MODEL Y awd towed without dollies

[ElectroFish]

So long story short yesterday florida was under a state of emergency due to flooding. My wife was leaving work and the roads to get to the highway were very flooded with cars stranded everywhere blocking the roads. I told her to find the highest point near her and leave the car parked and I will have a friend with a truck come pick her up. She parked it in shopping plaza next her restaurants. 3 AM rolls around and im awoken to my tesla alarm going off and we are being towed. Mind you the streets are all flooded. We have it all on video but basically the tow truck driver pickled it up from the back and drove over 12 miles to the tow yard pulling it through the flooded water on the front wheels with no dollies. Front bumper splitter was pulled off by the water and I have no idea what harm they may have caused to the front motors.


The tow truck guy states that this will not cause any harm to the car despite what tesla says on their website.

Im not sure if they are even allowed to tow my car form a lot while under a state of emergency as all business were ordered closed.

Florida law states car cannot be towed more than 10 miles.

Negligence of the tow driver not to use dollies when he had them on his truck per the video.

Other than the bumper and the tow bill not sure what else I can go after them for if nothing is showing damage right away.

Tesla wants 600-900 to do a diag of the vehicle.

 

[jkdman123]

So long story short yesterday florida was under a state of emergency due to flooding. My wife was leaving work and the roads to get to the highway were very flooded with cars stranded everywhere blocking the roads. I told her to find the highest point near her and leave the car parked and I will have a friend with a truck come pick her up. She parked it in shopping plaza next her restaurants. 3 AM rolls around and im awoken to my tesla alarm going off and we are being towed. Mind you the streets are all flooded. We have it all on video but basically the tow truck driver pickled it up from the back and drove over 12 miles to the tow yard pulling it through the flooded water on the front wheels with no dollies. Front bumper splitter was pulled off by the water and I have no idea what harm they may have caused to the front motors.


The tow truck guy states that this will not cause any harm to the car despite what tesla says on their website.

Im not sure if they are even allowed to tow my car form a lot while under a state of emergency as all business were ordered closed.

Florida law states car cannot be towed more than 10 miles.

Negligence of the tow driver not to use dollies when he had them on his truck per the video.

Other than the bumper and the tow bill not sure what else I can go after them for if nothing is showing damage right away.

Tesla wants 600-900 to do a diag of the vehicle.

Save everything. Get estimate from Tesla. You're gonna have to take the tow truck company to small claims court.

 

[ElectroFish]

Save everything. Get estimate from Tesla. You're gonna have to take the tow truck company to small claims court.

So other than the front bumper that was pulled off with the clips missing. If I don't have any issues with the car currently no drivetrain errors everything is driving fine can I still go after them you think? Maybe just negligence ?

 

[jkdman123]

So other than the front bumper that was pulled off with the clips missing. If I don't have any issues with the car currently no drivetrain errors everything is driving fine can I still go after them you think? Maybe just negligence ?

It's gonna depend on what Tesla says. Did the bumper sustain any damage? Obviously that's their fault. Any charges to put the bumper back on are their fault. The big ticket is gonna be the front motor. If Tesla says that it's damaged in any way, then that's gonna be the toughest for them to swallow because it won't be cheap. But I don't think arguing that they know better than the manufacturer about how to tow the car without damaging it is gonna sit well with the judge. It's idiotic on its face.

In small claims court I don't think you can collect on something as nebulous as just 'negligence'. You can collect on any real monetary damages they are directly or indirectly responsible for. If Tesla says there is literally no damage to your car and put the bumper back on free of charge, then the only thing you might sue them for would be the impound fee if you can prove they violated some towing ordnance.

 

[zoomer0056]

That tow truck diver probably had a contract and made a killing hauling cars because of the storm. Find out who owns the lot where it was towed from. Maybe they have some liability too. But I really don't know ... good luck.

 

[ElectroFish]

It's gonna depend on what Tesla says. Did the bumper sustain any damage? Obviously that's their fault. Any charges to put the bumper back on are their fault. The big ticket is gonna be the front motor. If Tesla says that it's damaged in any way, then that's gonna be the toughest for them to swallow because it won't be cheap. But I don't think arguing that they know better than the manufacturer about how to tow the car without damaging it is gonna sit well with the judge. It's idiotic on its face.

