Yes, your car can be towed for not having license plates if it’s sitting on a public road, and in most jurisdictions an officer or parking enforcement agent can order the tow the moment they spot the missing plates. The absence of plates signals to law enforcement that the vehicle is unregistered, abandoned, or possibly stolen, and local codes almost universally authorize immediate removal on any of those grounds. What matters more than whether it can happen is what you do in the hours and days after it does. You have a right to notice, a right to a hearing, and a defined path to get the car back, but every one of those rights runs on a clock.
Why Missing Plates Are Enough
Every state requires vehicles driven or parked on public roads to display valid registration plates. A car without them violates registration law and looks abandoned at the same time, and either problem on its own is enough to justify a tow. Officers don’t need to watch the vehicle for days or wait for a complaint. The plates aren’t there, so the vehicle goes.
The exact statute varies by state, but the pattern holds: vehicle codes list circumstances under which a peace officer can remove a car from a public road, and missing, expired, or fictitious plates appear on nearly every version of that list. Some cities layer municipal blight ordinances on top of the vehicle code, which lets code enforcement officers order a removal without a police officer involved at all.
Before the truck arrives, officers usually run the VIN. They’re checking for a stolen report, criminal activity, or warrants tied to a prior registration. A clean check doesn’t stop the tow. It only affects the paperwork.
Private Property Is a Different Situation
If your car is on your own driveway or in your own garage, the public-road rules don’t reach it. A landlord, business owner, or HOA generally cannot have an unplated car towed on a whim. Most states require the property owner to post conspicuous signs warning that unauthorized vehicles will be towed at the owner’s expense, and those signs typically must include the name and phone number of the tow company and the local traffic enforcement agency. Signs have to be visible at every entrance.
Even with proper signage, many jurisdictions impose a waiting period of 24 to 96 hours and require someone representing the property owner to be physically present when the tow truck arrives. If your unplated vehicle was towed from private property without proper signage or without that waiting period, you have stronger grounds to challenge the tow and recover fees. Photos of the entrance, showing whether warning signs were posted, help.
One caveat: some HOAs and municipalities have separate rules about inoperable vehicles on private property, so a car stored on your own land isn’t automatically safe if it can’t run.
Finding the Car and Getting It Back
Once the tow is authorized, the towing company documents the vehicle’s condition, VIN, and any visible damage before loading. That record matters if you later dispute damage or challenge the tow. The car goes to a regulated storage facility, and daily storage fees start the moment it arrives.
Authorities are required to make reasonable efforts to notify you, usually by mailing written notice within three to five business days. That notice includes the reason for the tow, the storage location, the daily rate, and instructions for retrieval or a hearing. If a lender holds a lien on your car, most states require notice to them as well.
Don’t wait for the letter. Call the local police non-emergency line or check your city’s online tow lookup. Every day of delay adds to the bill.
Documents to Bring
Gather proof of ownership before you go. The title is the strongest document, but a bill of sale, an expired registration card, or a loan statement showing the VIN will usually work. You’ll also need a valid government-issued photo ID. If the title is lost, most state DMVs issue duplicates for a fee ranging from a few dollars to around $100 depending on the state. Some lots will release a car to someone other than the registered owner with a notarized authorization letter, the owner’s ID, and the title or registration.
The Registration Catch
This is where people get stuck. Many jurisdictions won’t release an unregistered vehicle unless you bring proof of current registration, or at minimum proof that you’ve started the registration process. Some states also require proof of liability insurance before they hand over the keys. If your registration has lapsed, you may need a DMV visit before the impound lot. Call the facility first and confirm exactly what they want. Arriving without the right paperwork buys you another day of storage.
A Permit to Drive It Home
If you can’t complete registration before pickup, ask your state’s DMV about a temporary trip permit or in-transit permit. Most states offer a short-term permit that lets you legally drive an unregistered vehicle from one location to another for the purpose of completing registration, inspection, or repair. These permits are usually inexpensive and valid for a few days to a few weeks. Having one in hand solves the practical problem of how to legally drive the car off the lot.
What It Costs, and Why Waiting Hurts
Impound bills grow faster than most people expect, and the total can exceed the vehicle’s value within weeks. The bill has two main pieces:
- A base towing fee for a non-consensual tow of a standard passenger vehicle, generally $75 to $250 depending on your city and the vehicle’s size. Larger vehicles cost more, and some jurisdictions add an administrative or release fee on top.
- Daily storage, typically $15 to $50 per day for a standard vehicle. Some cities cap the total, many do not, and an unclaimed car can accumulate thousands of dollars in fees over a few months.
- After-hours and weekend surcharges if you retrieve the car outside normal business hours.
If cash is the obstacle, call the lot and ask about payment plans, partial payments, or local fee-reduction programs. A growing number of cities offer reduced towing and storage rates for low-income vehicle owners who can show proof of public assistance, though these programs are not universal. Even where no formal program exists, some lots will negotiate rather than hold a depreciating car indefinitely. A $200 tow on day one becomes a $2,000 problem by month two.
Challenging the Tow
The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits any state from taking your property without due process of law, and your vehicle counts as property. You have the right to a hearing to challenge whether the tow was legally justified and whether the fees are reasonable.
Most states offer a post-storage hearing, sometimes called a tow hearing or impound hearing. You typically must request one within five to ten business days of notice, and the hearing is usually scheduled within 48 to 72 hours after your request. A hearing officer decides two questions: was the tow valid, and are the charges reasonable? If the tow is found invalid, you get the car back without paying towing or storage fees, and if you already paid, you’re entitled to reimbursement.1Constitution Annotated. Culley v. Marshall: Civil Forfeitures, Due Process, and Post-seizure Retention Hearings
Even a valid tow can be worth contesting. The hearing officer may reduce excessive storage charges or catch procedural errors in how the tow was handled. Requesting one costs nothing, and skipping it means every charge on the invoice stands.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
Ignoring an impounded vehicle doesn’t make it disappear. It makes it worse. The towing company holds a possessory lien on the car for every dollar of storage it accrues, and after a waiting period that varies by state but commonly runs 30 to 90 days, the company can petition to sell it. Before any sale, the company must send notice to the last known registered owner and any lienholders, giving a final chance to pay and reclaim.
If no one claims the car, it goes to auction, usually after advance public notice published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks. Sale proceeds first pay off the towing and storage lien, then any prior liens from a bank or credit union. Money left after all liens are satisfied is surplus you may be entitled to claim, but the agency holding those funds often has no duty to tell you they exist. You have to know to ask, and most states impose a deadline of one to three years before unclaimed surplus reverts to the state.
For a car worth less than the accumulated debt, the math turns against everyone. If you still owe money on the vehicle, your lender’s lien takes priority over the towing company’s, so the lender gets paid first from the auction. You remain on the hook for any deficiency the auction price didn’t cover. An impounded car you walk away from can become a loan balance for a car you no longer have.
Preventing the Next One
Keep your registration current. If your plates were stolen, file a police report immediately and apply for replacements. In most states, a copy of the police report offers temporary protection against a tow for missing plates, though not indefinite protection.
If your vehicle is inoperable and you’re storing it while saving for repairs, keep it on private property. Verbal permission from someone else’s property owner evaporates the moment a tow truck arrives, so get written permission if the car isn’t on your own land.
For a car you’ve just bought but haven’t registered yet, use the temporary tags or transit permits your state provides during the registration window. Most states give buyers 15 to 30 days to complete registration after purchase, and a temporary tag displayed in the rear window prevents a tow during that period. Letting the window close without acting is one of the most common paths to an avoidable impound.