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Of course, your vehicle can be towed for expired tags, inspection, and registration, especially since it is not allowed to ply the roads under these conditions. However, traffic laws governing these vary slightly from one place to another.
For this reason, you are required to find out with your local municipality. On the contrary, you may also get to pay a fine for driving with expired tags.
Notably, however, most vehicles are towed away for expired tags if they have stayed for up to 6 months or more, according to most traffic regulations. Although this too may vary slightly from place to place as well.
It should however be noted that your car is not supposed to be towed away for expired tags, registration, and license plates while it is on private property and not public roads.
It is seen as unfair to tow anybody’s car for something they are unable to do at a particular time, but every effort should be made to remedy the situation.
Although in some places, the law prohibits the police from towing your car for expired tags and registration, at least for a while. In this case, they may have to wait for a couple of months after the expiration of the tag before they can pull you over.
Most commonly, towing a vehicle is enforced by law where it is found that your vehicle has an expired, unregistered and outdated tag.
In this case, the vehicle may not only be towed by the local authorities, sometimes, even the communities can also enforce this law and hence, may tow your car on a whim to impound.
Contents
Generally, in most places, the law is very explicit on when your car can be towed for expired tags. Your car risks being towed for expired tags if your registration has expired for a period not less than about 6 months
Consequently, it is strongly recommended that you get your tags renewed as soon as is realistically possible to guard against any possible impound.
Should you wait for a long time and end up driving with an expired registration for any period from 6 months and more, you put your car at the risk of being impounded in violation.
Whenever this happens, you may have to contact BMV( Bureau of Motor Vehicles) to clear up any records and also ensure that all levied fines are promptly paid.
Yes, your car can easily get seized for using expired tags and licenses by the authorities or even the local community too, as long as it has exceeded at least 6 months under this condition.
It is therefore strongly recommended that you renew them whenever they are nearing expiration, lest you run afoul of the law with disastrous tidings.
How do I get a new car tag?
Getting a new tag and license is necessitated after buying a new or a used car. This is because all vehicles are required by the laws in most places to be registered and licensed not more than about 45 days from the date of purchase.Â
It is also the same for vehicles that have been acquired by new residents not more than about 6 months after they become new residents. Also, your license and vehicle tags must be renewed whenever they are expired.
But, how does one acquire a new car tag? There are several ways through which you can get new car tags. Therefore, which one you opt for depends on individual preferences.
Some common ways of getting new car tags are through online means at myBMV.com, at any FSP/PSP locations, at any BMW branch, and also at BMW Connect Kiosks, among several other places.
Sometimes, it is a lot easier to call any of these agencies for the renewal of your expired tags through the phone numbers of their customer care or book an appointment through their registered email addresses.
It is mandatory in most places for all vehicles to have current registration, as long as they ply public roads and highways. Should you park the car on the street with expired tags and licenses, you run the risk of getting it towed away for impound.
Consequently, it is considered very safe to tow a car away for expired tags. Although, sometimes recently, it was stated that your vehicle cannot be towed through June 30, 2020, over any unpaid registration fees in some places in the US.
Be that as it may, you should be mindful of the fact that it is safe to tow a vehicle for expired tags in most places according to the laws that may prevail locally.Â
Notably, however, the police are kept off your back for several months after the expiration of both your registration and tags before they can tow your car away. Therefore, should you renew your tags before this period of grace(about 6 months), you are essentially covered.
On the contrary, refusal to renew the tags after this period may portend the risk of getting your car impounded by the law. So, yes, it is safe to tow your car for expired tags, but only after the period of grace given for renewal in most places.
FAQS
(1). Can your car get towed for expired inspection?
Yes, your vehicle can get towed for expired inspection and registration, because technically speaking, any car whose tags and registration are expired is not supposed to be seen on public roads and highways, until its tags are renewed.
 On the other hand, if such a vehicle is parked in a garage, a driveway at home, or any private property, then, it is not likely for it to get towed easily even when its tags and registration are expired.
Before any agent or representative can intrude a private property to tow a vehicle, he/she must furnish their permission papers and reasons for impounding the vehicle.
Should the agent fail to justify their reasons for intruding into private property, they may be up for violation and encroachment, legally speaking.
Although the law that governs this varies from one place to another, and for that reason, you are expected to be sure of what the law says at any place you may want to operate either as an agent or a representative.
(2). Why are tows so expensive?
Needless to say that getting your vehicle towed for however short the distance maybe can be quite expensive. What makes towing so expensive? Many reasons can be attributed to why towing is expensive.
Firstly, it is generally known that maintaining and keeping tow vehicles fully functional is in itself a very expensive enterprise, which has a significant impact on what towing companies charge for their services.
For one thing, tow vehicles are expected to produce very high levels of engine power to be able to cope with the excessive loads during towing. Conversely, it is also expensive to keep them in prime condition as well.
In addition to this, even when they operate properly without any qualms, there is still the need to put into consideration the cost of gas consumption by tow trucks while on towing duties. For this reason, people adopt certain measures to reduce overall towing costs.
For instance, it is advisable to check with your credit card company before you venture to pay for any towing services. In addition, you are also advised to call your insurance company or even acquire an Automobile Association Subscription.
All these measures are likely to cut the overall towing expenses you are likely to incur, but it remains somehow bloated.
Furthermore, previously, tow trucks used to be pretty simple. However, there are now tow trucks with collapsible bumpers, which also use wheel-lifts and flatbeds that tolt and slide back whenever needed.
These sort of modern tow trucks are somewhat very expensive, a fact which has a direct bearing on the charges you eventually incur for towing services.
Another factor that also serves to increase the exorbitant cost of towing services is the wages drawn by the personnel of towing companies like the drivers and other members of staff too. So, all these factors are what make towing services somewhat very expensive.Â
Conclusion – Can You Tow A Car For Expired Tags?
It is very easy to get your vehicle towed away by the authorities for expired registration and tags while on the highway or other public roads. However, you are usually given a period of grace for about 6 months before this action is taken.
Fortunately, you may be spared this headache if you park your vehicle in a garage, the driveway at home, or any private property. In this case, there are very stringent requirements before anybody can tamper with your vehicle in private places.
All the same, you are strongly recommended to get both your license and tags renewed after their expiration without any delay, lest you risk the car being towed for flagrant violation.