Anyone ever had their Subaru towed improperly???

 

I was telling a friend that tow companies would be less likely to tow my Subaru cause they would need to get a flatbead, otherwise they'd ruin the drivetrain. Of course if the tow company didn't know that, would they be responsible for the damages?

yes they would be responsible, it is their job to know how to tow any vehicle on the roads today, one would think.

 

 

 

 

~Josh~

Anyone ever had their Subaru towed improperly???

 

I was telling a friend that tow companies would be less likely to tow my Subaru cause they would need to get a flatbead, otherwise they'd ruin the drivetrain. Of course if the tow company didn't know that, would they be responsible for the damages?

Most any reputable, AAA Approved or the like, will know and will send a flatbed. A friend of mine has a towing company/garage. He knows more about what and how to tow then I could imagine. Almost all towing company's have a flatbed with a wheel lift. The Subaru isn't the only car with specific towing requirements.

 

However if "Fast Eddy's" towing company sends out a zit faced 17 year old to tow you car and burns up the transmission because he didn't put a fuse in the AWD or pick all the wheels off of the ground specificaly on a manual trans I would say they are responsible.

 

Unless you are unconcious after an accident or on the way to a hospital in an ambulance, hang around and make sure it is done right. If you are in an ambulance my guess is you have more to worry about than a car that can be replaced!

 

Greg

someone on the XT6 boards had theirs improperly towed and as fired up as he got about it, i don't think they agreed to do anything about it. it would be hard to prove it's their fault. then everyone with a pad transmission could just keep parking their car illegally until they got the 18 year old kid towing it wrong and get a new transmission. so yeah - they should be responsible, but good luck and have fun with a situation like that.

 

back to the topic. will towing an AWD manual or automatic ruin the transmission?

the latest from Subaru on towing.....Note the guidelines say recently revised

 

http://www.subaru.com/owners/care/carcaretips/middle.jsp?pageID=towing

You can do a search on the board for this topic. It has been talked about numerous times by numerious people. There have been talks of lawsuits because Earls monkey wrench towing screwed up someones tranny.

 

The info is out there....just have to do a search.

It is actually not that difficult to prove someone destroyed your tranny by improper towing, and yes the tow truck company is responsible for every penny of it. It is not uncommon nor uheard of for tow trucks to screw trannies, so it should not be a difficult case to make in court.

Having a friend who ran a tranny shop, even the MT vechiles should be put on a flatbed, though they are not that suceptable to damage. I have an old-style dual range 4WD MT and it can be towed however, but it's always been flatbeded (AAA is the only one who has towed it - which has only been about 3 times in the 20 years we have owned the car.).

Most tow-truck companies will send a flatbed out anyway if it is a Subaru, and most will anyway if it is 4WD/AWD period.

Now, as far as being responsible for drivetrain damage from towing, that's assuming you're not being towed as a result of being illegally parked or whatever. If that's the case, I don't think they are liable for any towing damage.

 

Any real towing service has a flatbed hauler. Now, Bob's garage who sometimes tows a car probably won't, but a place that tows regularly will have one. Just tell them you need a flatbed and that's what they will send. If they don't have one, call someone else.

They are still liable even if you were parked illegaly, though I do see them trying to use it as an excuse, but basically when the the city (or whatever government) tows you they turn your car over to a shop, and in doing so the shop accepts all responsibility for damage done to your car while in possession, ie ripping a tranny. This applies to ALL shops, whether or not they have a disclaimer (which is trumped by state/national law).

I will say that if it was repossessed or you were aprehended on drug charges you would probably not win a suit that they tore your tranny!