Pepe’s Towing

If you get your car towed by this place, you will for sure have things stolen from you. They will also ransack through your whole car looking for things to steal. They will give you mixed information regarding when you can get your car. They’re such a shady company.

This place is SCANDALOUS!!! I sued them in small claims court for illegally towing my car, and so can YOU! In small claims court, you are allowed to sue for 4x the amount that it cost to tow your car. It cost me $ 200 to get my car back, and I sued them for $ 800, and WON! It was EASY too!
This is a PREDATORY tow truck company, and they do a slew of illegal things on a daily basis. There are a lot of laws out there protecting consumers, and this company does not follow ANY of them. It is up to consumers, like us, to take action against such a terrible company! When doing my research, I found out this tow truck company has been sued numerous times. The judge knew this company, and had ZERO sympathy for them, whatsoever.
Feel free to contact me via Unilocal for any tips and help on how to take this shameful company to small claims court, and recoup 4x your money!

If I could give this place a zero I would. They should be shut down for good. My car was parked for not even 2 hours when it was towed. When I called in and asked to pick it up they told me that I’d have to come in and pay the entire $ 360!!!
So after I pay their rip off of a fee I go into my car and find several things missing. For one the new headlights I bought and left in the back seat were gone. Second, my go pro which was hidden in one of the droors was stolen! And third, my entire tool set was taken out of the back of my trunk!!! When I went in to complain about this the incompetent woman at the register didn’t do shit to help me and just told me to file a police report. Like she knew they could get away with it. And she was right bc I filed a police report and nothing was done. I was robbed over $ 1,000 and nothing was done. The least that should happen is close this place down and their thief employees should be in jail!

These guys are con artists! They work with certain security guards. The security guard calls them as soon as you park and enter whatever establishment you walk into. Tow driver comes and picks up your car even though you are within the posted hours allowed to park. Now it’s your word against theirs. If you want your money back you must go through all the trouble to take them to court. Don’t believe me? Try searching about them on Google. «Predatory towing from pepe’s towing»
My incident happened in the city of fountain valley. It was at the Starbucks parking lot. There is not even any parking limitation sign posted anywhere, yet they still towed my car. It was during normal business hours so it wasn’t like I did a overnight parking or anything like that.

Even though my car was towed due to my own fault, the owner was so very nice and helpful in getting it out. His employees even washed my car! This place was great considering the frustration with getting your car towed.

RIPOFF. MY CAR GOT TOWED AT 3:30am and I HAD THE PARKING PERMIT HANGING IN THE REAR VIEW WINDOW. I EVEN HAVE A PHOTO OF IT. PITY THIS PEOPLE. THEY’LL DO ANYTHING FOR CASH. I’M VERY DISAPPOINTED AND FRUSTRATED THAT THEY EXIST. I’M TEMPTED TO FILE A REPORT.
I woke up this morning and saw my car was gone. I thought it was stolen so I went to the police department to file a report. It was the first thing that came to my mind because I’m very sure that I have the parking permit hanging on the rear view window of my car. To my surprise, the officer told me that my car got towed. On the report, Pepe’s Towing Santa Ana was the one who towed my car. These guys towed my car even if I had the parking permit hanging on my rear view mirror. I even have a photo of it.
I got their address, it was 20 miles away from the parking area where my car got towed. Rodrigo was on duty. I asked him why my car was towed. He told me that there was no parking permit on in. I was shocked. I asked him how is that possible. I even showed him the photo of my car with the permit hanging on it. I asked him if i could see my car and he said yes, reluctantly. I got to my car and found that the parking permit was gone. I opened my car and I found the parking permit was underneath the drivers chair, half of which was under the car rag. Wow, physics cannot explain how the permit fell from the rear view window to underneath the drivers chair. Till now I cannot comprehend how it happened. It seems like it was strategically placed there. I had no choice but to pay a whooping 360 $ to get my car. At this point I was very frustrated. On the receipt, it was written that the car was towed at 3:30am!?! 3:30?!! What?!! In the morning?!! Why at 3:30am? I asked Rodrigo why and he couldn’t answer me. He told me he wasn’t the one on duty. They should have a file of this somewhere. At this point I’m very disappointed with their service.
Before I left the place, I researched some of the laws pertaining to towing. I was entitled to the photo of the violation and the report of the incident. They were not able to show me a photo and the report. They told me to wait till Monday. What? Why?! Still no answer from Rodrigo.
Furthermore, on the law pertaining to towing, you can only tow a car in the middle of the night without an owner/​tenant of the place if and only if the car was parked near a fire hydrant, if it was blocking the entrance/​exit of the area and, if it was parked on the fire lane.
I tried being calm and still classy despite the disappointing events. I needed answers. I’m now tempted to file a police report.

