Help - need to get a beetle towed home

Suzii Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Jun 2003 · 14 Jan 2005, 1:54 pm

#293118

I need to get my beetle retrieved from SKH Motors at Moorebank and delivered to Kellyville.

I am wondering if anyone on the forum could help out for a cash payment.

We are having trouble doing it as we do not have a car with a towbar and don't really want to pay the exhorbitant rates a towie would want.

We could possibly borrow a car with a towbar but Solly will not be open on a Saurday for the next 4 weeks so it really needs doing during the week.

Bizarre Moderator The artist formerly known as blue74l

12,789 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 14 Jan 2005, 2:04 pm

#293124

If the following is of any help

Met a friend of a friend the other day

His buisness is Cargo Trailers

0431 961 514. His name is Gregory

He should be able to help you with a trailer. He is based in Abbotsford

Futue te ipsum!!!

lost Seriously Crusin Dubber

129 posts · joined Dec 2004 · 14 Jan 2005, 5:08 pm

#293240

go and join the nrma and they will sort it out for you. plus you are a member for next time it breaks down

are we there yet?

Freddie Fender Officially Full-On Dubber

328 posts · joined Jun 2004 · 14 Jan 2005, 5:13 pm

#293243

the Beetle is a damged animal and needs a truck or trailer to get it home to Kellyville. Any tame tow truck drivers about.

real, not plastic! Chrome, chrome and more chrome.

sax Insano Dub Head

846 posts · joined Mar 2004 · 14 Jan 2005, 5:39 pm

#293257

Can offer beer as well as cash....

" You're not a team player "

Suzii Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Jun 2003 · 14 Jan 2005, 9:19 pm

#293359

beetle had to have rear apron cut off to get motor out to test as it was a brand new motor with approx 3,000 miles on it. Solly is still working on the motor.

NRMA has been transferred to the replacement beast and seeing as the damage is the result of an accident the NRMA will not touch it.

Thought I would make the offer here first to put the money into the forum but if no takers will be contracting a towie on Monday.

WABaja Call ME when you need a TOW

824 posts · joined Nov 2004 · 15 Jan 2005, 12:34 am

#293414

Suzii wrote:and don't really want to pay the exhorbitant rates a towie would want.

I REALLY must take exception to that...!!!

"Would Want" or "Does Want"...???

Have you Gotten a Quote or are you just Assuming it is going to be expensive..???

As a Tow Truck Driver of 10 Years and Towing Company Owner of 5 Years, I see so many people making "Assumptions" that it's going to cost the earth, when prices actually start from about the same as it would for you to Hire a trailer...
Then add to that the wear and tear on your car, plus your fuel, your time and effort and don't forget, when you're towing a car trailer you had better read the fine print in your insurance policy, as many of them will Not cover Your car, when it's towing another car on a trailer. Plus if anything happens to the "Borrowed" trailer, you can probably expect to pay for that too...

I can't speak for the towies in your area but Please Don't assume that we're all rip off merchants that are out to make a fast buck...
This may look like easy work, but it takes many years to get it right and a good truck set up to make a safe trip costs almost $150,000.oo...

Check with what ever Auto Club is in your area, but ask what their rates are "Per Kilometer", as around here, the Auto Club rate is Half as much AGAIN as the independant contractors rate...

Thanks.

I hate to admit it, but man, I think you're right....

sax Insano Dub Head

846 posts · joined Mar 2004 · 15 Jan 2005, 5:38 am

#293443

We found out why the towies still race like demons to a prang site when
they towed it 10 kms for the ' standard' towing fee of $204.60.

Ouch, I'm in the wrong business really need to get me a tilt tray and new baseball bat if thats what they make.

" You're not a team player "

Suzii Casual Dubber

48 posts · joined Jun 2003 · 15 Jan 2005, 6:20 am

#293447

All the quotes I got were in the $230 - $300 range except for one local company here in the Hills District which quoted $121.

I was really flexible - said any day next week between 8.30 and 5pm for the pickup just when they had the opportunity, and it is less than 25 miles, and was happy to pay cash in advance to their depot.

WABaja Call ME when you need a TOW

824 posts · joined Nov 2004 · 15 Jan 2005, 10:54 pm

#293758

Towing rates vary from state to state and a "Standard Crash Tow" is much more than a Standard Break Down or Transfer Tow..
The rates in NSW are set by the Government.. You must have been driving without insurance, as that tow would have probably been charged to your insurance company rather than direct to you..
In WA the Crash Rates are higher than in NSW, so you better not have an accident over Here without insurance Sax...
Costings here are pretty much set by the insurance companies and every 12 months or so we get a letter advising us of the new pricing structures that insurance companies will pay us for a crash tow, a transfer or 2nd tow and so on...
This pretty much sets the industry standards around here but you will always find one or two that will try it on for what ever they think they can get...
There is a government body in place to handle such people and this works the other way also, with several insurance companies being sent a "Please explain" letter in more recent times..

