How to Get a Car Towed Away Free, 7 Ways That Work

Call a tow truck with no plan behind you, and a five mile tow runs about $75 to $150, by AAA Club Alliance's own math. Call the same truck through a plan you already pay for, and the tow is free. Same truck, same five miles, two very different bills.

I'm Anthony, the lead tech at Supercanic in San Jacinto and Hemet, California. Free tows are real, but each one has a catch. Some only go to a dealer. Some only go to a safe spot off the freeway. Some only work if the car is junk. Pick the one that fits your car and where it needs to go.

The 7 Free Tows Side by Side

Start with the question that matters. Do you need the car fixed, or do you need it gone? The first four ways below move a car you want back. The last three move a car you're done with.

Plan prices from Experian and AAA Club Alliance. Carmaker terms from Ford. Freeway patrol rules from the CHP. Each one is cited in the Reading List below. Terms change by club, state and policy, so check yours.

Use the Roadside Plan You Already Have

Plenty of people pay for a tow they already had covered. Check three places before you call anyone.

First, your car insurance. Most insurers sell roadside help as an add-on. Experian puts it at about $15 to $30 a year per car. Pull up your policy app and look for roadside or towing on the coverage page.

Second, your carmaker. Ford Roadside Assistance runs 5 years or 60,000 miles from the warranty start date. It tows to the nearest Ford dealer. If you call your own tow, Ford says it will pay back a fair amount for a tow to the nearest dealer within 50 miles. Save the receipt and the repair order. Most brands have a plan like this, so check your owner's manual.

Third, your credit card. Experian says some cards only dispatch help and bill you per use. Others include service up to a set amount, and those cards usually carry an annual fee. Read the card's benefits page before you assume it's free.

How Far AAA Will Tow for Free

AAA is the plan most people mean when they say free towing. It's free only up to your level's limit. Club Alliance, one of the AAA clubs, lays it out like this as of March 2026.

From AAA Club Alliance as of March 2026. Each AAA club sets its own terms, so check your club's page. A tow, a jump, a flat or a lockout each use one call. Unused calls don't roll over.

Past your limit, you pay a per mile member rate. Club Alliance doesn't print the rate, so ask the driver before the car goes on the truck.

One trick saves a lot of Classic members. Five miles is short. If your shop is 12 miles away, have the truck drop you at a closer shop you trust. Or call a mobile mechanic and skip the tow.

Freeway Service Patrol Tows in California

Break down on a busy California freeway during commute hours, and help may already be driving toward you. The CHP's Freeway Service Patrol is a free service of private tow trucks with CHP trained drivers. The CHP says it runs over 350 trucks on more than 1,750 miles of freeway.

The drivers will try a jump, a tire change or some fuel first. If the car won't run, they tow it free to a drop spot the CHP picks. They can't tow you to a shop or to your house. They don't tow motorcycles. They don't help at crash scenes unless the CHP sends them.

In Los Angeles County, Metro says its patrol makes about 25,000 assists a month. Its trucks carry up to a gallon of fuel. For help that isn't an emergency, dial 511 and say Motorist Aid.

Out here in Riverside County, the Riverside County Transportation Commission runs the patrol on all of SR 91 and I 215 in the county. It also covers I 15 from SR 60 down to Temecula Parkway, and SR 60 from Milliken Avenue to Theodore Street. Hours are weekdays 6:00 to 8:30 in the morning and 1:30 to 6:00 in the afternoon. Friday afternoons start at 11:30. There's no service on holidays.

Outside those hours, RCTC says to call 911 if you can't reach private help. CHP dispatch then sends a rotation tow truck, and standard rates apply. That one is not free. Drivers on the patrol can't take tips either.

Free Ways to Get Rid of a Dead Car

Now the other half. You don't want the car back. You want it gone.

Donate it. Car donation programs usually arrange the pickup, so ask if it's free before you sign. The tax break is smaller than most people think. IRS Publication 526 says that for a car claimed at over $500, you can deduct the smaller of what the charity sold it for or its fair market value. If it sells for $500 or less, you can deduct the smaller of $500 or its fair market value. The charity should send Form 1098-C within 30 days of the sale.

Sell it for junk. Some junk car buyers fold pickup into the offer. Others take a tow fee out of it. Get two or three quotes, and ask each one for the price after pickup. A lower offer with free pickup can beat a higher one with a fee.

Call your city. Some California cities run an abandoned vehicle program paid for with state DMV funds. The City of Hemet says its Code Compliance Division will remove an inoperative vehicle from your property free of charge, as long as the VIN is still on it. Call (951) 765-2339. Hemet's code also says a dead car can't sit in plain view for more than five days, so the program keeps you on the right side of that rule.

Whatever way it leaves, file a release of liability. In California, the DMV says to do it within 5 calendar days of the sale or transfer. After that, new tickets on the car are not yours.

When the Car Isn't Yours

A stranger's car on your property is a different case. The tow is often free for you, because the car's owner pays.

In California, San Francisco Police sum up Vehicle Code 22658. A business lot needs a sign at least 17 by 22 inches with one inch letters, saying cars will be towed at the owner's expense. A single family home doesn't need the sign. The property owner must tell police within one hour of okaying a tow, and the tow yard has to be within 10 miles.

At a home in Hemet, the city's brochure says you can also sign the car over to the city's program. The city tries to reach the owner first. If the car is still there 10 days after notice, it may be towed. For a car parked on the street, Hemet asks you to call the police at (951) 765-2400.

Old Advice That Stuck

You need a tow, period. Not always. A car that won't start is often a battery, a starter or an alternator. From August 18, 2025 to October 17, 2026, Supercanic closed 953 paid jobs, and 872 of them were done where the car sat. Our starter bills had a median of $438 over 22 jobs. Batteries ran $363 over 19 jobs. The full numbers are on our mobile mechanic prices page. A tow plus a shop visit can cost more than the fix.

The state pays you to scrap a junker, so it'll tow it too. No. California's Bureau of Automotive Repair pays $1,350 to $2,000 to retire an eligible car. The car has to start on its own and drive to the dismantler under its own power. A dead car doesn't qualify.

Freeway patrol will take me home. It won't. The CHP says patrol trucks can't tow to a home or a private shop. Plan the second tow before the first one ends.

Before You Call a Tow Truck

Run this list while you wait somewhere safe.

• Get out of traffic first. On a freeway with no shoulder, call 911.
• Check your insurance app for roadside or towing coverage.
• Check your owner's manual or the carmaker's app for free roadside.
• Call AAA if you're a member, and ask how many miles your level covers.
• Ask any tow driver for the full price before the car is hooked up.
• Ask yourself if a mobile mechanic could fix it right there.
• If the car is junk, get two quotes and ask if pickup is included.

Watch out at a crash scene. The City of Chicago warns about rogue tow trucks that show up uncalled and rush drivers into forms that cost thousands to get the car back. Its advice works anywhere. Never take a tow you didn't call, and never sign a form with the fees left blank.

Find Help Without the Tow

MechanicRank lists 48,076 repair shops and mechanics in 6,647 cities, including mobile mechanics who come to you. Every listing shows the phone, reviews and hours, and the call rings the shop direct. Search your ZIP code, and if your car won't start at home, ask about a driveway visit first.

At Supercanic, our own shop, labor is $150 an hour, with a 90 day or 5,000 mile labor warranty.

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