Towing ?

[Jean]

What's the going rate / and good rate to tow a car 80 miles ?

I am making some calls now, but want to get an idea on what's a good price and what isn't. It seems like there is a huge range, 2.50 per mile to 5.00 per mile from one place to another ....

[equate975]

Why don't you just go with the cheapest?

I have AAA so I don't know about rates. But be sure you watch the guy putting your car on the truck. I had to explain to one guy for about 10 min how my car was NOT FWD....

He kept telling me it was, and I asked him if thats why I have a driveshaft going to the rear wheels paired with a rear diff.

[Jscotty]

What's the going rate / and good rate to tow a car 80 miles ?

I am making some calls now, but want to get an idea on what's a good price and what isn't. It seems like there is a huge range, 2.50 per mile to 5.00 per mile from one place to another ....

Look for someone who does auto transporting. Usually they charge about $1 a mile. The only drawback is that it might take a few days because they want to load as many cars as they can on their trailer that are going in the same direction.

Most tow trucks operate on an "emergency" basis more so than appointments which stands the reason why their rates are so high.

And as equate suggested, AAA is an option. When I was a broke college student, I used AAA on a regular basis to get my car out of the impound or to pick up cars from the auction or to take my car to the inspection station before I could get tags for it. Granted this was an abusive way of using AAA but I figured that for as long as nobody told me that I couldn't use AAA for this purpose then I was fine with it.

[SchnellerVert]

Rent a tow dolly and borrow a buds truck. Buy him a tank of fuel and a case of bier and most friends will be happy.

[Bill-B]

Rent a tow dolly and borrow a buds truck. Buy him a tank of fuel and a case of bier and most friends will be happy.

U-Haul FTW...or FTL, haven't decided yet;-)

[george graves]

U-haul will run you about $150-200 - they have rate calculator online.

I HIGHLY suggest staying away from U-haul if you can - they are a shady company.

http://www.uhaul-sucks.com/

If you are in a big town, try pensky or budget.

[Jscotty]

A tow dolly is only $15-$20 a day (they don't charge for mileage on it) however, you would want to borrow a truck because Uhaul charges 79 cents a mile plus the $20 rental plus you have to replenish any gas that is in it.

As far as the statement "Uhaul sucks" I can attest to the fact that this is true 90% of the time because the stores are independantly owned and operated and many of them will acquire crappy trucks for their local rentals in order to save money. But then again, there are actually some good locations that have NEW trucks in stock and the people who work there are friendly and courteous but most locations that I have been to are AWFUL.

[Jon325i]

Just replied to your PM and threw in my $.02 on the towing question.

Jon

[hugh jass]

probably $2.50 to $3.00 is the cheapest you're going to find. what are you towing and where?

[Jean]

I am going to have to look into renting a truck and a tow dolly , looks like that's going to be my only option now.

I stopped by local AAA office and was going to add my brother to AAA plus, thinking hey, I could tow the car 100 miles on my card and then have my bro call in and tow it the rest of the way. AAA does not allow "piggy backing", and won't let me stay overnight at some hotel and call in the next day to get it towed either. They only allow 1 Call per disablement. My only option according to AAA is to tow the car to a mechanic, have them fix it, have some paperwork and go on my way, if it brakes again on it's way I could then call AAA tow again. I was hoping I could get it towed 100 miles on my membership, then have it towed another 80 on another membership.... they must keep track of things more now or something....



:(

I want to purchase a 91 325is tomorrow, but it needs to be towed 180 miles to my house.

[george graves]

Yea, if it was me, I'd rent a truck (a moving truck, smallest they have, they charge more for a pickup I believe) and a dolly.

I assume the car is not drive-able? Getting it up on the dolly is not a one-man operation (IMHO), think about bringing a large come along with you (useful for all sorts of things)

...but you can always "drive" on the starter motor - not the best idea, but it works.

[Jean]

Just finished calling about 10 different towing companies in yellow pages. Got rates anywhere from $400 to $900 for towing. Even found one company that was charing per hour instead of per mile, $120 that is, clock starts when the truck leaves their lot.

Called Hertz car rental, they have a truck but no dolly. They said "legally" I shouldn't be towing a car with it so taking my chances here if anything happens.

So, looks like I am going to have to take my chances tomorrow and get it towed half way with AAA and deal with the rest....

Fuck.

[Rigmaster]

If it's a parts car anyway, post something up on Craigslist to see if you can find someone to do it for you.

I'd try to get a rollback wrecker (i.e- all 4 wheels off the ground) if possible. Around here there seem to be lots of people who have wreckers and it's not too hard to find someone to do this.

Depending on where you are and where the car is, I'd try to get someone in the town where the car is located to haul it for you, best deal would be if you could find someone who has something in your town they need to pickup- they'd be driving an empty wrecker- so hauling the car for you would be a bonus.


Bret.


EDIT: Just saw your post above mine. Might be worth it to call the AAA towing company directly and see if you can negotiate a deal with them for the tow. In other words, get the max distance for free, then offer to pay them a reasonable amount for the rest of the distance. AAA towing companies vary a great deal, some are easy to work with, some are complete A-holes.......

[Jscotty]

Do this- Rent a pickup truck from Enterprise (for the unlimited miles) then go to walmart and buy a cheap trailer ball and hitch and then go to uhaul and get a dolly. This will be much cheaper than renting the uhaul truck.

Just make sure that the pickup truck @ enterprise has a place to install the hitch before you accept the vehicle. Most pickup trucks and SUV's either have a hole in the bumper or a 2x2 reciever to install a hitch. Don't tell enterprise that you are going to be using the truck for that purpose. Otherwise they will deny the rental or attempt to charge you extra.