the Cost of Towing Services

My sister's car recently "broke down" so we had to call a towing service to pick her car up from our house and tow it to a family friend's car garage. My father is pretty handy so when he couldn't fix it he called the mechanic. The tow truck charged $85 to have the car towed about 15 miles. Including 7% sales tax in the state of Georgia ($5.95), we paid a little over $90 to have the car towed. Once at the shop, the mechanic determined that the only thing wrong with the car was a loose fuse. However, my father would not have been able to fix the car without a $20 part to keep the item from being loose.

The tow service was expensive, according to my father, who said that the same service 5 years ago was only $40 (the same company was used both times to figure out the difference in price). The car broke down on a Friday morning and the towing service was supposed to come that afternoon. That evening when my father returned from work, the car was still there. He contacted the towing company who said the car would be picked up the next morning, Saturday, at the latest. The next day, 2:00 PM rolled around and the car was still in the drive way. My father was extremely upset because the mechanic, and our family, was on a time crunch. The towing service caused the family friend mechanic to be behind his schedule so he was not able to finish the car that weekend and my sister had to borrow my car to go to school. Carless, Icarpooled with my boyfriend to work. The delayed service was very inconvenient.

I would recommend shopping around for a service first and make sure they are reliable! Have a towing service number stored in your cell phone in case of emergencies!