there. Although it may
depend upon the jurisdiction.

1. The car is sold for less than the fees. And then the
deficiency (I.e. the fee amount that is more than the sale
amount) may be sold to a collection agency, which lists the debt
on your credit reports.

2. The towed car is impounded at an official city garage. Thus,
that deficiency is owed to the city gubmint. And they might use
an unpaid balance to place a hold on your state Department Of
Moter Vehicles registration privileges. Which can include
blocking your ability to register ANOTHER car in the FUTURE,
until the old fees are paid.

The City Of Los Angeles does this kind of blocking with old
unpaid parking tickets, even if you were never been booted/towed.


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Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> If I were the OP, given that the car was basically worthless (they
> were planning to donate it to charity), I would have let the towing
> company keep the car, sell it for whatever they could get for it, and
> **** into the wind as far as getting anything more was concerned.

As someone else mentioned, this wasn't an option - they still attempt
to collect any fees they incur and they charge extra even just for
junking the car. But we weren't donating it because the car was
worthless. She's just had it a long time and it made more sense to
give it to a charity since the one we contacted had people who will fix
it up for free and give it to someone who needs it. She decided she
could use public transportation instead.

Given that you don't know the full story, you might try giving people
the benefit of the doubt before you judge them so strongly, and try to
act all superior. Once you learn that, then you won't have to worry
about your posts being archived and people labeling you as some 'type'.
:-|

In article >,
> wrote:
>The City Of Los Angeles does this kind of blocking with old
>unpaid parking tickets, even if you were never been booted/towed.

....and even if neither you nor your car has ever been in the city.

--
John Carr )

"John F. Carr" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> > wrote:
> >The City Of Los Angeles does this kind of blocking with old
> >unpaid parking tickets, even if you were never been booted/towed.
>
> ...and even if neither you nor your car has ever been in the city.
>
Chuckle- there was a big scandal a few years back when the PRIVATE
CONTRACTOR Detroit hired for parking enforcement was caught doing the same
thing. They'd just put down plate numbers at random, call the R.O. data up
on the terminal, and mail them the ticket/bill. Said contractor got paid a
per centage, natch, and counted on most people just mailing in the money vs.
taking a day off work, and driving in ( some cases long distances) to fight
it.

aem sends...

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> If the best car they can afford is a broken-down jalopy that's not
> even worth fixing, what do you suppose their credit is like? Even if
> it makes it to the credit report, one more black mark probably won't
> make any difference.

Actually my credit score is quite good - I have no black marks
whatsoever (never paid late etc). I prefer to save money then spend it
on a brand new car every few years. My gf's credit isn't quite as good
though.

I don't know why you need to make negative assumptions and jump to
conclusions about people.

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> >As someone else mentioned, this wasn't an option - they still attempt
> >to collect any fees they incur and they charge extra even just for
> >junking the car.
>
> So you knew all that, but you somehow didn't know that the car would
> be towed away in the first place?

We found that out *after* they had towed the vehicle. We were
investigating all the options.

> Sorry, but that just doesn't add up.

Probably because you seem to be fairly clueless about how things work
and how people act in the real world.

> Uh huh. So if public transit was such a great option for her, why wait
> until the vehicle was undriveable to donate it? It would have been

Well she was using the car to take classes at a college - they ended
this week so she has the summer off. Public transit wasn't an option
before (due to the location and times) but it is now.

> <sniff, sniff> Still smells like bull****.

Must be somewhere near you.

> Now THAT'S funny! In the same breath that you give me a lecture about
> being judgemental, you turn right around and act judgemental yourself!
> THAT'S A LAUGH RIOT!!!!

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Actually I made an observation about how you
were coming across and a suggestion for a another course of action in
the future. That's different from pre-judging and labeling a person -
esp when those judgements and labels are so far from the truth. Fine,
we can agree to disagree.

In article <OTmig.10937$mF2.5893@bgtnsc04-
news.ops.worldnet.att.net>, says...
>
> "John F. Carr" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >,
> > > wrote:
> > >The City Of Los Angeles does this kind of blocking with old
> > >unpaid parking tickets, even if you were never been booted/towed.
> >
> > ...and even if neither you nor your car has ever been in the city.
> >
> Chuckle- there was a big scandal a few years back when the PRIVATE
> CONTRACTOR Detroit hired for parking enforcement was caught doing the same
> thing. They'd just put down plate numbers at random, call the R.O. data up
> on the terminal, and mail them the ticket/bill. Said contractor got paid a
> per centage, natch, and counted on most people just mailing in the money vs.
> taking a day off work, and driving in ( some cases long distances) to fight
> it.


Another danger:

Have you ever bought or rented a car? That place has your Driver
License number, etc.

And, by an amazing coincidence, a couple of years later... You
receive a notice from the Parking Violations Bureau.

It seems that, some OTHER car (that have never even seen), got a
few parking tickets, on a side street, right next to that
sales/rental lot.

And the registered owner (I wonder who that might be?), told the
Parking Violations Bureau that the car was really in YOUR
possession when those tickets were issued.

And the Epsilon Minus Sub-Morons at the Parking Violations Bureau
cannot even suggest any way to challenge YOUR alleged liability
for those tickets. And you don't even get a response to your
protest letters.


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Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> >Probably because you seem to be fairly clueless about how things work
> >and how people act in the real world.
>
> Now who's making negative assumptions and jumping to conclusions?

You assumed bad things about me from the start. I simply pointed
something out about your posts that was obvious as the evidence
mounted. Really, you think AAA will tow you for free anywhere? You
don't think anyone would donate things before they are totally useless?
I could go on, but why bother.

> What's she gonna do in the fall?

Do you really care? Doesn't matter - It's none of your business
anyway.

> >> <sniff, sniff> Still smells like bull****.
> >
> >Must be somewhere near you.
>
> Yeah, it is - and it's emanating from my computer screen.

Well then stop typing dammit!! :-)

> I still am - hypocrisy is always amusing to me.

You know, I thought you'd might actually attempt to debate at least one
of the real issues this time but I guess you're not able to. You got
virtually everything wrong - you were only remotely close on one thing
- my gf's credit isn't perfect - but even then you were wrong that she
so had lots of black marks, or that she wouldn't care what happened to
her credit rating, or that having an older car has anything to do with
it or.....

So that's all you could come up with? No acknowlegements on how you
were wrong about the AAA towing cost, or about being able to just dump
a car on a towing company without penalty. And despite confirmation by
the police today, you couldn't even write one word about my original
main point that they were charging excessive fees. Pity. Maybe you
get an E for effort?

> What the heck, I'll play too.
> - Dave

Nah, it's getting pretty boring - certainly not worth my time/effort
any more. You can play with yourself instead.

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> That happened to my wife while she was visiting a certain University
> campus in IL. Apparently her rental car received a parking ticket
> while she was parked in front of one of the campus buildings. The
> University got her info from Hertz, and they sent us a letter
> demanding payment. We ignored it, of course. What are they gonna do,
> arrest us? Refuse to grant us a degree if we ever attend school there?
>

In some states, college parking tickets are just like government
tickets, especially for public colleges. In others, it seems like
they're just as official as if you or I put a note on someone's car
saying "pay me $10".

The last time I rented a car, the contract included a clause that any
parking or traffic tickets would be sent to an outside collection
agency, and I'd have to pay the cost of the ticket plus a $40 fee. So
if I'd gotten any non-official college tickets I'd probably still have
to pay them.

(And yet some people still think transponder-only toll roads are a good
idea, even though there are often violation notices sent for vehicles
with a transponder whose license plates are registered on the account.)

-Apr