Your Car Was Towed in Phoenix – How to Get It Back

Your Vehicle Is Safe. Here’s How to Get It Back.

Coming back to an empty parking space is stressful, and we know finding out your car was towed usually comes with some anger. That’s fair. This page explains exactly where your vehicle is, what it takes to get it back, and what to do if you believe it shouldn’t have been towed — in plain English, with no runaround.

The fastest way to sort this out is to call us. Have your license plate or VIN ready and we’ll confirm in a minute or two whether we have your vehicle, where it is, and exactly what you owe.

Call (602) 377-0036

Release Hours & Payment — Read This First

Vehicles are released Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Our dispatch line answers 24/7, so you can call any time to confirm we have your vehicle and find out exactly what you owe — but the yard releases vehicles during those hours only. If your vehicle came in on a Friday evening or over the weekend, the earliest you can pick it up is Monday at 9:00 AM.

For impound releases we accept cash or Zelle. We’re not able to take credit or debit cards for impounds, so please plan for that before you drive out. If that’s a problem for your situation, call us and talk it through first — don’t just show up hoping.

We’d rather tell you this now than have you make the trip and get turned away at the counter.

Step 1: Confirm We Have Your Vehicle

Not every tow in Phoenix is ours. Before anything else, call us with your license plate or VIN and we’ll tell you right away whether your vehicle is in one of our yards and which location it’s at. If it isn’t ours, we’ll point you in the right direction — it may have been towed by police or another company.

We operate secure storage yards across the Valley, so knowing the right location before you drive out saves you a trip.

Step 2: What to Bring

To release a vehicle we have to confirm you’re entitled to it. Bring:

  • A valid photo ID.
  • Proof the vehicle is yours — a current registration, or the title with the owner’s name on it.
  • Payment for the tow and any storage that has accrued — cash or Zelle for impound releases.

What we can’t accept — so you don’t make the trip twice:

  • Insurance cards. An insurance policy isn’t proof of ownership, so we can’t release a vehicle on it.
  • Open titles. The title has to have the owner’s name filled in. We can’t accept one that’s been signed off and left blank.
  • Temporary registration. It has to be a current registration.
  • Credit or debit cards for impound releases. Bring cash, or ask us about Zelle when you call.

If you’re not the registered owner — you’re picking it up for a family member, or you just bought the vehicle and the title isn’t in your name yet — call us before you come down. There’s often a way to work it out, but we have to verify it properly, and that conversation goes better on the phone than at the counter.

Step 3: What It Costs

Two things make up the bill: the tow itself and daily storage for each day the vehicle sits in the yard. Storage accrues daily, which is why picking the vehicle up sooner costs less than waiting.

We can’t post one storage rate on this page, and here’s why: daily storage rates vary by city and by the weight and class of the vehicle. They’re governed by the legal rates that apply where your vehicle is stored, and we charge the applicable legal rate — not a number we made up. A motorcycle and a box truck aren’t billed the same, and Phoenix and Scottsdale aren’t necessarily the same either.

So call and we’ll tell you the exact daily rate for your vehicle and what you owe right now — including what it will be if you come today versus tomorrow. We don’t add fees at the counter that we didn’t tell you about on the call. Transparent pricing is the thing we’re known for, and it doesn’t stop being true because the situation is an impound.

Getting Your Personal Belongings

Your personal property inside the vehicle is yours, and it stays yours while the vehicle is in our yard. If you need medication, work equipment, a child’s car seat, or documents out of the car, you can come get them. There is no charge to retrieve your belongings — you don’t need to settle the tow or storage bill first. Your personal property is not held against what’s owed.

Retrieving belongings works the same way as picking up the vehicle: the same hours — Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM — and the same identification and proof of ownership described in Step 2. A valid photo ID, plus a current registration or the title with the owner’s name on it. The same things we can’t accept still apply.

Two rules worth knowing before you come down:

  • It’s one trip. Belongings can be retrieved one time, so plan to take everything you need at once. Think it through before you get here — check the trunk, the glovebox, under the seats, and the center console. You won’t get a second pass for the thing you forgot.
  • Personal items only — nothing that’s part of the vehicle. That means no removing radios, wheels, aftermarket parts, or anything else installed on or attached to the car. Those stay with the vehicle until it’s released to you. We can’t let anyone dismantle a vehicle in the yard, including its owner.

Call before you come down so we know you’re coming and can confirm you’ve got what you need with you. If you’re not sure whether something counts as a personal item or part of the vehicle, ask us on the phone — that’s a much better conversation to have before you drive out than at the gate.

If You Believe Your Vehicle Shouldn’t Have Been Towed

Here’s the part most people don’t know, and it changes who you need to talk to: we don’t decide which vehicles get towed. We remove abandoned or illegally parked vehicles only when the property owner, manager, or lessee asks us to. We aren’t out patrolling lots looking for cars, and we have no say in whether yours was one of them.

Every single tow we perform is authorized in writing. Before a vehicle moves, the person requesting it signs a written Vehicle Removal Authorization form, and we check their identification against the name on that form. Every time, no exceptions. We also take time-stamped photos of the vehicle and how it was parked before it’s hooked up.

So if you think your vehicle was taken in error, call us and we’ll check the paperwork for your tow — confirm the authorization was signed and that the identification matched.

What we can’t do is reverse the decision itself.

The authorization form places responsibility for the tow with the person who signed it. If you believe the tow shouldn’t have been requested in the first place — a permit that wasn’t visible, a spot that wasn’t clearly marked, a mix-up with your property manager or landlord — that’s a matter to take up with the owner, manager, or lessee who authorized it. It’s a civil issue between you and them, and it isn’t something we have the authority to decide.

We know that isn’t what anyone wants to hear when they’re standing in our lot. But we’d rather tell you straight than pretend we have authority we don’t have, or send you in circles. Call (602) 377-0036 and we’ll tell you what our records show for your vehicle.

What Happens If a Vehicle Isn’t Picked Up

We’d rather you take your car home. But if a vehicle goes unclaimed, Arizona has a process for it. After it’s been abandoned for more than 10 days, a title application can be started through the Arizona MVD — which includes notifying the registered owner and any lienholder. Storage continues to accrue during that time, which is the main reason to call sooner rather than later.

If you want to understand that process in more detail, see our guide to the Arizona abandoned vehicle removal form. Timelines can vary by city and county — call us and we’ll tell you exactly where your vehicle stands.

Part of Our Full Recovery Process

Getting a vehicle released is the last step of a process that starts the moment it’s picked up. See how the whole thing works, from pickup to resolution: Vehicle Recovery in Phoenix.

Call Now: (602) 377-0036 24/7 Phoenix Towing