Selling a car that was towed or impounded

Storage is billed by the day, and once a state's notice period runs out the lot or the police can sell the car to cover the bill. Below are the storage limits we found in state law and every state's clock.

Who the lot will release it to

Call the lot first. Ask two things: what papers it wants to see, and the total due today.

Texas spells it out. To recover a car from a vehicle storage facility you show photo ID, prove you're the owner or an authorized user, and pay all towing and storage fees (TDLR). Any one of these proves your link to the car:

• the title, with your name on it as owner
• a driver license that matches the registration record
• an insurance card naming you
• a registration receipt, shown with your ID
• a lease or rental agreement
• a power of attorney the owner signed in front of a notary
• TDLR's personal vehicle owner removal and inspection form

Washington's law names who may redeem a car from a registered tow operator: the legal owner, the registered owner, someone with written authorization, the insurer, and a person who bought the car from the registered owner and shows proof of ownership or written authorization (RCW 46.55.120). The operator must release it once someone offers commercially reasonable tender for the towing, storage and other charges.

Kansas asks the owner of an impounded car to show proof of valid registration and ownership before the public agency lets it go (K.S.A. 8-1102).

If the title is in someone else's name, a lot won't treat you as the owner. Start with our page on cars titled to another person.

What goes on the bill

Expect three kinds of charges: the tow itself, a daily storage rate, and smaller fees for notices or paperwork. Texas puts a statewide ceiling on each one, and a city or county may set lower numbers (TDLR fees):

• Private-property tow: $272 at most for a vehicle of 10,000 lbs or less.
• Storage: $22.85 a day at most for a vehicle 25 feet long or shorter. A part of a day counts as a full day, with one exception: a car that leaves within 12 hours of arriving pays one day, even if midnight passed.
• Impound fee: $22.85 at most, for things like tarping the car or writing an inventory. The bill has to say what was done and on which dates.
• Notice fee: $50 at most, and nothing if the owner reclaims the car within one day or before the notice is sent (TDLR).

Texas also lets you into the car at the lot to collect personal property, free of charge. Empty it before you sell.

Storage limits in state law

Only some states write a dollar figure or a storage cutoff into law. Where yours isn't listed, ask the lot for its posted rates and ask the city or county whether it sets a local cap.

Towed from an apartment lot or a store

A tow ordered by a property owner follows its own rules in many states. In Arizona, removing a car from private property takes the property owner's written authorization on an MVD form (A.R.S. 28-4834). In Colorado, a car towed from private property at the owner's request counts as abandoned if no one claims it within 48 hours (Colorado DMV).

Hawaii's dollar caps above apply to these private-property tows, and so do the Texas tow and storage limits.

The clock: when the lot can sell it

The steps are much the same everywhere. The lot or the police find the owner and any lender, mail a notice, and wait. If nobody claims the car and pays, it can be auctioned, scrapped, or titled to whoever holds it, and the owner's rights end.

Texas shows how short the dates can be. A lot sends its first notice to the owner and primary lienholder no later than day 5 for a car registered in Texas, or day 14 for one registered in another state. If nobody authorized claims it before the 10th day after that notice, the car is treated as abandoned. The second notice goes out 15 to 20 days after the first, and it warns that not claiming the car "is a waiver of all right, title, or interest in the vehicle and personal property and a consent to sell the vehicle at a public sale" (TDLR).

Florida counts from the day storage begins. An unclaimed car, or one with unpaid towing or storage charges, may be sold free of all prior liens 35 days after it's stored, or 57 days after for a car three model years old or newer (Fla. Stat. 713.78).

The table gives the notice and the deadline for every state. Some rules cover police impounds, some cover private tow lots, and many cities layer on their own. Use it to judge how much time you have, then get the actual date from the lot.

A dash means the sources we read set no deadline for that step, not that the state has none.

If you think the tow or the bill is wrong

Storage keeps adding up while a dispute drags on, so move quickly. These are the routes to challenge a tow that we found in state law:

• Florida: before the sale, the owner, the insurer or another lien claimant can post a cash or surety bond with the court clerk for the amount owed, get the car back, and fight the charges in court (Fla. Stat. 713.78).
• Michigan: petition the court within 20 days and post a $40 bond plus the towing and storage owed so far (MCL 257.252a).
• Arkansas: the tow firm's notice has to tell you about your 30-day right to contest the original tow (Ark. Code 27-50-1207).
• Oklahoma: a written hearing request within 10 days of the notice gets you a hearing within 72 hours on a public agency's removal (47 O.S.).
• California: returning the Declaration of Opposition within 10 days of the lien-sale notice gets you a court hearing (Civil Code 3072).

Police holds on an impounded car

Some police impounds come with a hold. In Washington, when a car is impounded because the driver's license was suspended, the ordering agency can direct in writing that it be held for up to 30 days. Even then it comes out only after an eligible person pays the towing, removal and storage fees (RCW 46.55.120).

Holds after a DUI arrest are set state by state, and often city by city. We didn't collect them. Ask the agency that ordered the tow when its hold ends, and add those days to the storage estimate.

Walking away can still cost you

Leaving the car at the lot can look like the cheap way out. In some states the bill follows the owner anyway:

• California: if an abandoned car is impounded and never redeemed, the last registered owner commits an infraction and owes whatever the lien sale didn't cover, unless a report of sale was filed (Vehicle Code 22523).
• Alaska: the owner of record is liable for the costs of removing and disposing of an abandoned car (AS 28.11.010).
• Arizona: the owner of record at the time of abandonment owes MVD a fee, collected at the next registration or driver license renewal (A.R.S. 28-4802).
• Indiana: the owner is liable for removal, storage and disposal. If the tower or storer sells the car, though, the former owner isn't responsible for the storage fees (Ind. Code Title 9).

Money can flow back, too. A Massachusetts garage that sells a car keeps its charges and pays the balance to the registered owner, or to the district court clerk (c. 255 s. 39A). In Louisiana, the owner or lienholder can claim the sale proceeds for one year (La. R.S. 32:476).

If there's still a loan on the car, the lender gets notice too. Read selling a car you still owe on before you decide.

Selling it straight from the lot

Each day you wait adds a day of storage. Before paying anything, weigh the lot's bill against what the car is worth in its present condition. If the car came in after a crash, call your insurer as well; Washington is one state that lets the insurer redeem the car.

When you ask for an offer, have this ready:

• the lot's name, address and phone number
• why the car was towed, and whether police placed a hold on it
• the amount due today and the daily storage rate
• if the title and keys are in your hands
• its year, make, model, mileage and main problem

We buy whole non-running and junk cars. The lot still has to release the car first, so its charges need to be paid before pickup. Pickup is free anywhere in the US.

Questions about a car in a lot? Call (877) 421-6008.

Once it's sold, the plates and the state's record of the sale still need handling, and after you sell walks through both. If the crash is the bigger story, see selling a wrecked car.