3 Tips To Tow A Car For Cheap

If your car breaks down, it can get really expensive to get it fixed. But then, as if the trouble with the car and the expense involved with that wasn’t enough, getting the vehicle to a mechanic or your home is sometimes equally expensive. People often end up paying over 100 dollars to car tow services for getting their car towed for 5-10 miles. Even worse, if you happen to get unlucky and end up with a broken car on a holiday, a weekend or in the middle of the night, you might have to pay just double that. Yeah, it’s a lot for an average household.

So, in this article, we discuss 3 tips to tow a car at a cheap cost. These tips might help you save a few bucks the next time your car breaks down or you are stuck somewhere.

Tips to tow at a cheap cost

Here you go with the three tips to tow your vehicle without spending too much.

1. Membership with a roadside assistance service

Getting a yearly or half-yearly or biannual package from a reliable service provider for any time roadside assistance often proves to be worthier than it is given credit for. How? Let’s see.

An annual package would cost you a few hundred dollars- lesser in some areas- for 24/7 assistance. This means you will be getting free and possibly quicker assistance any number of times that you are stuck in a tricky situation. Now, if you are having to hire a service provider on the spot, then you’d be paying something between $50 and $120 (higher if it’s night or a weekend or a holiday). You can see the difference here.

Well, yes, the package cost would also depend on the area you reside in. Also, not all service providers offer packages. While you buy a package, confirm the area or distance covered and enquire for extra charges, if any.

In case you couldn’t find a good package or if all seems too costly for you, we’d recommend the tip two down here for you.

2. Get motor insurance that covers roadside assistance

We are assuming that most of you have motor insurance. You know that it basically offers coverage against theft, accident and related repairs. What most of you probably don’t know is there are many companies that offers roadside assistance and towing coverages. In fact, some of you could even be having the policy covering roadside assistance, but don’t know about it, and hence don’t make the claim.

So, of course, getting an insurance policy that covers towing and roadside assistance expenses will make the situation less burdensome for you.

Even better would be if there is an insurance company in your region that offers towing and roadside assistance in its plan itself. Even though there might be a distance limit in the coverage, you would get towing assistance, locksmith assistance, gas service as well as even tire changing assistance. So, be sure to enquire about these when you are renewing your policy or buying a new one. If you happen to get any such service along with the insurance cover, you will end up saving a considerable amount of you are ever stuck around.

3. Grabbing the necessary tools and putting your mechanical skills to use

To begin with, investing in good quality two rope would be good. A tow rope is a strong rope with steel or aluminum hooks that connects two vehicles as you tow the vehicle. If you have a tow rope at your disposal, you can easily consider asking for help. And, it can save you some good amount of money. Tow ropes are available out there are for less than 30 dollars a unit. Given that you can probably use them multiple times, see how much you could end up saving.

Also, having a rough idea of the basic mechanics of the vehicle can save you possibly thousands. No idea where to start paying attention to? Well, how about learning to jumpstart your vehicle? It is a skill that can help you in a dozen situations. Thousands of people get stuck on a road with a dead battery vehicle, which won’t start. If only you knew how to jumpstart and get your car going, you could save all that money you would otherwise need to tow it or for getting professional help.

Likewise would be the very basic skill of changing tires. Just about everybody who owns a car would have experienced the flat tire situation at least once. It actually is very common. If you have the knowledge of steps to change the car tire, you don’t need to hire somebody when you are stuck with a flat tire. Of course, you will need the proper tools and an extra tire and stocked up all the time for this. Essentially you’d need winches and a jack. Toolkits are available for less than 100 dollars and you can use them like forever.

Here are some quick extra tips:

• Keep the vehicle owner’s manual always in the car itself. You never know when it might come handy.


• Bargain if you are having to hire towing service on the spot. Not everybody gives a discount, of course, but there is a chance that you may get a discount if you ask. So, do ask.


• Have a rough idea of the average nominal rates of towing in the region. This can many a time to prevent the tow service provider from charging exaggerated sums. Even quick googling may help.


• If you don’t have the budget to get your car towed, it is pretty unlikely that you’ll have enough budget to cover the potentially expensive required repairs. If it’s your case, read this article to learn more about your options if you can’t pay for your car repairs.


• Finally, don’t hesitate to ask for help. If at all possible, you should try ringing a friend or somebody who can help you, if they happen to be around or live nearby. There is a good chance that they can help to tow your vehicle without having to pay an exaggerated fee. Even better if you happen to have a mechanic in your circle.

That’s about the main tips for tow a car at a cheap cost. We hope you put them into practice and save some of your hard-earned dollars!