Tennessee regulates towing fees, especially when a vehicle is removed without its owner’s written permission. If your car gets towed, the cost to get it back varies in Memphis. The tow type, distance, vehicle, storage time, and added work all matter.
What the MOTION Act says about tow fees
Tennessee doesn’t set one statewide dollar price for every tow. The current MOTION Act instead places controls on non-consent towing and storage. Those rules apply when the owner didn’t expressly authorize the service in writing.
A garagekeeper can’t charge more than the maximum approved by the Tennessee Highway Patrol district for the same service. However, the current district rate schedule covering Memphis couldn’t be confirmed from the published materials reviewed for this page. Ask the operator which approved schedule applies and where you can inspect it.
The law does set two clear statewide limits. A release fee can’t exceed $100. An operator also can’t add a gate, access, or release fee during normal business hours on a day when daily storage is charged.
If the tow has begun but the vehicle has not left the original parking location, Tennessee’s immediate-release rule can stop the tow. Kickbacks are banned both directions. A $75 cap applies to boot removal; that is the booting exception, not a statewide price for every tow. No 30-minute boot-removal deadline appears in the MOTION Act.
Storage has separate protections. Charges generally can’t continue beyond 21 days without the owner or lienholder’s consent. An exception applies when the owner was told the vehicle was ready and then refused to collect it. The owner and lienholders must receive at least 10 days’ notice before added storage begins past that limit.
Storage also can’t be charged for a day when the vehicle wasn’t available for release. A law-enforcement hold is the exception. These protections don’t create one universal final price, but they give you specific lines to check on the bill.
The impound fee and storage rate in Memphis
The clearest local figures apply to the city’s Vehicle Storage Lot. According to the Memphis Police Department, the city’s impound fee is $135. Storage costs $30 per day, excluding winching or other additional charges.
Those are the city’s fees, not Quick Tow Memphis prices. The city says storage rates begin 24 hours after impound. Your final balance depends on the storage period and any documented additional work.
The Vehicle Storage Lot is at 465 Klinke Avenue in Memphis. It operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day. MPD, Shelby County Sheriff, and Housing and Community Development tows all process through that location. Memphis doesn’t publish an online vehicle lookup tool, so use the telephone contact shown on the official MPD page to locate the car and check any hold.
What to bring for pickup (ID, plate or VIN, licensed driver) lives on what to bring for a Memphis impound release. City lot fees and hours are on that pickup path too.
A criminal-investigation hold can delay release. Check the vehicle’s status before traveling to Klinke Avenue, even though the lot itself remains open around the clock.
Why you should always ask for an itemized bill
An itemized bill helps you separate the hookup, mileage, storage, release, and added work. It also gives you something concrete to compare with the operator’s quoted total and the rules that apply.
No standalone statewide right to an itemized invoice could be confirmed in Tennessee’s current towing chapter. You can still request a written breakdown before paying or approving a consensual tow.
Ask these questions in plain language:
- What is the complete total right now?
- How much of that total is towing and mileage?
- Which dates or portions of days generated storage charges?
- Is there a release, gate, or access charge?
- Was winching or another service added?
- What rate schedule applies to this non-consent tow?
- What could change the quoted total before the car is delivered?
For a private roadside tow, request the full total with mileage included before agreeing. Distance, vehicle size, time of day, truck type, and hookup difficulty can change the operator’s price. Our standard light-duty hookup starts at $95, but that isn’t the operator’s complete total.
Ask for the operator’s stated total in writing before you agree. The recorded line takes calls 24/7 and matches you with a local operator who contracts with you directly. Ask the operator for an itemized invoice and the written authorization. Our guide to tow costs in Memphis explains the main cost drivers in more detail.
How to dispute a tow fee you think is unfair
If a line looks wrong, recover the car when you can, then follow the complaint sequence on how to dispute a tow bill in Memphis. This page is the rulebook: what is regulated, what is city, and what has no statewide dollar cap.
What a private tow can cost vs. a city tow
A private tow and a city impound aren’t priced the same way. With a consensual private tow, the operator’s total depends on the job. The main factors are distance, vehicle size, time of day, required truck type, and hookup difficulty.
Our published standard light-duty hookup starts at $95. Ask for the operator’s full total with mileage before you agree, plus a written explanation of what could change it. A short move from East Memphis isn’t the same job as a difficult recovery along Lamar Avenue, which TDOT’s Memphis Congestion Study calls a clogged corridor for Memphis’s trucking industry.
A city impound begins with known city charges. Memphis publishes a $135 impound fee and $30 daily storage rate. Winching or other additional charges may still apply. The number of storage days also affects what you owe when the vehicle is released.
Location can change the legal framework as well as the trip. The Hernando de Soto Bridge carries I-40 into Arkansas, while the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge carries I-55. A tow beginning across the river in West Memphis follows Arkansas law. A pickup beginning south of the state line in Southaven follows Mississippi law.
For a tow you request after a breakdown, confirm the destination and total before you agree. Our emergency towing referral service can match you with a local operator when the vehicle can’t be moved safely.
Are car impound fees regulated in Tennessee?
Tennessee sets no single statewide dollar cap on what the tow itself can cost. What the state does regulate is the storage clock: a yard cannot charge storage past 21 days, and a car left at a tow yard in Tennessee runs on a notice schedule the yard has to keep. Memphis adds its own layer inside the city, where the police lot charges a $135 impound fee plus $30 a day, and a company found to have overcharged must reimburse everything paid or release the car free.
When to call us
The recorded line takes calls 24/7 and matches you with a local operator who contracts with you directly. Call (901) 557-8700.