I welcome anybody that wants to go out and buy themselves a tilt tray, prices start from about $20,000.oo for a small old one that will be in need of much work and many dollars to get it up to a reliable working vehicle..
(otherwise spend $120,000 to $150,000 that get a reliable new one)..
Then spend a couple of thousand dollars on insurance for the truck and for public liabilaty insurance to cover your load, then spend at least another thousand dollars to get your NSW towing operator ticket, now you'll need up to Ten Thousand dollars to set up a registered holding yard that meets the approval of worksafe and any other government organisation that cares to stick their nose on and tell what kind of re-wiring and curcuit breakers you'll need to fit to the building, so that you can boil water for a coffee.. Make sure you have as much as that again in the bank, coz next months rent will be due by the time you've made it through the worksafe check list for fluid drainage, oil disposal, permits to store wrecked vehicles and don't forget the fire regulations and the compulsory insurance and public liabilty cover that you'll need before you can begin to trade...
By now the truck rego will be due, (it's cheap in WA, only about $800 a year for 3 to 5 tonne trucks, might be doulble that in NSW) and you may need to hire staff or talk your missus into sitting in the yard for 8 to 12 hours a day, as you'll be too busy out on the road trying to make ends meet, coz the bills won't be stopping...
If you bought the new truck, repayments will need to be made and they will start from $400.oo Per week and You'll need to find that before you can turn a wheel...
While you're out there trying to make ends meet, watch your back, that last job you picked up was on the edge of your compeditors boundry and now he's chasing you with an axe or something similar coz you just took the money he was planning on using for his next "fix"...

See where this is going Sax...???
Guys come and go in this industry more often than I change my clothes, which lately has been about once a week, coz I don't have time to go home that much...

As I write this I have a bank of 4 radio scanners blairing out info at me, (They're worth $500 each), without them, I won't know where the next job might be and when a crash goes off, I need to RUN from my seat here, to the truck which I will fire up and Race out of the yard and try to beat up to 10 other trucks (all of which live within a 5 minute drive of here) to a crash that might be just around the corner, where I will need to do some very fast talking and probably have to punch it out with at least one idiot that got there last but still thinks he should get the job, The truck gets Thrashed, I get closer and closer to losing my licence for speeding or dangerous driving and all this for the Grand sum of $200.oo...!!!

To be successful in this business you'll need to go through THAT process at least 2 or 3 times a DAY, but make sure you have Plenty of cash reserves, as the insurance companies will take 3 MONTHS to pay the towing account..!!

Now Sax, I can put you on to a couple of cheap tilt trays.. A mate of mine has one for sale, it's in Great condition and is fairly new, (for a tow truck anyway, it's a 1993 model).. It has almost 1 Million kilometers on the clock and will need a motor very soon, (second hand motor $5000.oo, New 10 to 15,000.oo), it needs at least 4 new tyres at about $250.oo each and you won't get any radio scanners with it, as they're going into his new truck..
The asking price is $30,000.oo which is not bad, but unforntunatley it is only a 4 tonne truck, so you won't be able to carry anything much bigger than a large sedan or medium size 4 wheel drive, (Legally)... It's worth risking the bigger 4 wheel drives though, as you might get an extra $40.oo, but the fine will cost you a week or two of normal wages if you get caught for over loading...

I could go on and on, but it will take a very long time to share 10 years of towing experience with you... (and I haven't even gotten to the part where you need to be patient enough to wait a couple of hours while emergency services scoop up body parts form the 17 year old kid that had his limbs ripped off before he died in a car that was going 2 or 3 times the speed limit), but that's a whole nother story....

Suzii: $121.oo is Spot on and exactley what I calculated for that tow..

[Edited on 15-1-2005 by WABaja]

I hate to admit it, but man, I think you're right....

64vwmark Fahrvergnugen

930 posts · joined Dec 2004 · 16 Jan 2005, 6:33 am

#293816

I have to say my experience with tow truck drivers has always been good. Just recently we had to get my Dad's Commodore towed home (with a dead fuel pump) on a public holiday. After ringing up a local guy he turned up within ten minutes and had the car home again (about 4 km away) for about $40. Not bad for someone who was about to take his family away for the weekend.

Beach Buggy
74 L Beetle
Mk4 Golf

matara Custom Title Time!

1,342 posts · joined Aug 2002 · 16 Jan 2005, 7:11 am

#293819

I got three cars towed on the same tow truck from my old house to my new house all at once for $100. Concord to West Ryde. I just saw the truck outside the guys house and knocked on his door. You can get a bargain if organise it like this rather than over the phone.

Cheers

Steve

sax Insano Dub Head

846 posts · joined Mar 2004 · 16 Jan 2005, 10:14 am

#293860

Point taken, is it really worth starting a business these days?

" You're not a team player "

WABaja Call ME when you need a TOW

824 posts · joined Nov 2004 · 16 Jan 2005, 12:17 pm

#293894

sax wrote:Point taken, is it really worth starting a business these days?

Not a towing business it's not...!!!

I write this after arriving home from a crash that took 7 hours..!!!
I now have a pick up 50 kilometers away and 2 more waiting after that... I will probably cover about 400 kilometers in towing today, Sunday, and have not slept since Friday...
Welcome to towing...:duh

[Edited on 16-1-2005 by WABaja]

I hate to admit it, but man, I think you're right....