In small claims court I don't think you can collect on something as nebulous as just 'negligence'. You can collect on any real monetary damages they are directly or indirectly responsible for. If Tesla says there is literally no damage to your car and put the bumper back on free of charge, then the only thing you might sue them for would be the impound fee if you can prove they violated some towing ordnance.

Thanks for your feedback. The bumper just had all the lower push clips pulled out so it was hanging. I'm probably just going to order a bunch of those and do that myself.

I did put the car in service mode and scanned for any codes couldn't find any related to being pulled. Im used to obd2 bmw stuff so maybe im not looking in the correct spot if anyone knows. Not even sure if it pulls codes when its off and the alarm is going off.

I did drive it and it all seems just fine. After reviewing the footage it was dragged at about 30 mph (guessing) for 13 miles 40 minutes.

The messed up part is the tow truck driver had the dollies on his truck just didn't want to use them.

 

[ElectroFish]

Tow company has reversed the tow charge after seeing the footage.

 

[fholbert]

Tow company has reversed the tow charge after seeing the footage.

Can you post the footage?

Inquiring Minds Want to Know!

 

[ElectroFish]

I have over 50 videos saved but here is one being driven through some water. let me know what you want to see and ill make it happen.

 

[Bart404]

Why was it towed? Was it parked illegally or blocking something?

 

[ElectroFish]

Why was it towed? Was it parked illegally or blocking something?

We were under a state of emergency from flooding and my wife attempted to leave work and had no where to go to all the roads were compeltely flooded with cars all stuck. she found a lot at a la fitness that was above water and parked the car in a spot. It did have a no overnight parking sign. We planned on getting it in the morning .

I think its pretty messed up to tow a perfectly good working vehicle under a state of emergency and there are vehicles literally blocking the street but it is what it is. This is more about the driver being completely lazy and not wanting to tow our vehicle properly and potentially causing damage.

 

[ElectroFish]

lower Bumper pulled off.

 

[Transformer]

The video and its metadata files should document that the car was in the parking lot when the tow truck nabbed it. That seems likely to be outside the scope of the tow company's orders to clear the roads.

I'd speak with an in-state lawyer and probably pay Tesla to check the car for damage, or at least that drive unit.

Do copy all those sentry files.

 

[jkdman123]

The video and its metadata files should document that the car was in the parking lot when the tow truck nabbed it. That seems likely to be outside the scope of the tow company's orders to clear the roads.

I'd speak with an in-state lawyer and probably pay Tesla to check the car for damage, or at least that drive unit.

Do copy all those sentry files.

The clear roads order is irrelevant. The lot was marked as 'no overnight parking'. Since they left the car there overnight, I don't think that's an issue. The issue is the incorrect way the car was towed and the statement from the tow truck driver that it doesn't matter to use dollies on a Tesla or not. Even if the tow is legit, they have a duty to not F up your property in the course of removing it.

And considering the relatively small amounts, even given possible damage to the motor, a lawyer is gonna cost him way more than what he would probably ever collect. Small claims limit in FL is $8,000. That may cover a new motor, but it's gonna be close.

 

[redpoint5]

Tow company has reversed the tow charge after seeing the footage.

That's a small miracle right there.

Police had my car towed once because my license was "invalid". It was on a Friday just after "business hours", so they got hundreds over the weekend in "storage fees" sitting in the uncovered gravel lot. $500 to get my $500 car out.

The driving with an invalid license ticket was dismissed when I explained DMV had never notified me that I needed to get a new license.

 

[ElectroFish]

The clear roads order is irrelevant. The lot was marked as 'no overnight parking'. Since they left the car there overnight, I don't think that's an issue. The issue is the incorrect way the car was towed and the statement from the tow truck driver that it doesn't matter to use dollies on a Tesla or not. Even if the tow is legit, they have a duty to not F up your property in the course of removing it.

And considering the relatively small amounts, even given possible damage to the motor, a lawyer is gonna cost him way more than what he would probably ever collect. Small claims limit in FL is $8,000. That may cover a new motor, but it's gonna be close.

Well they did admit to that the driver should of used the dolly.