Could getting towed have damaged my new car?
August 3, 2013 1:52 PM Subscribe
My new car was recently towed from my apartment parking lot without my knowledge. After I got it back and started it up, warning lights for the power steering and traction control system/dynamic stability control stayed on. The lights have since gone off, but considering that my car is front-wheel drive and was removed by pulling it backwards out of a parking spot with the transmission in Park, could any long-term damage have been done to the car? Or are temporary warning lights normal after being towed?
The car is a Mazda sedan. Even though I was in a legal and valid parking spot, the apartment management suddenly decided that it should no longer be a spot and wanted to paint lines over it. Since the car is brand new, I hadn't yet given management the new license plate number, so they were unable to contact me that way and just had it towed elsewhere.
The car was parked face-forward into a parking lot spot that faces a barrier, so there was no way to remove it from the front-side. This means it was pulled from behind by a tow truck, at least long enough to get access to its front and hook it up there.
After I got the car back, I started it up and noticed two warning lights stayed on: the power steering light and the combined traction control system/dynamic stability control system light.
I drove the car a few hundred yards, turned the engine off and restarted. At that point, the power steering light went out, but the other one stayed on. I drove about half a mile after that, and the other light went out as well. I haven't seen either light come on since then.
Could any damage have been done here? This page from the manual talks about damage that can be done to the transaxle if the car is towed while pointed backward, so I'm concerned. However, I gather this happens all the time when cars are parked illegally. Thoughts?
The car is a Mazda sedan. Even though I was in a legal and valid parking spot, the apartment management suddenly decided that it should no longer be a spot and wanted to paint lines over it. Since the car is brand new, I hadn't yet given management the new license plate number, so they were unable to contact me that way and just had it towed elsewhere.
The car was parked face-forward into a parking lot spot that faces a barrier, so there was no way to remove it from the front-side. This means it was pulled from behind by a tow truck, at least long enough to get access to its front and hook it up there.
After I got the car back, I started it up and noticed two warning lights stayed on: the power steering light and the combined traction control system/dynamic stability control system light.
I drove the car a few hundred yards, turned the engine off and restarted. At that point, the power steering light went out, but the other one stayed on. I drove about half a mile after that, and the other light went out as well. I haven't seen either light come on since then.
Could any damage have been done here? This page from the manual talks about damage that can be done to the transaxle if the car is towed while pointed backward, so I'm concerned. However, I gather this happens all the time when cars are parked illegally. Thoughts?
Tow truck drivers have a variety of contraptions that will lift up the drive wheels of your car so it can be towed away safely. They also have small hydraulic jacks that lift each individual wheel off the ground and onto casters (it's really clever), letting them roll the car out to a more convenient area for hooking it up to the truck. This can all be done without putting any force on the drivetrain. It is possible they did not do this properly, but towing a variety of front and rear wheel drive cars in adverse situations is their job, so it's not immediately obvious that this is their fault just from how you were parked.
posted by kiltedtaco at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by kiltedtaco at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's probably fine. You can take the car to a garage and have them pull the codes, but I would bet that they were error codes from the wheel position sensors. The lights would persist if there was an ongoing problem however.
The warning about towing backwards like that is because when the engine isn't running, neither is the transmission oil pump. This can damage the transaxle because without the oil cycling, it will overheat over a long distance tow. This is the same reason you cannot flat tow a mazda 6 behind an RV, for example. Anyway, this wouldn't apply to your car being dragged for a few feet onto a flatbed.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2013
The warning about towing backwards like that is because when the engine isn't running, neither is the transmission oil pump. This can damage the transaxle because without the oil cycling, it will overheat over a long distance tow. This is the same reason you cannot flat tow a mazda 6 behind an RV, for example. Anyway, this wouldn't apply to your car being dragged for a few feet onto a flatbed.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 2:23 PM on August 3, 2013
Here's an video showing the jacks I was talking about. This video shows how they can tow a car in cases where the tires can't or shouldn't spin.
posted by kiltedtaco at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by kiltedtaco at 2:40 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, any auto shop should be able to pull your OBD codes for free and tell you what it says, even if they're no longer lit, but also, reiterating kiltedtaco's point, tow truck drivers are able to do all sorts of stuff to get your car where they need it. Those hydraulic lift jacks are really neat and really clever, they can insert a balloon into your window and inflate it to push the window down, unlock the car, and shift the car into neutral, etc.
posted by disillusioned at 4:35 AM on August 4, 2013
posted by disillusioned at 4:35 AM on August 4, 2013
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posted by Ruthless Bunny at 2:05 PM on August 3, 2013 [1 favorite]