Auto Plus Towing & Auto Body

They dropped off a car on my street today (2÷17÷16, 5:10 pm). The car looks beat to shi** and I’m 99% sure it doesn’t run and will be sitting there for a while. Anyway, the point is, the driver placed it exactly in between two spaces. I wasn’t watching him do it, but when I heard him leave, I looked out the window and saw how he’d left it. So I immediately called the company (Auto Plus Towing). The dispatcher said that for him to go back and move it, someone would have to pay them. The guy was probably only 3 blocks away at this point! And now we’re short a parking space in my neighborhood – which is SO short of spaces already! I asked him if he’d at least talk to the driver, maybe ask him to use some common sense when he parks the cars in the future, and he said he would. But the way this guy sounded to me, so apathetic, it was not confidence-​inspiring.
A reputable company would have contacted their driver immediately and had him reposition the car in a sensible, considerate way.
I do not recommend this company at all.
I found a really great review of Auto Plus after I’d written mine:

I have never experienced such unprofessionalism. I am currently waiting for the police to assist me in retrieving my car. We were threatened and called «bitches» by there towman. We parked where we were told we could by security and when we asked for paperwork on who called the tow in some man said he didn’t know or have papers. I immediately called the police and he said «go ahead I don’t need to give you your car». My sister gave me a ride there an was told to park in the gate. The towman called her a bitch and said I’ll tow your car too after she came to my defense. She said for what you told me to park there. I told her let’s go and he screamed I’ll close the gate on you and then tow your car. I ran to the gate to make sure she could get out. Currently we are waiting for police to arrive. Please do not work with these people or sign contracts for them to tow with you. I will be sure to speak to the owner of where my car got towed who has a contract for handicap towing.

One star b/​c you can’t give minus stars! What a racket!!! Went to dinner in Hayward on a Sunday night and was not able to park in the parking lot or out on the street, parked next door in a vacant parking lot with a business that was closed and for lease, had a wonderful dinner and came out and the car was gone! Saw a sign on the for lease building and called the number got a total A-​hole on the phone and asked where my car was, he was such a total dick and ended hanging up on me. Called back again and was told the car was in Oakland and would cost $ 390 to pick up. Called Über which BTW was great and made the drive to the total ghetto with the hubs and 2 kids. Get to the building, lights are on inside but it is all locked up. Call back and the same guy says someone will show up in a tow truck and to wave him down. I am like are you serious is the car even here? We were like, what are we supposed to do and he told us to just walk around and wait, REALLY, in the dark ass hood with two kids!!! The Über guy was so nice and waited with us until the tow truck showed up, anyways, long story short, got the car and got the hell outta there. Totally ripped off but what can you do they got you by the balls and are holding your car hostage. At least no one got shot!!!

Yes, these folks are super dodgy and should have their BAR license (# 263 840) pulled. They towed my car from a dental office after 10pm on a Friday night in the absence of a complaint. Now they are asking for $ 390 to get it back. CA Vehicle Code section # 22 561.01 says that local law enforcement sets the maximum fees, and private companies must not exceed them. Well, I called Oakland police and they said the maximum fees were $ 194 for towing and $ 69 per day for storage.
See the relevant CA Vehicle Code section here:
These guys are criminals that are effectively stealing cars, then extorting people to get their personal property back.
If you experience with them, please file a report with the Oakland police (you can do it online, call it «Theft»), then file a complaint with the CA BAR. They should not be getting away with this.
File your Oakland police report here:
File your BAR complaint here:
If you want to take things further, you can take them to small claims court. If the above actions happen enough times, one way or another this will stop.

I used Auto Plus Towing and Auto Body for body work on my car. They did a professional job at a good price. They did the extra kindness of polishing the headlights and returning the car washed and ready to go. I appreciate all their good work.
AND They are the nicest people to meet and to work with.

My car was stolen for the second time in three months and towed to this place when it got found by CHP. There was a nice mechanic there who helped me out and let me see the condition of the car before deciding that I could get it started and out of the yard.
I waited around for his boss so I could pay and get out of there.
There is only ONE thing I’ve learned from getting my car out of a privately owned towing places, and listen very carefully:
THEY WILL ALWAYS TRY TO RIP YOU OFF BY ADDING AN EXTRA DAY TO THE FEES THAT YOU HAVE TO PAY. ASK FOR THE BREAKDOWN AND BE READY TO ARGUE IF THEY DO THAT. IT’S NOT FAIR AND IT’S PRETTY HORRIBLE.
Good luck.