Please never call these guys for anything! They are total criminals! They will charge you whatever they feel like and openly admit it! Total DBs!!!

I would give them 0 stars! It was around night time and there was no parking at the apartments so I just park at the shopping center, which is a not a bright choice. It’s totally my fault that my car got towed, but seriously I have to drive 20 minutes to pick up my car. It cost around $ 325 just to pick up my car, when there is a closer towing place that charges you around $ 200. This company is so desperate to find any cars and make people pay just to get their car back. I had to called the place for their address and since I couldn’t hear the first time, I told the guy to repeat the address again. He gave me an attitude and that is not how you treat someone after you tow their cars. Also this place is just trash, their office needs to be remodel like take the money I give to you and please remodel the place. Happily, there was no damage to my car but seriously you guys have the effort to drive this far just to towed my car. Damn so desperate and bad customer service.

If I could give them zero stars I would. These guys are thieves and crooks. They illegally towed my locked car from a private property. When I arrived to pick up my car all four doors were unlocked and I discovered they had stolen 2 pairs of expensive designer sunglasses from my car. If you are looking for a honest reputable towing company keep looking because pepe’s towing IS NOT it!!!

This company is ridiculously over-​priced and they they use shady tactics to take advantage of people. I understand why my car got towed, but having to pay $ 360 to get it back is outrageous!
I was charged:
$ 175 — towing charge (for about two miles)
$ 60 — labor
$ 45 — storage (for less than 12 hours)
$ 80 — special charge (because they are closed on Saturdays)
The $ 175 charge for towing is high but understandable. Even the $ 45 for the day in storage makes sense. But why an extra charge of $ 60 for labor? Isn’t that included in the $ 175?! And an extra $ 80 for being closed on Saturdays?! They obviously are NOT closed on Saturdays because I was still able to get my car. They are made-​up charges that they add because they know people have no choice but to pay it.
I know I won’t be able to get my money back, but hopefully I can stop other people from choosing this company.

