If you're in a collision (hopefully never), you don't have to go with the first unsympathetic vulture who drives up your way. You can call your CAA or better yet, call your insurance company and they can dispatch a tow truck. You can also have the car taken to your shop of choice, and don't sign anything if things aren't clear to you.
That said, I have a Q: Has anyone ever been confronted by one of these shady tow truck guys, and they told you they *have* to tow you off because you're blocking the road? How did you handle it?
Also, police officers are buddy-buddy with a lot of tow truck drivers. One of my officer friends told me this. An officer who gets called to a scene will also call his preferred buddy to get on scene, so it's one fascinating industry filled with kick-backs, and I pray to the Heavens I never get involved in a collision on a major road.
justagirl wrote:
Insurance is paying I would get it towed to the dealership of the make of your car. The dealership has shoppes and they deal with your type of car. You will get the correct parts cause they made your car and I am sure they deal with insurance on a daily basis.
I did in fact get into accident and I took my car to the dealership, they repaired the damage and I had no problems with my insurance. Everything was taken care of and done for me, it really was a hassle free experience.
Very few dealerships own a body shop or have an on-site body repair business arm. The majority sublet your car out to a local shop that does the work for them. Most times, it's good work, but it's not like taking your car to the dealership means you get "factory-approved repairs."
The whole chain is full of kick-backs.
The cop knows the tow-truck driver.
The cop carelessly hands out charges.
The tow truck driver knows the shady criminal/traffic lawyer.
And shady criminal/traffic lawyer knows the cop.
Yeah going to the dealership for body-work is a good way to involve a middleman who overs 0 value to the entire process. They aren't doing anything to your car.