Is it legal to tow a non-running unregistered car?

[SC38DLS 544]

If the law says they need to be licensed how do dealers get away with untitled cars being delivered to them. They are not even titled!  

I would argue it is not on the road you can transport it without plates. Personally I would still have insurance to be safe. 

Have fun

Dave S 

[1937hd45 1,407]

Guess some heads will explode thinking about all the NASCAR race car haulers roaming the interstates during the week. 

 

 

Bob 

[JFranklin 376]

Does anybody out there remember when we had a free country in the USA?

Edited April 10 by JFranklin (see edit history)

[1937hd45 1,407]

1 minute ago, JFranklin said:

Does anybody out there remember when we had a free country in the USA?

Yes, Early in my lifetime, our dad's got home from WWII and built everything that the self anointed want to destroy today. 

 

Bob

[intimeold 91]

This towing post, brings something out of my memory:

 

I was about 16 years old; and someone gave me a 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air Coupe.  The owner and his buddies decided to do a in-frame overhaul , rings, bearings, valve job. Well, they put it together and it would not get the engine to turn over. Then they got disgusted and let it set.  The owner said I could have the car, if I wanted to learn to be a mechanic.

 

They had the rods all mixed up.  No damage to new bearings. put it together correctly and it was fine.

 

But anyhow:  Flat towing it home with a chain and pipe between the tow vehicle and the 53, something happened.  My dad was towing me with a Chevy pick-up. I am in the 53. and all of a sudden, the car began to shake at about 50 mph. The left front wheel fell off.

 

Oh my, too much excitement for this 16 year old.  We got everything slowed down; and the finally stopped.  We were able to find the wheel; of course this all was done under the  cover of darkness.

 

Just try any of that, today.  The fines would cost a fortune.

 

intimeold

[Roger Walling 368]

When I was 15, I bought a car and to get it home (only 2 blocks away) my father would not let me start it, but he followed me with his car when I pushed it with a few friends.

 

 Probably illegal, but also probable amusing to any police that may have seen it.

[JACK M 1,429]

I clearly remember a neighbor guy towing a Packard with a Harley Davidson once.

I was a little kid at the time and probably smarter than those guys.

[BucketofBolts 32]

Body shop ordered a car carrier (car hauler) to pick up and deliver a freshly restored vehicle. Body shop had car hauler fax in a sheet that stated that the hauler was covered. Problem was that hauler's staff made an error as the pick up was from a sub-contractor of the carrier (which is normal in the car hauler business). Coverage was a problem. Owner paid $200,000 for the restoration. Carrier did not have insurance for the sub-contractor's truck or the sub-contractor's driver for this particular job.  The sub-contractor (as is often the case) was a one man show with no assets and hence no insurance. The driver of the truck that the carrier hired as a sub-contractor picked up the vehicle and crashed after picking up the vehicle and in transit to the owner's residence.  The antique vehicle was totally destroyed. With no insurance for the carrier or the sub-contractor the owner's only recourse was to sue the body shop for negligence. Sadly, the body shop's insurance does not cover negligent referral to a car hauler.   Bottom line: If an expensive vehicle is being hauled confirm 100% that the car hauler (be it the one hired or a sub-contractor that shows up to pick up the car) has insurance coverage.  The way to do this and protect yourself is get the insurance card from the driver of the car hauler on date of the pick up when the car carrier comes to pick up the vehicle and immediately with a phone call in the vehicle's VIN number and name of the driver of the vehicle to the insurance company on the card.  Insurance companies have a list of trucks and drivers' names that they insure for each customer's fleet of car haulers. If the driver or the vehicle picking up the car or the truck's VIN number is not on the insurance policy as a covered vehicle or covered driver the carrier will alert you that there is zero coverage and then you can decide to take the risk or tell the driver to go away without your priceless restored vehicle. 

 

[SC38DLS 544]

We once towed a 36 foot racing sloop sitting on a truck frame with tires that were missing chucks of rubber down the Eisenhower expressway in Chicago,  My older (not wiser) brother was working as a Commonwealth Edison line man at a warehouse that was scheduled to be demolished the next day.  Inside was this wooden racing sloop complete with the mast and sails.  At least the mast was laying on the boat and not standing up.  The deal was he paid a dollar and the boat was his but it had to be out of the warehouse that night. He called me to help. We hooked the truck frame to his Ford F100 pickup ( I'm sure the lead keel alone outweight the truck) and I followed with my flashers on. The only way to avoid narrow streets was to take the Ike from Racine Ave out to Wheaton (about 18 miles or so) where he lived. It was abot 3:30 in the afternoon on a Friday so we were in the heart of the rush hour traffic.  The looks drivers gave us hauling this beast down the road was priceless.  We were doing fine when a Chicago cop came along and pulled us over.  He asked""What the hell we thought we were doing". We told him the story and he said OK he would give us an escort to the edge of Chicago then we were on our own. 

We made it just past Harlem avenue in Oak Park when a state cop put on his lights. Same outcome and he gave us an escort to the East/West tollway.  The next problem was the toll booth but we got thru it with just paying a second toll for the boat.  We picked up our final escort about a mile after that which took us to the Wheaton exit and the rest was clear sailing (pun intended). My brother spent two years redoing all the varnish and wood work on the boat, sold it for a good profit and moved to California.  

 

The cops were all amazed about how he got the boat and that is probably why they were so good about it. So if you are towing something just have a really good story and you may just get away with out getting a ticket!.

Have fun.

Dave S 

Edited April 11 by SC38DLS (see edit history)

[padgett 873]

The rules are different here:

From: DMV@flhsmv.gov
…
Dear Mr. Peterson:

Thank you for your recent inquiry.

A tow dolly does not require registration nor does the vehicle it is transporting. The towing vehicle must be currently registered.

[Ronnie 1,296]

Same here in TN.  Towing vehicle must be registered and insured. Also, trailers up to 4000 lb gross weight don't have to be registered or have tags - but they can be if needed to travel out of state where registration and tags is required.  You can even build your own trailer and have it registered as long as you have it inspected first by the state. Some states don't allow that

[CarFreak 57]

On 4/10/2019 at 7:51 PM, JFranklin said:

Does anybody out there remember when we had a free country in the USA?

 

Mexicalifornia is a whole other country dependent on and trying to rule the US.  Or at least that's what they think. 

 

[CarFreak 57]

Make sure the car you are towing on your trailer isn't smoldering because when you drive down the road it will catch fire.

 

Or make sure you have enough quarters for the car wash to put out the fire.