towing an auto

gstuart · Dec 16, 2014

hi

a neighbour knocked concerning his mate who owns a freelander auto

he explained his mate ran out of diesel in the middle of knowhere and called a recovery company

they came out and towed him 25 miles to the nearest garage

filled up , got the car started and put it into drive, nothing would not move

now surely i was always under the impression u should not tow a four wheel drive unless u remove the prop and an auto can't be towed at all

I reckon the box, and ird must be destroyed

am trying to thing if anything can be saved as I imagine alotof damage has been done

garage said sorry mate there must have been something wrong before and not my problem, happy bloody xmas

he had to leave the car at the petrol station and now the garage said prove the car was ok before i towed it

feel really bad for guy

wonder if the car is now written off as I imagine he won't be able to claim on his insurance

pretty sure it must be a rouge recovery company

as there is so much knowledge here was wondering what do u think if anything can be done, or do u think its finsihed

Would it destroy the autobox, ird, vcu and rear diff

ZDomZ · Dec 16, 2014

Was it front lifted? Or flat towed. Or on the back of a truck?

Front lift is ok if prop disconnected but a no no otherwise.

Flat tow is fine for 5-10 miles at low speed. Manuals would be fine for more.

On a truck is the best and won't damage anything.

If it has been flat towed for 25 miles the 4wd system should be fine BUT the gearbox may have suffered.

If it was front lifted the auto or should be fine but the ird, vcu and diff will have taken a pounding.

The garage are liable, was it through the aa, rac or green flag?

If so chase it up with them. I know the aa will pay and claim back from their subcontractor.

gstuart · Dec 16, 2014

flat towed, no removal of prop and for around 25 miles and speeds around 40-50 mph

i think it may be a bucket of spares

just can't belive what I was hearing as I can't imagine any of the big breakdown companies doing this

feel really bad for this guy

daft question is it the torque convertor that gets destroyed , does it make any difference if the engine was running in towing an auto , sorry in asking

jamesmartin · Dec 16, 2014

gstuart said:
flat towed, no removal of prop and for around 25 miles and speeds around 40-50 mph

i think it may be a bucket of spares

just can't belive what I was hearing as I can't imagine any of the big breakdown companies doing this

feel really bad for this guy

daft question is it the torque convertor that gets destroyed , does it make any difference if the engine was running in towing an auto , sorry in asking

engine running wouldnt be a problem box is lubricated by pumped oil ,without engine running it would have no lube or splashed lube as in a manual box, towing may have destroyed some clutches in the box but ird, diffs etc wouldnt be any different than driving the car normally

teddywood1 · Dec 16, 2014

first class way to wreck it towing it on the road

dave21478 · Dec 16, 2014

It doesnt really matter what state the car is now in. He will end up having to get the car inspected by an independent specialist.
The guy needs to get proper legal advice.
Thats proper legal advice from an actual lawyer - not internet advice. This will probably cost him money, but he should be able to reclaim all costs with the help of a proper, actual lawyer.
Oh and he needs to do it 9am tomorrow morning. Time is of the essence.

Car forums are awash with threads along the lines of "A garage did XYZ...." and there follows six pages of conflicting bollocks with a few half-hearted "speak to Citizens Advice" tips (who normally have a backlog of several weeks if not months) and people spouting off about putting stuff in writing and sending it recorded blah blah blah....
He needs to move now, and take the proper steps before doing a single other thing as anything he does or says before getting legal advice may very well be the wrong thing to say or do and will count against him.

Sadly, many, many solicitors are more interested in personal injury claims, so he may well have to hunt around to find one who will help him. This is pretty much the only way he will get anything from the garage.

mattlumley · Dec 16, 2014

Where abouts was this? My girlfriend works in a local solicitors. They do do the usual personal injury bits but im sure she could tell me if they would at least listen.

gstuart · Dec 16, 2014

thks guys

am waiting for the neighbour to come back to me with more info

think it was in kent or essex but will find out

thks about the info and help on solicitor and to be honest couldn't agree more

in the mean time he's without a vehicle which I imagine this will take months and months to resolve

don't know how he stands in the mean time with he's insurance company as I think it's still in the petrol garage and if it gets vansilised or possibly torched will be in trouble of not advising his ins company

apprexiate the advice and will indeed pass it on and keep u upto speed

Ref the personel injury claims i always thought it came from the states but saw a program the other day and personal compensation goes back to the doomsday book, sorry for such a useless bit of info, lol

cheers about the info regarding the engine running, autobox etc,

thks again

kernowsvenski · Dec 16, 2014

Your friend probably has this info but LR instructions in the book state;

"DO NOT allow the vehicle to be towed more than 80km" (so 49 miles) "and restrict towing speed to 50km/h" (31mph).

They also state that "most vehicle recovery specialists will load your vehicle onto a trailer."

Additional instructions are; "If it is necessary to tow your vehicle on two wheels (ie suspended from a recovery vehicle), it is essential that the propeller shaft connected to the axle that is to remain on the ground is disconnected by qualified personell, prior to being towed."