I’ll start out with, yes, it was 100% my fault my car got towed. I parked in a shopping center and was not a customer to any of the stores and instead was visiting my husbands family at the nearby apartments. I’ll be honest, I’ve been parking in this lot for years when street parking was not available and since residents ALWAYS take the visitor parking in the parking garage.
The evening started out perfect! I finally arrived when the elote guy was by the liquor store. I had just eaten an hour prior to but somehow, someway, you ALWAYS have room for elote (that should be my life motto)
As we left that evening we walked out to no car. That is an eery feeling that I wish to never experience again! After calling and finding out where it was, my MIL lent me and my husband her truck to go pick it up. $ 360 later, I go to drive off in my car and at this point it would not shift (automatic) into drive or reverse. Trust me when I say, I was LIVID! How can someone take my car and ruin my transmission?
Needless to say, I had to leave it over the weekend until management came in on the following Monday. That Monday I got in contact with Gonzalo and we talked over what needed to be done to my car. I was originally told that it was most likely just the linkage that was not dropped properly or connected properly and that his mechanic would take a look at it. I had to have someone drive me back to Pepe’s (12 miles 1 way) to give them my keys. I figured they would just take a look at it right there and I would be able to drive off with my car, wrong. Gonzalo then told me it would be «about 1 or 2 hour» so I had to leave my keys and my car in his hands. Uneasy feeling to be honest when they couldn’t even tow my car properly.
2 hours goes by and they still had not called me so I gave them a little ring to find out they would have to keep it for the day because the transmission was what needed to be replaced… hold up, you ruined my transmission? WOW! does dude still have a job? If so, let me get his name so I can spread the word that he can’t tow a car if his life depended on it. Thing that gets me, my dad warned me that how my car is and how if the guy doesn’t know his a** from a hole in the ground, he most likely ruined my transmission. Sure as sh*t, that’s what happened. (dad was a tow truck driver for 25 years)
Anyways, by this time I asked for a refund on the tow since I literally missed out on over $ 3500 in pay for having to give my work assignment up because I had no way of getting to and from work not knowing when and what was going on with my car and when I was going to get it back. I don’t have a typical job. Sub work has its pros and cons and the pro was taking on a month long assignment that I had to hand over to someone else. Seriously sucked to no end.
I was prepared if this «went ugly» but luckily Gonzalo agreed that a refund was fair and we called it even. I didn’t want to have to deal with any of this what-​so-​ever. Fast forward the rest of the week, they had to keep my car until the following Saturday because they had to order parts for my car… Saturday came, we were set to pick my car and my refund up at 2, it then got pushed back to 4. I showed up at 4 to it not sitting in the parking lot. They still had to head over to the shop to pick it up. We sat around for almost another hour waiting for the guy to bring it back so I could get in and leave…
My car finally arrive, I get in, put it in drive and reverse with no problems and it actually did what it was supposed to do. I take off with my husband following behind and notice a really strange feel to my drive side tire. After hitting a manhole and hearing something hit the under body of my car, I pull over into the Edison parking lot down the street and notice that the driver side caliper is shifting as I drive and break. I call Pepe’s and tell them what was going on, they send the same guy that drove it back to the lot to come and check it out and possibly tow it to the mechanic again. At this time, I was told it could sit in their lot for yet another weekend. Lucky enough for me, they noticed the problem right away and was able to get it fixed. The mechanic never bolted everything back down after having to remove it to get to the transmission… Scary thought, right?
Sorry for such a long review. I gave 3 stars because 1: Gonzalo and Gustavo worked everything out without it becoming a fight refund and all 2: No matter the situation that came up, they kept professional and took care of it. and 3: They didn’t leave me hanging after I pulled off their lot and had the issue with the tire. They could have easily said it was my problem now and I would have been screwed.
Will I ever use Pepe’s towing to have my car taken somewhere? NO!

All they do is chill around apartments and tow cars that doesnt have parking permits. These people are not here to help you. I see them around 1 am. And they drive around and check if every single car has permits and if they dont, theyll tow. Douchebag crooks

I read through the reviews for this company to see why there were only rated a 3. And it surprised me the responses I seen since my experience was really good with them.
Last Wednesday my car stopped running in Moreno valley and I had to request a tow to get home in Murrieta. It was late and PEPE’s Towing sent a tow truck to help me out. The tow truck arrived about 45min after the call. Because I drive a BMW I was nervous about having my car towed the proper way on a flatbed. The guy arrived in a flatbed as needed. When he heard what was wrong with my car he tried to get it to start before even trying to tow it. he tried to jump and charge my battery. It had a lot of acid on the post and so we ended up just towing it. when we arrived at my place he asked me to grab some water and he attempted to clean off the post and re jump my car. he spent extra time trying to help me out than any tow truck driver ever has. I really appreciated his help. On the ride home he had good conversation and made me feel really comfortable being in a tow truck after midnight with a complete stranger. He came across very polite and friendly. For anyone looking or a tow company with good employees I would recommend this company and driver Beto!
Beto, thank you very much for all your effort with my car. He taught me a few things i didn’t even know about my vehicle and that was a plus.
Great service … Great job.
THANK YOU!!!
Sypora H.

