My girlfriend leaves today, and she comes back shortly.... my car isnt there. We were parked on a side street that has had construction signs up for the past few days, but they never do anything.... So we parked at 11, i wasnt %100 sure we could park there cause we weren't getting up at 6:30 to move our cars, so i went back out there at 3am and double checked, the construction was only until the 7th. But they decided to do work on the 11th.... so i walk up to the sign again, still says the 7th, go to the next sign down, and bam, it says the 11th. My question is, could there be any damage to my car, depending on the tow truck they used... My car was in 1st gear and my ebrake was set. Could that damage anything in the car?

Thanks for any help!

 

Yes. Go out and take pics of the different signs. Good luck!

 

unfortunately my parents are in FL and have my digi camera and i have no film.... So i just took the freakin signs.

 

As long as they towed it from the front, your transmission would probably be OK. As far as the e-brake goes, I can't remember if it locks the front brakes or the rear. Greatbear knows. Greatbear knows all.

 

If they used something other than a flatbed tow truck you are definitely looking at potential damage. For one, MINI recommends ONLY towing on a flatbed. If indeed a flatbed was used, there is generally not much of a concern 'dragging' the car up onto it. My concern would be that the tow truck operator hooked onto some suspension piece and dragged the car with this instead of using a 'tow eye' (this comes with the car) screwed into the bumper under the cap that hides the socket for it. Doing this can knock out the alignment. If they flat-towed or dollied it with one end on the ground, you are looking at either brake damage or engine/trans damage.

The kicker is that tow companies always have the disclaimer that 'they are not responsible for vehicle damage due to towing' in situations like these.

 

If they didn't rotate the front wheels, then you might be OK, but the E-Brake does lock up the rear wheels, so there's all kinds of things that it seems to me could happen no matter which end got dragged. If I were you, I'd file a report with the police and mention it at the towing yard. Once you pick it up, I would call MINI and have them tow it to your dealer and get a dealer to look it over...just make something up and tell the dealer that it was towed, and you think that the transmission is acting funny or something...

***EDIT***

You beat me to it, Greatbear. But it doesn't matter much what the towing company's policy is. It matters that the city towed your car when the sign that was next to the car clearly stated that the construction was finished on the 7th. If something is wrong (which it seems like it might be) then the city has to pay for it. Period.

***Moving to "Beneath the Bonnet"***

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>>As long as they towed it from the front, your transmission would probably be OK. As far as the e-brake goes, I can't remember if it locks the front brakes or the rear. Greatbear knows. Greatbear knows all.

You KNEW I'd be posting in here, didntcha?

(the ebrake uses the rear brakes)

 

I got a little more information out of them, they say how they tow cars in chicago is with a flatbed type truck, its a platform that goes under the two front wheels and moves the car....

 

:smile: Two minutes, people, TWO MINUTES. He was typing even as I wrote it!
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Did they move your car to another part of the street, or did they 'impound' it and take it some distance? If it's the latter, and they didnt release the parking brake or set the rear wheels on a dolly, then you will most likely have damage done to the rear brakes from them dragging and heating up. Ask the tow company how they deal with set parking brakes.

I would point out the difference in the signs and make sure that any damage done (have the car checked) be paid for by the city or whomever was responsible for having your car towed. Dont take no or being pushed into red tape for an answer. MINI is quite clear in their procedure for towing the car, it's all in the manual.

 

took it to patrick mini, all is good
otherwise i'd have a few words with the city of chicago... and thats a waste of time.

 

HA! ER towing! your lucky they just didn't keep the car, or give it to an alderman's kid. I watch them move cars all over my neighborhood at night. Anyone who parks too close to the police station on 35th st gets towed.

By The Way, any one who doesn't know, in chicago ER or Environmental Recovery is a huge shady towing company with big time connections. They get and do what they want and its politely ignored by most people.

 

NRX13, better make sure they didn't plant any kilos or firearms in your MINI! Glad to hear it turned out OK.

 

>>NRX13, better make sure they didn't plant any kilos or firearms in your MINI! Glad to hear it turned out OK.

I guess its time to check the old special spot in the wheel well!

 

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah there is damage .Can you say...
Junk it???