A tow costs less for a short pull off a Church Hill side street and more for a flatbed run out to Petersburg or a breakdown deep in the I-95/I-64 overlap downtown. Distance, vehicle weight, and the type of tow move the number more than anything else. Call us and we quote a flat rate over the phone before a truck ever leaves the yard, so you know the total before anyone touches your car.
What actually moves the price of a tow
Four things decide what a tow costs, and none of them is a mystery.
Distance is the biggest one. A tow from a Fan district driveway to a shop a mile away costs less than a flatbed haul from the Tri-Cities up to a dealership in Short Pump, or a run out to the Amazon logistics corridor along I-295. Vehicle class matters too. A sedan is a faster, lighter job than a loaded pickup or a work van, and heavier vehicles need bigger equipment and more time on scene.
The tow method changes the price as well. A wheel-lift truck handles a straightforward front-wheel-drive car quickly. An all-wheel-drive SUV, a Tesla, a lowered car, or anything with visible damage usually needs a flatbed, which takes longer to load and costs more to run. Time of day plays a role too. A 2 a.m. call from the shoulder near the Bryan Park Interchange costs differently than an afternoon pickup from a Short Pump retail lot, since overnight and holiday calls carry higher dispatch costs across the industry.
Richmond adds its own wrinkles. The I-95/I-64 overlap through downtown is a three-mile stretch VDOT itself calls one of the highest-crash, heavily congested corridors in the region, carrying roughly 149,000 vehicles a day past the Bryan Park Interchange. A stall there is a harder, slower recovery than a quiet residential street. VCU’s roughly 29,000 students concentrate move-in, move-out, and semester-break tow calls into the narrow one-way blocks of the Fan, and race weekends at Richmond Raceway bring a predictable surge in lockouts and dead-battery calls along US-360.
The state cap on trespass tows in Virginia
Virginia doesn’t license tow companies the way some states license contractors, and there’s no single towing license number a homeowner could look up. Instead, state law hands one specific power to local governments: the authority under Va. Code § 46.2-1233 to set fee limits by ordinance for a nonconsensual tow, meaning a car removed from private property without the owner’s consent, or a trespassing vehicle removed under § 46.2-1215.
For a passenger vehicle towed without consent from private property, the statewide maximum hookup or initial towing fee is $210. An after-hours or weekend surcharge of up to $30 is allowed for a tow between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., or on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, capped at two such fees per vehicle. No charge may be made for storage or safekeeping for the first 24 hours or less. A locality may set its own, typically lower, limits by ordinance. These are the maximum a tow company may legally charge when someone else has your car removed, not a Quick Tow Richmond price.
Before a property owner can have your car towed at all, § 46.2-1231 requires clear signage at every entrance disclosing the towing policy, including the non-emergency phone number of the local law enforcement agency. The tow operator has to immediately notify police when removing a vehicle, and towing businesses must prominently display a full list of their fees at their main office and at the vehicle-recovery site. They cannot collect more than the posted amount.
Here’s the part that matters most if this is why you searched for a price: that cap applies when someone else has your car towed, a landlord, an HOA, a property manager, or the police. It doesn’t apply to a private tow you call yourself. If you’re reading this because you need a truck to come get your car right now, the state ceiling is context, not your bill.
One more Richmond-specific detail worth knowing: Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield all sit in Planning District 15, served by the regional commission PlanRVA. Virginia’s heightened towing rules for Planning Districts 8 and 16, including a 10-times-the-charge penalty for an unlawful tow that applies specifically in Planning District 8 (Northern Virginia), don’t automatically apply here. Richmond-area localities instead operate under the general local-ordinance authority described above, subject to the statewide $210 ceiling.
Richmond’s own local cap, and why we won’t quote you an exact number here
Richmond has set its own local fee limits under that § 46.2-1233 authority for years, overseen by the city’s Advisory Board for the Assessment of Towing Fees and the Storage of Vehicles, established in 1996. The city council revised the ordinance in 2021, and took it up again in 2025, moving Richmond’s local caps higher, closer to the state’s $210 ceiling. Because the exact adopted dollar figures for the current ordinance weren’t independently confirmed against the city’s official code text at the time we wrote this, we’re not going to hand you numbers we can’t stand behind. If you want the current, official figure for a trespass tow, ask the towing company to show you their posted fee list, which state law requires them to display, or call Richmond’s non-emergency line at (804) 646-5100.
Henrico and Chesterfield set their own local limits too, through their own ordinance authority. Neither county publishes an easily searchable fee schedule online, so if you’re trying to sanity-check a bill from either one, the state’s $210 statewide ceiling is your best available number.
What actually decides your quote
When you call Quick Tow Richmond for your own breakdown, accident, or lockout, the price comes down to the same four factors from the top of this article: how far the truck has to drive, what kind of vehicle you’re in, whether it needs a flatbed or a wheel-lift, and what time it is. A short local tow off a Southside street costs less than a long run from Ashland down to a shop near Midlothian. A standard sedan costs less to move than a heavy-duty work truck.
We build the number over the phone, ask where you are and what you’re driving, and give you one flat rate before the truck rolls. There’s no meter running, no surprise mileage charge tacked on after the fact, and no separate fee for showing up at night, during a race weekend, or on a holiday that we didn’t already tell you about.
If your car is already sitting at a tow lot because Richmond, Henrico, or Chesterfield police had it removed, or because a landlord had it towed off private property, the price question is different from the one this article answers. Read our guide on how to find your towed car in Richmond and get it back for that walkthrough, or see our private property towing guide for the full rundown on trespass-tow rights.
Why we quote flat, before the truck rolls
A flat-rate quote protects you and it protects us. You know the number before you commit, and our driver doesn’t have to negotiate on your street or in a parking garage at midnight. Call (858) 925-5546, tell us where you are and what you’re driving, and we’ll give you a number before anyone gets in a truck.
Frequently asked questions
What’s the most a tow company can legally charge for a trespass tow in Virginia?
The statewide ceiling under Va. Code § 46.2-1233.1 is $210 for the hookup or initial towing fee on a passenger vehicle, plus up to $30 for an after-hours or weekend surcharge, capped at two such fees per vehicle. No storage charge is allowed for the first 24 hours or less. A locality can set its own, lower limit by ordinance.
Does that cap apply to a tow I call myself?
No. The state ceiling and any local ordinance built on it regulate tows someone else orders, a landlord, an HOA, or the police. A private tow you call for a breakdown, lockout, or accident is priced by distance, vehicle type, and time, and we quote that number to you directly before dispatch.
What if my car is already at a Richmond, Henrico, or Chesterfield tow lot?
That’s a separate process from the pricing in this article. See our guide on finding your towed car in Richmond for phone numbers, lot locations, and what to expect.
Are Henrico’s or Chesterfield’s rates different from Richmond’s?
Likely, since each locality can set its own limit under state law, but neither county’s exact current fee schedule was confirmed against an official published source at the time we wrote this. The $210 statewide ceiling is the number to check any bill against if you can’t find a county-specific figure.
Why does a flatbed cost more than a wheel-lift tow?
A flatbed lifts all four wheels off the ground, which takes longer to load and unload than a wheel-lift hookup. It’s the right call for all-wheel-drive vehicles, EVs, lowered cars, and anything with visible damage, which is why it usually runs higher than a straightforward wheel-lift tow.
Will the price change during a Richmond Raceway race weekend or an ice storm?
Demand goes up during a race weekend or a hard winter storm, which can affect how quickly a truck reaches you, but we still tell you the full number, including any time-of-day factor, before the truck leaves.