I have always been under the impression that towing a 4x4 or an auto for any distance is not good at all. Furthermore, the reputable recovery firms will send a truck for recovery of the vehicle if it can not be repaired at the road side as they know that towing such vehicles can easily result in damage to the transmission. I know that if I required recovery for my TD4 auto I would insist on a recovery truck rather than a tow.

I think your friend should pursue this one, and sooner rather than later.

Hope this info helps.

teddywood1 · Dec 17, 2014

get in touch with his insurance company they may be able to help. mine did many years ago, when I hit a pile of bricks in the road on a bad corner they had the engine replaced it is always worth a try. other than that a good solicitor as already said.

gstuart · Dec 17, 2014

he's seen a solicitor , but it seems the recovery company was a one man band who has no insurance , licence etc,

was a quick update and will let u know as and when I get more info

Hippo · Dec 17, 2014

Why did he use them? Breakdown cover or nearest provider?
Were they sent by a main agent (AA/RAC etc) or did he hire them himself direct?

gstuart · Dec 17, 2014

Hippo said:
Why did he use them? Breakdown cover or nearest provider?
Were they sent by a main agent (AA/RAC etc) or did he hire them himself direct?

i belive he just looked through his phone and rang the first garage he could find

so in that the guy must be tracable , but in the mean time this guy is left with a stuffed motor over the xmas period

maybe the ins may offer him a courtesy car

can see this going on for months at a time and if the guy hasn't got any insurance etc in how he will pay out for the repair of the car

think the ins company wouldn't want anything to do with this and try and get out of it and I imagine the car could possibly be written off

hopefully will get some more info , but coming in drips and drabs

just feel so sorry for him and wonder how many others this guy has destroyed their cars

freelance · Dec 17, 2014

proof that car was working is evident that he ran out of fuel whilst driving it on the road, smell a rat though, easiest way is to take a can of fuel to the vehicle. not the other way!

gstuart · Dec 18, 2014

freelance said:
proof that car was working is evident that he ran out of fuel whilst driving it on the road, smell a rat though, easiest way is to take a can of fuel to the vehicle. not the other way!

im with u in this one too, just seems abit out there

surely u would check ur fuel gauge , hopefully will eventually get the full sp on this , lol

ZDomZ · Dec 18, 2014

Recovery firms will often recover the car to a garage not take fuel..... You can charge more for a recovery. Also often the place where the car breaks down is a dangerous place.......

Also how much fuel do you expect the recovery firm to carry? I used to have a 5l can of petrol and a 5l can of diesel on my speclift.... But there were days when you would get 2 jobs for fuel in a short time and not have a chance to refill the can between.

This episode reinforces the need to use a reputable firm or have cover through one of the major players in the breakdown/recovery business.

You can get breakdown cover for about £20 a year. But when you need it you pay for the recovery or roadside fix and then claim it back.

gstuart · Dec 18, 2014

ZDomZ said:
Recovery firms will often recover the car to a garage not take fuel..... You can charge more for a recovery. Also often the place where the car breaks down is a dangerous place.......

Also how much fuel do you expect the recovery firm to carry? I used to have a 5l can of petrol and a 5l can of diesel on my speclift.... But there were days when you would get 2 jobs for fuel in a short time and not have a chance to refill the can between.

This episode reinforces the need to use a reputable firm or have cover through one of the major players in the breakdown/recovery business.

You can get breakdown cover for about £20 a year. But when you need it you pay for the recovery or roadside fix and then claim it back.

hopefully this guy will think twice about calling anyone out

I personally have full green flag breakdown cover

im not holding my breath for this guy in being able to get his car repaired but really hope im wrong

can't see much happening before xmas

1997 Discovery · Jul 19, 2015

Thank you for this post as it saves me starting another one.

We also have a TD4 Auto that last night decided it did not want its crank shaft pulley and drive belts any more. We were about 2-3 miles from home and on its own power drove it home.

Today the battery has gone flat.

I know its best not to tow, but as its at home now finding a recovery truck without paying a hefty bill, I find will be hard.

So am I pushing my luck of charging the battery over nights and either limping it to the garage, or towing it. Distance to nearest garage is no more than 3 miles and speed would be 20-30mph max.

gstuart · Jul 21, 2015

hi mate

glad u got it home safely

would a garage come out with a flatbed for u , I know after hearing so many horror stories would allow anyone to tow mine ,

suppose only thing if u charge it up and drive it there could u possibly damage anything else, what caused the be,to to go in the first place, wear or possibly something mechanical ??

are u able to replace the belts yourself or is it a time issue

hope u get on ok mate

sorry i should have updated this, the guy is still with the solicitors etc, it destroyed the gearbox, ird and rear diff, as it seems the guy went nearly 60 mph

I think the guy may sell it for scrap if he doesn't get anywhere as I can see much change out of 2 grand to fix it,

really nice guy and such a shame these rouge people are around, they seem to come out of the woodwork at Xmas and bad weather

B34R · Jul 21, 2015

Assuming that all the debris has been cleared away, and nothing fouls, running off battery for 5-10 miles is fine. EDIT: On second thoughts, is there anything holding the timing belt onto the bottom pulley now or did you lose the entire pulley, bolt and all?

Just make sure your lights are off, stereo is off and you don't have to use things like wipers or windows.

towing an auto

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