This place is a total scam. All the owner cares about is lining his pockets. He employees nothing but druggy’s who will steel from you impounded vehicle and rob you blind. I know this information because I was employed here for a number of months and when I started to catch on what was going on the fired me. Also the office staff will not even get the money paid to the owner it goes straight in their pockets. There are two outstanding employees though Thomas and Francisco and Manuel. DON’T USE THESE GUYS. I had many run in’s with these gentlemen (I’m being nice) sexually harassing me on a daily basis’s and when that was brought to the owners attention «PEPE» Jose Loya no action was taken to correct the situation rather I must have been a slut mind you I had been engaged for months. WOMAN DON’T COME HERE ALONE!!! Now if you need a tow through AAA or COD use Hadleys or Johns but not this place you can request these other places when requesting service. Just stay away. If they have given you a permit for a vehicle and you are leaving it in your car while you hang out visit or what have you take a picture of the tag in your window and email it to yourself. Sue them if they charge you. They have been sued many times and lost. Pepe’s also has a criminal record expending back a few years where a driver killed someone on duty. Almost everyone on staff also gets paid under the table in cash. So they steal from you and in turn get paid very nicely.

Horrible shop!
— I found 2 dents on my car hood. And they surely don’t want to be responsible to it.
I called them couple times. One time. They told me to have my auto insurance contact them. But the damage is not big enough compare to my deductible, so insurance company told me I have to claim it myself.
Another time. The manager Gonzalo answered the phone (he could also be the same person on my first call.) told me, he cannot give me their insurance contact, because too bad, I already sign the receipt which contains a «disclaimer» on it. He even questioned and laughed me it’s my own fault that signed such a thing. He cannot even give me his last name. I guess he is just feeling guilty of what he is actually doing. If you are not doing things wrong, why can’t you reveal your name?
— And don’t be surprised they did not even have a credit card machine. It was broke down or something. We had to drive out again to finding our bank to get cash to pay them.
— They cannot even get the dates right on their receipt. As I am using their receipt making some calls with the insurance, I notice the date is not even correct. What an unprofessional place.
People there… don’t have good hearts. I am sorry to say that. I just hope that you will never need their services.

Tried to get Pepe’s to tow my car out of my parking lot to an auto shop. I called them on Friday at around 1−2pm and they said they’d have a truck out between 4 and 4:20. I called at 4:30 when nobody had come, and they said the mechanic was 15 minutes out. They didn’t call again until 5:30 to let me know the tow truck had been rear-​ended and couldn’t make it out that night.
I understood; accidents are unavoidable, but it would’ve been nice if the dispatch called earlier. We rescheduled for 10am Saturday morning. At 10:40, without a truck in sight, I called in to check on the status and they had no idea what I was talking about.
tl;dr Truck was a no show two days in a row. Would not repeat.

Mistakenly towed our customers van. Tony and Jose let us have the van back without charge. Real nice guys, pleasant to deal with.
Thanks — John from Chevron

Good company

My car had broken down in Santa Ana. Boyfriend has AAA and called them up. They sent over Pepe’s Towing. The man was very nice and respectful. He even checked to see why my car wasn’t moving before loading it up. Knew right away that it was the timing belt. Loaded the tow truck and had them tow it back to the apartment (it was 11:30pm).
Called AAA again today because we called around to ask for quotes and were ready to tow it to a car repair shop. AAA sent over Pepe’s Towing again. This time we had Francisco, very nice man. He hooked my car up and off we went to the repair shop in Tustin.
I guess if you’re in Santa Ana area and use AAA, they will sent Pepe. =)

Tomas was very helpful and suuuuuuuper nice! He stayed with me after dropping my car off at the closed dealership and walked around with to knock and bang at the doors so we could properly drop my keys in the dropbox. Then made sure I left OK before he took off.
Very very nice… =)