How Much Does a Tow Cost in Missouri?

The honest answer to "how much is a tow" is that it depends on five or six things, and a company that quotes you a flat number over the phone without asking about any of them is either guessing or planning to adjust it later.

What follows is what is actually in the bill, and what to ask so there are no surprises when the truck arrives.

What goes into the price

• The hook-up or call-out fee. The base charge for sending a truck and a driver. It covers the trip out regardless of how far the vehicle then travels.
• Mileage. Usually charged per loaded mile — the distance the vehicle actually travels on the truck. A tow across town and a tow to Springfield are very different numbers.
• Time of day. Overnight, weekends and holidays frequently carry a different rate. Ask, rather than assume.
• The equipment the job needs. A car that rolls, steers and shifts into neutral loads straightforwardly. One with seized brakes, a locked transmission, missing wheels or accident damage needs more work.
• Winching. If the vehicle is off the road, in a ditch, in mud or down an embankment, that is recovery rather than a straight tow, and it is priced differently.
• Vehicle type and size. A motorcycle, a lowered car, an AWD vehicle and a box truck each need a different approach. See specialized and commercial towing.
• Storage, if it applies. Only if the vehicle goes to a lot rather than straight to a shop or your home.

The questions worth asking on the phone

Check before you pay: you may already be covered

A surprising number of people pay out of pocket for a tow they were already covered for. Before you agree to anything, it is worth thirty seconds of thought about:

• Your auto insurance. Roadside assistance is a common add-on and plenty of people have it without remembering.
• A new-car warranty. Manufacturer roadside coverage often runs for several years from purchase.
• Your credit card. Some cards include roadside benefits as a perk.
• An auto club membership. The obvious one, and still frequently forgotten in the moment.

Where the storage costs come in

If the vehicle goes straight to a repair shop or to your home, storage does not enter into it. Storage applies when the vehicle sits in a tow yard — typically after a police-ordered tow, a private-property removal, or when you cannot arrange a destination immediately.

The thing to understand is that storage accrues daily and partial days count. A vehicle towed at 11pm has run up a day by midnight and starts a second one. If your car is in a lot, every day you delay collecting it costs money, and that is the single most expensive mistake people make.

Why we do not publish a price list

Because it would be misleading. A number on a web page cannot know whether your car is in a parking space or a ditch, whether it rolls, or how far it needs to go. Publishing one that looks reassuring and then adjusting it at the roadside is a practice we would rather not participate in.

What we will do is quote your specific job before we dispatch a truck. Call (636) 466-8097, tell us where the vehicle is, what it is, whether it rolls and steers, and where it needs to go, and you will get a real number.

Need a hand right now?

We run 24 hours a day across St. Charles County — St. Charles, St. Peters, O'Fallon, Wentzville and everywhere in between, plus the highway corridors. Call (636) 466-8097.