After a crash — 24 hours, every day

Accident and Collision Towing in Portage, MI

A damaged car is a different job from a broken-down one. It may not roll, steer or sit level, and there is usually a police officer, an insurer and a body shop involved before the day is out.

☎ Call (269) 350-8697

EquipmentFlatbed, dollies, winch

HandlesNon-driveable vehicles

DestinationThe shop you choose

We do not ownA body shop

Before the truck arrives

The First Ten Minutes Matter More Than the Tow

Almost everything we can do for you after a collision is mechanical and can wait a few minutes. What cannot wait is where people are standing. The single most dangerous part of a crash on a road like Westnedge, Portage Road or the I-94 approaches is not the impact that already happened — it is the traffic still moving past the wreckage, drivers looking at the crash instead of the lane ahead, and people out of their cars in between.

So the order we would suggest is people, then position, then paperwork, then us. Check whether anyone is hurt and call 911 if there is any doubt at all. If the vehicles are driveable and you are in a live traffic lane, moving them onto a shoulder or a nearby lot is usually safer than leaving them where they stopped — and in most everyday collisions you are permitted to do exactly that. If a vehicle will not move, or anyone is injured, leave everything where it is and wait.

Then get yourself somewhere protected. Behind a guardrail, up a bank, well off the roadway — not standing beside the damaged car and not sitting in it if it is still in a live lane. Hazards on. If you carry triangles or flares and it is safe to place them, they buy the traffic behind you time to react.

When you do call us, the useful details are short. Is anyone hurt. Is the car in a lane or off it. Does it still roll and steer. Are the wheels pointing the way they should be. Is there fluid on the road, and is any of it coming from under the engine. Whether the airbags went off. Those six answers decide which truck leaves the yard and what we bring with it, and they take about fifteen seconds to give.

One thing worth knowing in advance: if police respond and the vehicle has to be moved, an officer may call a tow from a rotation rather than asking your preference. If you are able to say who you want before that happens, say it. If a truck has already been assigned, that is usually settled at the scene and not something to argue about on the shoulder — but you can still choose where the vehicle goes afterward.

What actually makes it a recovery

Damage That Changes How a Car Gets Loaded

A broken-down car almost always rolls in a straight line. A crashed one often does not, and that single difference is what separates this from an ordinary tow.

Wheels that will not turn or point straight

Bent steering, a collapsed strut or a wheel pushed back into the wheel well. The car has to come onto the deck on dollies or a skate rather than being winched on its own tires.

Body damage over the loading points

A crushed rocker panel, a torn bumper or a deformed subframe removes the places a winch line and straps would normally go. It is solvable, but it decides where we can pull from.

Fluid on the road

Coolant, oil, fuel or battery electrolyte. It affects whether the scene needs containing before anything moves, and whether the vehicle can be tilted at all.

Off the road entirely

Down a bank, in a ditch, through a fence or into soft ground. That is a winch-out first and a tow second, and the two are separate pieces of work.

Airbags deployed

Not a hazard to the tow itself, but it tells us the impact was significant, the car is almost certainly not driveable, and the insurer will be involved.

Loose and hanging parts

Bumpers, trim, glass and panels that will come off in transit. These get secured or removed on scene rather than left to fall on the road behind us.

The part nobody warns you about

Where the Car Goes, and Who Pays

The tow is the short part. What follows it costs people more money and more irritation than the recovery ever does, and most of it comes down to one decision made in the first hour: where the vehicle is taken.

We do not own a body shop. That matters here more than on any other page of this site, because a tow company that owns a repair facility has an obvious interest in your car ending up in it. Ours does not exist. If you already know which shop you want, we take it there. If you do not, the useful default is somewhere that is not accruing a daily charge while you decide.

That is the trap worth naming plainly. A vehicle sitting in a storage lot accrues a fee for every day it sits, and those fees can quietly outgrow the tow itself while an insurance claim is still being opened. If your car is driveable-but-damaged and can go to your own driveway rather than a lot, that is almost always the cheaper choice while you work out the claim. If it cannot, ask what the daily rate is before it is unloaded rather than after.

