How often have you been towed, and why?

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You might be a BITOG nerd if you see a car on a tow truck, and run through all the possibilities of why that particular make and model might be getting towed.
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Cars aren't always towed for mechanical reasons. I've fortunately never been towed in 10 years of driving. My sister who is 2 years younger than me has been towed multiple times, none of them have been from a mechanical fault with the car. She has a bad habit of running out of gas (3 times), getting flat tires (6 times), and parking in clearly marked tow zones (4 times).

So how often have BITOG'ers been towed?
 
I just had my company F-150 towed an hour ago because the tire blew out. Someone decided to take my jack and everything else needed to change a tire. I've been towed 5 times, three of them tire related, once on an Acura legend because I ignored a stuck thermostat (stupid I know), and the last on my 2004 Dodge ram due to a catastrophic wheel bearing failure.
 
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In 30+ years of driving, twice.

1999 Nissan Maxima that was about a year old. Started the car to move it out of the garage and shut it off. 30 or so minutes later, it wouldn't start. Had it towed to the dealership and was told that was a bad thing to do. I forgot what the reason was but it has stuck with me ever since. To this day, I have pushed every vehicle I've owned in and out of the garage or in the driveway if I need to move it.

Current 2012 Impreza. Last May, parked in a lot near the DMV in Raleigh, NC that had no parking signs. There was no where close to park so I parked there along with all the other cars. An hour later, came out and my car was being pulled up on the truck. Since he had it up, he would't let it down without paying him. Cost me $100.
 
A couple beaters I've bought and when the junk man comes.

I have a tow dolly which I used once on my wife's HHR when it snapped a drum brake spring and made a weird intermittent noise. The dolly didn't elevate the affected wheel but the added inertia of two vehicles and distance allowed me to ignore the problem.

I just got a 3/4 ton plow truck that's not roadworthy and too much for the dolly, so I called for a tow across town. Prompt service, likeable driver + wife couple out on a Saturday.

Almost needed a tow on an old dodge dakota when the fuel pump died but I got it back to life by kicking the bottom of the tank.
 
In the past thirty years, once. At around 303,000 miles, on my way to work, the transmission in my 1989 Accord was barely able to grab enough to get the car into a parking lot. I don't begrudge it a bit. That's a pretty good lifespan for an AT.
 
Back in 97. Alternator died in my 72 Ford Maverick...my first car. Twice in the past 5 years due to car accidents...my old 2002 Toyota Tacoma.
 
I had my Ranger towed once when I got in an accident and it was not drivable.

My beater Explorer didn't run when I got it, so I towed it home myself with my Ranger and a tow dolly. I later had to tow it again to the dealer to get the ECM reprogrammed so it would run, then I finally towed it home again from the dealer because even though the engine now ran at this point, it had a big coolant leak and I didn't want it to overheat on the drive home.
 
2003 I think was the last time I was towed. 1988 F-250 towing my buddy's Mustang back from Toronto on a flatbed, timing gears on the 300 i6 decided to come apart leaving us stuck on the side of the road.
 
Driving 25+ years. I've been towed exactly twice. First was a collision with a deer that cracked the transmission cooler making the explorer undriveable. If not for that, could have driven it to the auto body shop.

The second was my '97 F150. I broke a tie rod end and had to have it towed the repair shop... And that was 12+ years ago.

Lots of other adventures, but by being handy and resourceful, that's been it through the years.
 
Once, three years ago. Electronics on throttle pedal went south and Camry would only idle. Trucked forty five miles. Towing was $160 and repair was over $600. The new pedal cost $480.00.
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Company van. The Fuel pump went out and then a few months later the torque convertor broke.
 
My last tow was in January. The spark box thing on the fender of my F150 went bad. Wouldn't stay running once it got hot. The once before that was my f150 sometime last year decided to let the fan hit the radiator and send coolant everywhere.
had my old mercedes towed a few times. Cant remember why. I had roadside assistance through verizon and it sure paid off daily driving a 25 year old merc
 
Few years ago when a deer hit my parent's Camry while on the Ohio Turnpike going 70 mph. Parents were shaken up pretty good. Damage mostly to front driver's side fender, no airbag deployment. The Trooper couldn't have been any nicer. Even told the tow driver to be patient with my parents.

I was transferring luggage from the Camry to the Accord coupe and the tow driver said I should have gotten a Camry. Since I was running out of room to put stuff. He didn't even use straps and the car was going on the hwy. The driver was dispatched from the dealership's newer state of the art body shop.
 
Only once, about 5 years ago when my auxiliary belt snapped a couple of miles from home. I didnt want to get it too hot or hurt the battery so I called for rescue.
The annoying part was that my replacement belt had been delivered earlier that day but I hadn't been home to pick it up yet.
 
I was 18 and had to go get a part for motorcycle in the winter and had worked the night before and the warm comfortable 73 Plymouth Fury 3 took me into the ditch at the curve when I fell asleep. Had to have it towed to our shop to melt all the snow out of the engine compartment. No injury to me or the car. Only other on road issue I couldn't drive home from was couple years ago when the timing chain got loose and toasted the engine on the HHR and the Sheriff was promptly behind me and drove me the mile home and I got the dolly.
 
I just remembered 3 more towing incidents I had. These were with company vehicles, not my own. One - Chevy Astro van serpentine belt tensioner failed, lost all engine-driven accessories, including the alternator and water pump. Couldn't drive it the 17 miles back to work without overheating and killing the battery.

Old Chevy S10 pickup - was driving in the far left lane on a 3-lane highway and all of a sudden the gauges started going wonky for a few seconds and then the engine just shut off. Something electrical went wrong. I somehow managed coast across 3 lanes over to the right shoulder with no working hazard lights or turn signals. I also tried to restart the truck while moving over and almost locked the steering up from turning the key back too far. The battery was smoking as the truck sat there dead. I don't know exactly what happened, but like I said, must've been something electrical. It was fixed and put back on the road.

Another time on a different Chevy S10 - starter died in a parking lot. I wasn't there when it got towed. I had a co-worker come pick me up and it was towed sometime after.
 
My 02 Silverado stranded due to a bad fuel pump. What was funny is that my brother took the 92 Nissan Sentra after I told him the truck needed a tow.
The same 92 Sentra also needed a tow also because of a bad fuel pump, at 180,000mi.
04 BMW 325i because cooling system. The reservoir failed and dumped all it's coolant so we called a tow truck to get it to my place.
 
I can only remember three times in 25 years, and for my wife once (I think). When I was young and dumb I had a wheel bearing make noise on a long drive, and I got worried it wouldn't make it (as it was chirping away). Other two times was one summer with my VW--it decided to first blow a turbo, then a month or so after that lose a fuel pump.

I recall seizing an alternator in my parents van. My fix was to remove the serpentine and take it easy for the 2 or so miles home. Got there and could hear it boiling over in the expansion tank (forgot about water pump probably, or maybe teen arrogance). So that doesn't count--but should have.
 
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