Thread: Towing damage???

So I was in an accident about a month ago. My car insurance towed my car to their facility to assess the damages. They told me my car was totaled but I decided to buy it back from them. So my car insurance towed my car from their facility to a body repair shop of my choice. I go to pick up my car after it was repaired and I notice a loud grinding sound from the right rear as I was driving away. I stop immediately and look under to see the trailing arm resting inside the rim and the knuckle cracked in half. That damage was definitely not there after the accident as I drove my car onto and off the flatbed after the accident. So I assume the towing company did the damage. I talked with the towing company and the repair shop. Neither is accepting responsibility. I had the knuckle replaced and I'm back on the road again. A different car repair shop replaced the knuckle and they also noticed 4 bent control arms in the rear. I don't know if the control arms are related to the possible towing damage. I drive a 02 Grand Prix GT. The car accident damage was in the right front. Knuckle damage on the right rear. Any opinions on who did the damage to the rear???

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normally they tow fwd cars from the front. if it was towed. not flatbed to your house.

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

normally they tow fwd cars from the front. if it was towed. not flatbed to your house.

The car was towed using a flatbed to my house and when they towed it to their facility

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i guess they could have busted it up then when the tied the rear in. maybe they pulled to hard with the cable and snapped the knuckle.

This was certainly unfortunate! Dang.

Been staring at the pics and playing out the possible scenarios... bad news man. All roads lead to you paying for it.

I'm an old hand at this sort of thing, and as counter-intuitive as it may seem to you now... you'll need to forget chasing this, it leads nowhere trust me.

I can walk you through the logic if you like, of how every claim you could make could be denied. You can only generate friction and waste time trying to pin it on someone and hold them responsible. The key to it is this:

You bought it back. By the insurer's rules- because it was totaled, it cannot have been fully repaired unless you added your deductible plus the difference between the cost of actual repairs to their total loss payout. Its up to you to show your agent an insurable car after you picked a shop and the repairs if you want insurance from them again after the fix. Like starting from scratch. Don't shoot the messenger!

Originally Posted by aligater

Definitely tow damage, I've seen it too many times, even done it when towing scrap cars. The knuckle was from hanging his big j-hook over the lower bolt area and when he snugged the winch it tightens the chains at the back. It's best to hook it there but he probably had one chain looser than the other and didn't notice as he could only see the one side. Unfortunately it's the only decent place to hook onto these cars. The bent bars was probably his other attempt to tie the car down.

I've talked with the towing company. I showed them pics of the damage and they still won't accept the damage. Is there any other way I could get them to pay?

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You're basically SOL without solid proof that they did it.

towing co never pays out. ever watch judge judy? the tow co always wins.

Doesn't matter who did it, you were paid for the entire car. Unless YOU hired the tow company that caused it and paid them (if you did, read the reciept carefully) theres been no wrong done.

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

Doesn't matter who did it, you were paid for the entire car. Unless YOU hired the tow company that caused it and paid them (if you did, read the reciept carefully) theres been no wrong done.

You mention reading the receipt. I assume you are saying the receipt says something about "not responsible for damage." Just because a receipt says that, doesn't make it so. If he somehow had solid proof that they caused the damage, it doesn't matter what the receipt says, they would have to pay for repairs.

Yup chalk it up without proof you'll get nowhere and some things aren't worth the time/money/effort. A junkyard knuckle and a single lateral arm and alignment shouldn't have cost you much. Somethings just aren't worth pursuing. You live and you learn.


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They way I understood it, his insurance "had it towed" both times. But yeah if he made the call and paid the bill for a tow, and that reciept had some such damage waiver it would be good to read that part carefully.

There is no such thing as a real damage waiver. If the tow company damages it and you can prove it, they are responsible. The only reason they put that on there is because there are people that believe it and won't go after the towing company.

There was a kid years ago where his VR4 was towed for some reason, parked illegally or something like that. He went to claim the car and asked how they towed it. They told him they towed it with a front lift truck, and he immediately flipped sh!t on them, because they basically ruined his transmission by doing that. They tried to claim they weren't responsible for damage done to the car and tried to refuse paying for the repair.

Well, as soon as they were contacted by a lawyer, they paid up. He got a new transmission out of it, at the tune of something like $3000.

looks like he crossed the rear chains (not a bad idea)...thats the only way to snap that ear off, it also explains the bent lowers.
its towing company damage, you aint gonna prove it unless you have pics before/after or were present.

i towed for nearly 3 years, for people who prize their cars....i highly recommend dropping your schedule and staying with the vehicle being towed...

your car got seen as a wreck that a body shop was probably going to cutup and repair another car....unless your there to tell the towman "yeah im fixing it up"

drivers really only get a pickup/delivery addy and a time window...if we're lucky they tell us if its just a flat or a dead battery/etc.

cars are more and more engineered to be "just strong enough"......and not every idiot gets a job as a stock broker....

ive seen cars that were repairable....until after the recovery where an additional few grand damage was afflicted due to hurrying and "no ****s given"

replace knuckle, bend back laterals with a porta-power ram, always stay with car....