On insurance: most policies with collision or comprehensive coverage include towing after an accident, and many people who have paid out of pocket did so without checking. Keep the invoice, photograph the scene and the damage before anything is moved if it is safe to do so, and get the police report number if an officer responds. Michigan also has a formal process governing vehicles that go unclaimed after a crash, with deadlines attached — so the one thing not to do is leave a damaged car somewhere and stop thinking about it.

We quote before we roll, the same as every other job we take. A collision does not change that, and it should not be a reason for a number to appear afterward that nobody mentioned on the phone.

Straight answers

Accident Towing Questions

The police already called a tow truck. Can I still choose who takes my car?

Sometimes, and it depends on how far along things are. When an officer needs a vehicle cleared from a roadway they will often call whoever is next on their rotation, and once that truck is on scene and hooked, the roadside is not the place to relitigate it. Where you do have a say is before that call is made — if you are asked, name us — and afterward, because where the vehicle ultimately ends up is still your decision. A car sitting in a lot can be moved to your chosen shop or your home as a second, separate job.

My car still drives after the crash. Do I need a tow at all?

Possibly not, and we will tell you honestly if we think not. The things that should stop you from driving it are: fluid dripping underneath, a tire or wheel that is visibly out of line, steering that pulls hard or feels loose, anything rubbing on a tire, lights or wipers that stopped working, or a hood, door or hatch that will not latch properly. Airbag deployment on its own does not immobilize most cars but is a strong sign the impact was severe enough that something structural deserves a look before you drive any distance.

Will my insurance pay for the tow?

Often, but we cannot tell you that with any authority about your specific policy — we are a towing company, not your insurer. What we can tell you is that towing after a collision is commonly covered where a policy includes collision or comprehensive coverage, and that plenty of people pay cash without ever asking. Keep the invoice, note the police report number if there is one, and call your insurer before you assume either way. We are happy to bill you directly and let you claim it back, which is usually simpler than trying to arrange it from a roadside.

There’s fluid all over the road. Does that change what you can do?

It changes the order of operations rather than the outcome. Tell us on the phone what color it is and roughly how much — a small coolant puddle is a different situation from fuel spreading across a lane. Fuel in any quantity is a fire department matter before it is a towing one, and we will say so rather than pretend otherwise. For everything else, it mostly affects how we tilt the deck and whether the vehicle can be dragged at all, since tilting a car with an open fluid path spreads the problem down the road behind it.

My car went off the road into a ditch. Is that one job or two?

Two, and they are priced separately, which is worth understanding before the invoice appears. Getting a vehicle back onto the road from a ditch, a bank or soft ground is a winch-out — a recovery operation whose cost depends on the angle, the ground, how far down it is and how long it takes. The tow to wherever it is going is a separate line. We will assess the recovery when we see it rather than guessing on the phone, but we will give you the number before we start pulling, not after.

How long can my car sit in a storage lot before it becomes a problem?

Less time than most people assume, and the cost is the smaller half of the problem. Daily storage charges accumulate from the moment a vehicle is dropped, and Michigan has a formal process for vehicles left unclaimed after an accident that carries real deadlines and can end with the vehicle being classified as abandoned. Neither of those is something you want to discover late. If your vehicle is in a lot, find out the daily rate and the claim deadline in the first day or two, not the second week. If it can go to your own property instead, that usually stops the meter entirely.

Related Services

Emergency Towing

When nothing has hit anything but you still need a truck now. Overnight, storms and roadside breakdowns.

Winch-Out & Recovery

Ditches, banks and soft ground. The step that comes before the tow when a vehicle has left the road.

Flatbed Towing

All four wheels off the ground. What a damaged vehicle almost always needs.

Been in a Crash in Portage?

Check everyone first. Then call, and tell us whether it rolls and steers.

☎ Call (269) 350-8697

Portage Tow Truck
Portage, MI 49002 & 49024
Phone: (269) 350-8697
Email: info@portagetowtruck.com
Open 24 hours, 7 days a week