Joined Jul 2005
Scarydevil Monastery
Forum Thread
My friend lives in NJ. His car was stolen, stripped, and abandoned. The city is making him pay for the towing and impound fees.
September 3, 2010 at
06:15 AM
in
Rant
Does that seem right to anyone else? It's basically costing him over $350 to have his car stolen and, since he didn't have theft insurance, it's a total loss. The only possible redemption is going to be today if a mechanic offers him any money for the scrap.
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
WTF?
I'm not even going into how rude the city employees were to him or how they turned him away yesterday afternoon because they didn't think he could get a tow truck (at his own expense) to the impound lot before they closed at 4:45. OR how they wouldn't help his wife when she was there at noon, because they were all at lunch.
Please reserve any comments about him being dumb for not carrying a theft clause or whatever you call it on his insurance policy. It was an older Honda Civic and he didn't think it was worth insuring for very much. I'm not sure how all of that works but his deductible might even have been more than what he would've gotten for the car, if that applies.
I think it's infuriating that the city is forcing him to pay towing and impound fees when his car was stolen! Does he have any recourse here? Maybe he can deduct the cost of the fees from his taxes or something? Who should he contact?
My friend is a really nice guy--I would've raged out on those impound lot employees for sure. My buddy said he knows when he's defeated and he's licking his wounds and counting his losses, and that his anger is reserved for the car thieves. I understand that, but really, it looks to me like the city's just adding insult to injury here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
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Also, awful lot of angry posts. You mentioned a $350 fee with $30 which was added for an extra day, but I doubt the towing costs totaled $350. I just had my car towed and it cost me $125. I don't think I've ever paid more than $130 for a tow. Even if it did, I think it's incredible you could be so angry for a few hundred dollars in towing fees for money that's not even yours. And if you try to come at me with "what if you couldn't afford that money" I'm going to respond: because it's still only a few hundred dollars and it's part of owning a car. They ain't cheap to own.
If this happened to my brother I'd say "that sucks" but I'd understand that it's the way the system is setup.
About a month after it was stolen (from the parking lot at the mall) we went shopping (in her new car). We actually pulled up and parked beside her stolen car...We called the police and they came and did nothing.
I saw his car one more time and a young lady was inside it. She said she bought it from someone else. I told her it was stolen from my roommate and she seemed surprised.
The city only gets $100 for every tow. If the vehicle is stolen, they will wave it. Other costs do apply of course $109 for tow, $35 per day storage, $100 "lien sale" fee. This is all costs charged by the towing/impound yard which is owned privately. The city doesnt see any of it, except for maybe a 10% parking tax on the storage.
Most of LAPD and Sheriffs are legit, CHP on the other hand are crooks. I've seen $200 tows, $50 per day storage, $100-200 additional "labor" costs.
I agree, it sucks to have your car stolen/stripped but I don't think the city should be paying for it either. Its like getting an ipod stolen and expecting the city pay for it.
A car, although much more valuable, is no different.