Tip #33: Take your valuables with you, or lock them out of sight
Once your car leaves on a tow truck, it may sit in a shop lot, a dealer's back row or a street until someone works on it. Take anything valuable or necessary with you, and lock away what you cannot carry.
Tip #33 in one line
Once your car leaves on a tow truck, it may sit in a shop lot, a dealer's back row or a street until someone works on it. Take anything valuable or necessary with you, and lock away what you cannot carry.
Stuck right now? Skip the reading and call.
Call nowWhat to take
Start with the things you would need tonight: phone, charger, wallet, keys to your home, medication, glasses, a child's car seat if you will ride in another vehicle. Then the things that are expensive or private: laptops, tablets, work equipment, cash, checkbooks, mail with your address, and any paperwork with account numbers.
Two items people forget are the garage-door remote clipped to the visor and the toll transponder on the windshield. A garage remote with your registration in the glove box tells anyone who finds it where you live and how to get in. A transponder left in the car can be read at a toll plaza while the car rides on the truck. Take both, or at least the remote.
One call, one flat quote, 24/7.
Call nowWhat to leave
Leave the registration and insurance card if the shop will need them, or take photos of both and carry the originals; ask the shop which they prefer. Leave the key or fob if the shop needs to move or diagnose the car, and agree with them where it goes. Leave tools, the spare tire and the jack in place.
If you must leave something in the car, put it in the trunk or a closed compartment before the tow, not on a seat. Do it before the truck arrives, so it is not obvious what you put away.
One call, one flat quote, 24/7.
Call nowMake a quick list
Photograph the cabin and trunk before the car is loaded. It takes thirty seconds and records what was in the car and where. The driver will also photograph the car's condition. If the car is going to a closed shop overnight, ask the shop how their lot is secured. We tow to the destination you choose, priced as a flat hook fee plus a per-mile rate; more handoff tips are on our towing guides page and the local towing page.
If you are traveling with pets or children, they come with you, never in the towed car. Our drivers cannot carry anyone riding inside a car on the deck, so plan a ride for everyone before the truck arrives: a family member, a rideshare or a taxi. Ask the dispatcher about passenger room in the truck cab; it is limited and depends on the truck sent, so do not count on it for a group.
One call, one flat quote, 24/7.
Call nowMore on breakdowns
Keep reading, or go back to every post on the blog.
- What to do when your car breaks down in New Jersey
- Where to tow your car: home, repair shop or dealer?
- Tip #23: With kids in the car, decide in the first minute whether they stay buckled or get out
- Tip #24: Ask the dispatcher about your pet before the tow truck arrives
- Tip #32: Close the trunk, windows and sunroof before the truck pulls away
- Tip #45: In a parking deck, give the level and the clearance before a truck is sent
- Tip #48: Call 911 for danger, a tow company for a car that will not go
- Tip #50: Tell the dispatcher where, what and which way in the first 30 seconds
- All posts
Need towing and roadside assistance right now? One call, truck on the way.
Real dispatcher, 24 hours a day. Quoted price before we roll.