Tow company damaged my car.. HELP!

[stangboy04]

Alright, so a little bacstory.. my clutch cable snapped on me last week, i was driving down the road about a minute from my house when SNAP, no clutch. :shrug: So i pushed it into a gas station and left it untill i could get it. well a couple days later i go to pick it up and they told me they towed it. No big deal ill just get it back from them. Called them up, after all the fees and shit blah blah i got the car back, sitting at my apartments...

So yesterday I went outside to do the cable replacement, and low and behold i find that my front bumper is ripped in half underneath, the sides are buckled in and its cracked on one side, paint flaking, one of my foglight is missing, and clearly this was the tow company because you can see the scrape marks where they practically just dragged the shit on there, but wait it gets better...

I go to drive the car, pedal feel is awesome, runs the same, but no turn signals? unrelated maybe but then at the stoplight my buddy notices that my car is smoking, so then im like WTF and pull over, and yup... its coming from the bottom of the motor, smells like ac but i caught a couple whiffs of coolant. Now the real kicker.. radiator core support is bent, so is one of the hold downs for the radiator, and my fan shroud is bent.. so i see this and im furious and now I have a question for svtp..

What should I do about this? Can I seek any legal advice with any avail? I dont think insurance will cover this, I took a bunch of pics, and im trying to gather some evidence, gas station, where it was parked, getting the car inspected today for damage, etc etc.. Do I have a lawsuit? this is rediculous and im extremely pissed over this i was just curious as to what SVTP had to say

 

[Krwy]

Did you inspect the car at the tow yard when you picked it up? They'll pull the "how do we know it wasn't you" deal. If you went over the car there, and got ahold of an employee to look over the car at the damage, you would have a leg to stand on.

 

[stangboy04]

I wasnt the one who went down there, my dad did. They towed the car from the gas station to the tow yard, where the fees were paid and it was towed to my apartment. it was neverin my hands until yesterday.

 

[LS2GTO]

I wasnt the one who went down there, my dad did. They towed the car from the gas station to the tow yard, where the fees were paid and it was towed to my apartment. it was neverin my hands until yesterday.

Thing is if you took it off their lot without reporting any damage then there's no way for you to prove it was them. Even if you drove half a mile to your house, they're gonna say that you did the damage yourself and are now trying to hold them responsible.

It's the same with valet parking, if you don't say anything when you pick it up you're SOL. Buddy came back from a trip and found his car damaged by the valet...yet this was 2 days afterwards and he got nothing.

 

[stangboy04]

Right, this is definately understandable and one of the problems I had figured id be facing, but like i said the clutch cable was broken It wasnt driven anywhere, it was towed by them from their tow yard, so neither my dad or me have touched it until yesterday when i fixed it. Although that is a problem because your right they would just say i messed it up today or something. I do apreciate the feedback guys

 

[1996slowbra]

Right, this is definately understandable and one of the problems I had figured id be facing, but like i said the clutch cable was broken It wasnt driven anywhere, it was towed by them from their tow yard, so neither my dad or me have touched it until yesterday when i fixed it. Although that is a problem because your right they would just say i messed it up today or something. I do apreciate the feedback guys

I mean it wouldnt hurt talking to someone at the tow yard to see if they would listen to reason, but chances are they are just going to tell you that you are SOL. Back when I was a valet it was the same thing as another poster has said, if you drove your car off the lot without inspecting it and it was damaged, then you are SOL, even if it was one of us who had done it.

 

[shelbyjeff]

That sucks good luck.

 

[oldmodman]

You will probably NEVER get the tow company to admit responsibility.

If your car is insured just report the damage to the insurance company and let them hassle with the tow company.

 

[DAVESVT2000]

I wasnt the one who went down there, my dad did. They towed the car from the gas station to the tow yard, where the fees were paid and it was towed to my apartment. it was neverin my hands until yesterday.

Why was it towed off private property to a tow yard, when you told the gas station you would be back for it ? Did you not communicate with them the day or two after you left it there ?

Also, who did the repair work on the clutch cable ? :shrug:

 

[svtcop]

Why was it towed off private property to a tow yard, when you told the gas station you would be back for it ? Did you not communicate with them the day or two after you left it there ?

Also, who did the repair work on the clutch cable ? :shrug:

I skimmed the posts but I don't recall him saying he notified the gas station. If he did sorry. :shrug:

I think the OP was going to do the swap on the clutch cable himself.

OP, you should have inspected the car at the tow yard, and when they put it down at your apt. You're really gonna have a tough case to prove.

 

[stangboy04]

I had told the gas station id be back for it, and when i came back it was gone. Thus the towing, but I do wish I couldve gone down there to see it, the car only has liability/comprehensive so i dont think its covered. I did the cable install when i got it home, thats when I started driving it again,. Im honetly worried about the outcome of this, and whats gonna happen to my car because I dont have the money to fix the damages and this is not something Id want them to get away with

 

[BM1]

At this point your only option is to talk to the towing company and see if they're willing to do anything if insurance won't. Otherwise consider it a lesson learned. Don't leave the car you supposedly care about sitting unattended at a gas station for 2 days.