Today we saw a Nissan GT-R getting towed on its wheels. This will likely cause damage to the car, but is the owner responsible for the repairs?
Your first assumpion is that yes, if your car is parked illegally or if your car is getting repo'd, you're not going to get any sympathy from the people towing (and damaging) your car. Reader coreydotnaughton certainly thought so.
If your car is in gear with the emergency brake engaged and it has an expensive awd system that can't handle having its wheels in contact with the road during a tow ... Then I guess you should make sure you don't do anything that gets your car towed.
Our other readers stepped in to prove him wrong.
Feedback laid things out very clearly that the owner is not responsible in the case of negligent towing in California or New York.
Absolutely NOT true in most jurisdictions if the towing company is negligent. For example:
California (V C Section 22651.07): "Generally the owner of a vehicle may recover for any damage to the vehicle resulting from any intentional or negligent act of a person causing the removal of, or removing, the vehicle."
Texas (Texas Transportation Code - Section 684.084): "(a) A towing company or parking facility owner who violates this chapter is liable to the owner or operator of the vehicle that is the subject of the violation for:
(1) damages arising from the removal or storage of the vehicle"
My X-type is too a real Jag, forsomereasonican'tlogin, and ex.saitn all chimed in to say this was not true in Georgia, Massachusetts, or anywhere in Canada.
So it looks to us like if you car is negligently towed, you're not the one responsible for fixing the damage caused by the tow. We're not lawyers, but that makes sense to us.
Thanks Jalopnik readers!
Photo Credit: Formula1Seb