Yes it sucks badly to get your car towed. And yes this place does seem a bit sketchy and expensive to get your car out. Plus, when I called the towing company number five minutes after my car had been towed, nobody answered. But I happened to catch the tow truck driver and I gotta say this was one of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time. He went out of his way to make it right. He gave me a ride out to the tow yard, made sure they stayed open (it was pretty late at night) and helped me out in a big way. I think his name was Mark so Mark if you’re reading this, some good karma should be coming your way.
As for the stupid hair salon who calls the tow company on people parked in their lot after business hours, F*** you.

My car was towed by this company from private property. Parking is not allowed for general public between the hours of 9am and 6pm. I parked my care at 8:30 pm, and returned to find my car gone a few minutes after 9am the next day. My car was long gone! I called the police department to find out if my car had been reported towed, the call to police was between 9:20am and 9:30, and they had no report of tow.
I was giving the number to the Police department that handles stolen car reports, and an officer was sent out. Mind you it took over 2 hours for the officer to show up to take the report. I give the officer my Driver’s License and License plate number to the car, and he now shows the car as towed. I go back upstairs and call the tow company after the officer provides me with their number, and they have my vehicle.
I ask what time the car was towed, and was initially told that it was told at 9:30am when I became argumentative and told the guy over the phone that I was out where my vehicle should’ve been and already on the phone with the police by 9:30am he says well then maybe it was at 8:30am (he can’t read the writing on the slip).
I proceed to explain to him that parking is allowed between the hours of 6pm and 9am, and he gets very irritated with me. I ask them if there is anyone above him I could speak with and he says that he is the manager, I would need to take it up with the management at the property because they ask for vehicles to be towed and pay the $ 280 to get my car back. I call the apartment manager and she has not requested the tow, and the business downstairs wasn’t open at or around 9am to request the tow either. I made another call to the police department to see if they could tell me what time the tow report stated, and was told they weren’t showing a time.
I am now looking at the slip after paying the $ 280 and it clearly states start time for tow 9:30am finish time 9:58am (which is a complicate lie). My understanding is that even though a tow company has a contract with a private property, they must be called out to tow, and the person calling should be present when they come out to tow (I’m doing more research on this front). Meanwhile I’ve already paid $ 280 that I didn’t have to get my car back.

This business is very sketchy, they tow my car and said that my permit was not visible but i do have the permit. i didn’t want to argue with them, paid and release my car, and found damage on my car and they denied responsibility!!! the owner sean rawlins according to the BAR website (
) said he is not the owner and that theres nothing he could do about it until the «owner» get back from a China trip, his name is ron. he said the damage was already there before the tow but he got no proof.
this place has no business ethics.
gave me a lot of BS
if you have bad experience with them file a complaint on the BAR website

As a towing company you’re at a disadvantage at reviews. Who likes a towing company after they’ve towed your car? It is like Unilocaling the police. They either saved you or gave you a ticket (I know the other «or» is if the police threw you in jail, but if you were in jail you wouldn’t be Unilocaling now would you?). However, this particular towing company REALLY earned their one star.
The landlord told my bestie that it was okay to park in the business next door so I did. Unfortunately he was wrong and I walked into an empty parking lot. I looked on the floor and saw no broken glass so I assumed it was towed. When I called the number posted in the parking lot the guys said «this is a call center for Auto Plus, call the police to make sure your car was towed by us, I cannot tell you if it was towed». That’s puzzling, I would think you’d know if you towed a car. I called the police who confirmed that Auto Plus towed my car and then told me to call them back. I talked to the SAME guy this time saying «hi you told me to call the police and they told me to call back, yes you DID tow my car». He replies with the longest «okayyyyy» ever in which I cut short by saying «…and I want my car back?». Anyways I’m going to summarize my bad experience. When we got there we called the call center in which they dispatched someone to come, he TOLD us to drive around and come back. We did and came back to an empty warehouse again. We called the call center again in which he snapped at me saying we missed the tow guy. After a long wait I called to ask if he could give us any estimate. He proceeded to snap at me and say «He is coming, no I cannot tell you an estimate of how long or how far he is, and don’t call back here again». DON’T CALL BACK HERE?
Horrible service! Overall the place was sketchy as hell, the fence was metal and built sky high. Upon paying for the $ 355 we were led into a run down portable that smelled like dust and old food. While leaving we saw the multiple dogs on chains trying to get free so they could mull us. Do not go here alone if you are a girl. Actually, do not go here alone period, and if can, come with a group of guy friends… preferably that can talk back to tow guys and fight pit bulls