How we check facts

People land here stressed and in a hurry, so a wrong address or fee costs them real money. These are the rules we hold ourselves to.

Only official sources

Every fee, address and rule comes from a primary source: the statute or administrative code, the state regulator's fee schedule, a city ordinance, or the city, police or contractor page for the lot. Each fact links to its source and shows the date we read it.

We use secondary sources such as consumer groups or legal aid summaries only to find a rule, and label them when we cite them.

We never guess a fee

If we could not confirm a number in an official source, the page says "Not confirmed" and the calculator leaves it out of the total with a clear note. We never fill a gap with an average, an estimate or another website's number.

How the calculator works

The calculator adds the tow fee for your vehicle size, storage for each day the law lets the lot charge (some states give a free first 24 hours, some count calendar days, others 24-hour periods), and any one-time fees the rules allow. When every line is a legal maximum, the total is the most the lot may charge. Lots can charge less. Deadlines are counted from the tow date, and we do not push a deadline past a weekend or holiday, so the date shown is never later than the real one.

What we cover

All 50 states and DC (4 in full depth: California, Georgia, Texas, Virginia), 33 cities and 85 impound lots. Data last checked Nov 15, 2026.

Vendor lookups

Many cities use a vendor such as Autura or FindMyTowedCar to look up a towed car by plate. We link to the official lookup and never copy or query it ourselves.

Not legal advice

We explain rules in plain language. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. For a specific dispute, the hearing office, a legal aid group or a lawyer can help.