An expired sticker can make any tow feel connected to registration. Tennessee law doesn’t authorize towing a vehicle solely because its tags expired. The actual reason usually involves where the car was parked, its condition, or another enforcement issue.
The answer changes with the parking location
The short answer is no if expired tags are the only issue. Operating a vehicle with expired registration can lead to a citation. That citation power isn’t a separate power to tow the car.
Location changes the analysis. A sedan parked at a Midtown curb presents different facts from one blocking a Lamar Avenue driveway. An apartment space in Hickory Hill follows different rules from an I-240 shoulder.
Tennessee’s general towing rules allow action when another valid reason exists. Examples include a vehicle creating a hazard, blocking access, or being parked illegally. Abandoned-vehicle rules may also apply after specific conditions and waiting periods are met. An expired sticker doesn’t replace those requirements.
That distinction matters when someone says a car was “towed for expired registration.” The expired tags may have attracted attention. The recorded towing reason could still be illegal parking, abandonment, a traffic hazard, or a separate issue during a stop.
Metro Memphis also crosses state lines. A tow beginning in Southaven follows Mississippi law. A tow beginning in West Memphis follows Arkansas law. Tennessee rules shouldn’t be applied to either situation, even when the destination is near Memphis.
Start by identifying the exact pickup location. Then ask which agency, property owner, or manager authorized the tow. Those details usually explain more than the registration sticker does.
Expired registration on a Memphis public street
Expired registration changes whether the car can legally operate. It doesn’t automatically make every parked vehicle towable. A citation and a tow are different enforcement actions.
For a non-consent tow, Tennessee generally uses a 12-hour wait for an unattended or immobile vehicle. That wait doesn’t apply when the vehicle is a hazard, blocks access, or is parked illegally. The expired tags alone don’t create another exception.
Abandoned-vehicle rules add separate thresholds. A vehicle illegally left on public property for at least 48 hours can meet one definition. A vehicle in obvious disrepair and unattended on public property for at least three days can meet another. A vehicle more than four years old left unattended on public property for at least 10 days can meet another abandoned-vehicle definition. That is still a location-and-time rule, not a tow-for-expired-tags rule.
Those rules focus on location, condition, and elapsed time. They don’t convert every expired registration sticker into an abandoned vehicle.
A separate event may still result in a tow. For example, enforcement could encounter expired tags during a stop involving another issue. The car may also be left somewhere it can’t lawfully remain. In those situations, ask for the stated towing basis instead of assuming registration was the sole reason.
If the vehicle simply needs its registration corrected, check current instructions through Tennessee Department of Revenue Vehicle Services. Don’t drive it until you’ve confirmed it can legally return to the road.
Private property follows a different path
Private property adds the owner’s parking rules and Tennessee’s authorization requirements. Expired tags still aren’t a statewide, standalone towing reason. The vehicle may become towable because it violates a posted permit policy or lacks permission to remain.
For ordinary private-property tows, the towing operator needs express written authorization. Tennessee doesn’t impose statewide sign dimensions or required wording for every trespass or no-parking lot. Paid commercial lots and lots using license-plate readers have different signage requirements.
Residential rental property has its own process. A landlord may remove an unauthorized vehicle after written notice has remained posted on it for 10 days. Immediate removal can apply when the vehicle violates the landlord’s posted permit-parking policy.
Read the actual lease and posted policy. Don’t assume an expired sticker automatically violates a permit rule. Ask the property manager which term the vehicle allegedly violated and who authorized its removal.
Timing also matters when the operator hasn’t left. If towing has started but the vehicle remains at its original parking location, Tennessee requires release when the owner or operator pays the release fee. For a vehicle towed without the owner’s written authorization, that fee can’t exceed $100.
Property owners dealing with an unauthorized vehicle can review our private property towing referral process. Drivers contesting a removal should preserve photographs of the parking space, entrances, posted policies, sticker, and any notice attached to the vehicle.
Check these details before pickup
First, confirm where the vehicle was taken. Record the pickup location, approximate time, plate, VIN, and the name of whoever ordered the tow. Ask whether the vehicle has a law-enforcement hold before arranging transportation.
MPD, Shelby County Sheriff, and Memphis Housing and Community Development tows all process through the MPD Vehicle Storage Lot. It’s located at 465 Klinke Avenue and operates around the clock. Memphis doesn’t provide an online vehicle lookup tool, so use the number shown on the official MPD Vehicle Storage page.
The city’s current listed charges are a $135 impound fee and $30 per day for storage, excluding winching or other additional charges. Those are city fees, not Quick Tow Memphis prices. What to bring for pickup (ID, plate or VIN, licensed driver) lives on what to bring for a Memphis impound release. This page stays why expired tags were not the legal tow power.
For a private lot, ask for the storage address, complete total, and written authorization connected to the removal. Request paperwork showing the stated reason. Our guide to your rights after a Memphis tow explains the next steps when the reason or charges remain unclear.
Confirming the rule in Memphis
Online answers about Tennessee towing can be outdated. Title 55, Chapter 16 was repealed in full effective July 1, 2024. The replacement chapter was then deleted and reenacted through Tennessee’s 2025 Public Chapter 457.
That history matters because older pages may quote rules or section numbers that no longer control. The current rule remains clear on this question: expired tags alone don’t create towing authority.
For a public-street or law-enforcement tow, confirm the recorded reason with the agency that ordered it. For a Memphis impound, contact the MPD Vehicle Storage Lot through its official page. For a private-property tow, ask the property manager and towing company for the written authorization and stated parking violation.
If the car’s location remains unknown, follow the steps in our guide to finding a towed car in Memphis. Have the plate, VIN, make, and year ready before calling.
Keep the state line in mind. Memphis, Southaven, and West Memphis share one metro area, but they don’t share towing law. Confirm the pickup address before relying on any Tennessee rule.
Will they tow your car for expired tags in Tennessee?
No Tennessee statute lets anyone tow a car solely because its tags are expired. Tennessee expired tag law makes driving on an expired registration a citable offense, and that is a ticket power, not a towing power. A car gets towed “for expired tags” when it is also parked illegally, blocking access, creating a hazard, or has sat long enough to cross the state’s abandoned-vehicle thresholds. If it already happened, start with your rights after a Memphis tow.
When to call us
A tow belongs with an operator when the released vehicle can’t be driven safely or must move to another lawful location. The recorded line takes calls 24/7 and matches you with a local operator who contracts with you directly. Call (901) 557-8700.