Tip #30: Your car may be all-wheel drive even if it does not look like it
Plenty of ordinary sedans, wagons and small crossovers are sold with optional all-wheel drive and carry little or no badge to show it. If you are not certain which wheels drive your car, say so on the call and we send a flatbed.
Tip #30 in one line
Plenty of ordinary sedans, wagons and small crossovers are sold with optional all-wheel drive and carry little or no badge to show it. If you are not certain which wheels drive your car, say so on the call and we send a flatbed.
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Call nowWhy people get this wrong
A lot of drivers assume AWD means a big SUV or a pickup. In reality many compact crossovers, midsize sedans and wagons are offered in both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions that look almost identical from the curb. Some brands put a small badge on the trunk, some do not, and a used car may have had its badges removed. If you bought the car used or leased it without reading the window sticker, it is easy not to know.
Getting it wrong matters because the tow method depends on it. A front-wheel-drive car can ride on a wheel-lift with its front wheels raised. An all-wheel-drive car generally should not, because the rear wheels rolling on the road turn parts of the drivetrain that are meant to turn together with the front.
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Call nowHow to check in a minute
Look at the trunk lid and the tailgate for letters like AWD, 4WD, 4x4 or a brand-specific name for its all-wheel-drive system. Check the owner's manual, which usually has a towing section that says whether the car must be transported on a flatbed. Look at the registration or insurance card, which sometimes lists the full trim. Many dealer and manufacturer apps also show the drive type for your vehicle identification number.
If none of that is at hand, tell the dispatcher you are not sure. That is a complete answer. We send a flatbed, which is safe for any drive type, and the price is the same flat hook fee plus per-mile rate quoted before the truck rolls.
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Call nowOne more reason to say it
Knowing the drive type also helps on a winch out. An AWD car stuck in snow or mud is pulled differently from one with only two driven wheels, and the driver sets up the line knowing which wheels will help. Our towing questions page covers more of what the dispatcher asks.
Pickup trucks and body-on-frame SUVs add one more twist: some have part-time four-wheel drive that the driver selects with a lever, a dial or a button. Those vehicles still go on the deck in our default plan, because the setting that matters can be left in the wrong position after a long day, and a flatbed works no matter where it is. The same rule covers a vehicle with any kind of driveline warning light on the dash.
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Call nowMore on vehicle types
Keep reading, or go back to every post on the blog.
- EV towing in New Jersey: what electric car owners need to know
- Motorcycle towing done right: what riders should expect
- Tip #26: An all-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive car belongs on a flatbed
- Tip #27: Never let anyone tow an electric car with its drive wheels on the ground
- Tip #28: Tell the dispatcher your car sits low before the truck is sent
- Tip #29: Know where your motorcycle can be strapped before it needs a tow
- Tip #31: Close and latch a convertible top before the car is towed
- Tip #76: A Tesla needs a flatbed, and the owner's manual explains its transport mode
- All posts
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