Sucks. My beater '87 Firebird got cited for being on a sidewalk, so the cops had it towed to Glen's Towing, in Waialua. Nevermind that the 'sidewalk' was nothing but a bunch of grass. Bogus. The Wahiawa PD is going to get a flaming nasty-gram from me and my wife for this... Three months of trouble-free parking on the grass, and all of a sudden, it's gone without warning. I'm sure some of you guys can relate, right?

 

Looks like someone in the neighbood doesn't like you...

 

Bingo.

OR, they just don't like certain cars. I get warned for my truck ON MY OWN PROPERTY, but I've had a beat up mercedes (in worse shape) in the exact same spot for like 3 weeks now, and nothing so far. (Knock on wood... I'll get home and have a notice....)

They are supposed to give you a notice before towing as far as I know. How did they alert you that it was towed to Glen's? Did you call to find out?

Scott

 

I know the feeling! I have been fortunate enough to have had cool neighbors over the years. We have been through sooooooo many cars it's not funny. And most of them were mine lol!

 

Where exactly was it parked?

If you are parked and impeding the flow of pedestrian traffic, they do not have to give notice... they tag and tow...

IMHO, though, someone dont like you... did you **** someone off recently?

 

I agree. Somebody doesn't like you right now

 

Bear in mind, the shoulder in front or to the side of your home is not YOUR property... it is the easement and is property of the state or county...

 

There is something about how cops define what part is yours just by looking at it. Even if you own up to a certain point, if there is a wall or fence they go by that as the divider. That way they can still ticket you but you could fight it in court. They don't have to go look it up and come back.

I got cited for plants in the same area impeding foot traffic (no sidewalks there) and I told the state that it wasn't my property. They said it was and I would be fined, yet when my cars are parked there I get cited for being on state land....

Plus, I park way onto the grass, away from the road. Others park right off the road or ON the road... there is still room for joggers to get by on the grass... if they can manage to jog through the trees that also block foot traffic.

 

Its city or State property, but its your responsibility to maintain it and keep it safe for pedestrian traffic...

go figure...

 

Yeah... I just wish they'd let me keep my cars there. It's legal to park there, but not to leave it parked there.

And there are a couple areas that are private property and the wall isn't the divider. I lose the benefits of owning that land, and gain the responsiblity to keep it mainted for the public.

Luckily, whichever neighbor hates me must have moved out or died or something. I haven't had any problems for months....

Ian, how much is it costing you to get your car back?

 

According to the officer I spoke with (not the one who cited me, whole 'nuther can of worms now) I had it on anunimproved sidewalk, and it's still C&C land. It's not supposd to be blocked for pedestrian traffic. They towed it, my wife foudn out form my mother-in-law, who lives right there, and I called the Wahiawa police station to find out where the car was.

Anyway, I get there this morning and see the car sitting htere, along with a rusted 91-92 Z28 next to it. A second-gen car had a big number 8 on it and was Glenn's Towing official dirt-trrack bomber-class car. Full-blown racecar, if a bit beat up. The aluminum seat looked mighty uncomfortable. A bunch of Island 'disposable razor-blade' cars sitting in the lot, too.

Anyway, I get in, get the car jumped and the transmission goes into gear ALL BY ITSELF. The shifter never left Park. I didn't bump it. I stomp the brake to avoid smashing into my wife's car adn try to shift it into park, thinking, "WTH?" but the shifter seems... disconnected from the transmission, but the Park/Neutral switch works. It was NOT like that when I worked on it Saturday. So, I got a beater I need to jump in order to get working, with a transmission that is alwasy in gear, and I had to pay 153 bucks to pull it out of the yard. THEN, in order to ensure it got to a safe location safely (I ain't driving it, with NO dashboard...) I had to call AAA and get ANOTHER two truck otu there so THEY could tow it - Glenn's doesn't take AAA. So, word to the wise, get AAA, and NEVER call Glenn's, they might damage your car in the process of towing it.

I'm going to give it to this new convert in Church, he wants a third-gen and he helped me work on it last Saturday, I'll tell him to pay me later. If he disappears adn I never see him again, at least I'm rid of this headache. I MAY get a transmission out of the deal, which would just about double or triple the value of the car...

Oh, I sooooo want a nice fat VA loan....

 

sounds like they disconnected the shift linkage to tow it...

and moved the shifter input on the trans... you will probably find the cotter pin removed from the linkage.. pretty simple fix.. let me know if I can help...

 

Yeah that sucks. I always thought they had to put a notice on the car or mark the tires with chalk or something.

 

Shawn... Thats if they are checking to see if the vehicle is abandoned... if it is a traffic violation.. then its "tag and tow"

 

Oh really? Just a simple cotter pin? I'm going to work on it tonight, maybe I can get it to work... But they didn't mention disconnecting anything when I asked them why my tranny seemed broke. It's worth a look, though, where's this pin located at?

 

where the cable attatches to the trans linkage.....

 

Yup, should be on the driver's side a little above the trans pan. You should be able to see the bracket held in place by a couple of the trans pan bolts holding the cable in place.

 

So it starts in gear? Or, it starts in neutral and slips into gear by itself?

I'd complain to Glenn's....

Jump starting a car in gear must be fun and all-kinds of safe....

 

"not responsible for damage"

 

It starts, I guess the safety switch still sends the signal to the ECM that the car is in 'park', only it isn't. Glenn's is just the towing dudes that got the cal by the cops to tow it, so Glenn's wouldn't pay, it would be the state, if they pay at all. I'll go look under the car tonight. Thanks, guys!

 

right... the park neutral switch is on the shifter, so as long as the shifter is in park or neutral, the circuits believe the car is in park/neutral... regardless of where the transmission actually is...

 

It was freaky, with the car lurching forward like that, the one time I was thankful the car has a total lack of engine power, actually, or I would've surely rammed my wife's car. I had to smash my foot down over the wad of loose wires and trim pieces on top of hte brake pedal, but I guess I pressed it enough, becasue the car stopped. THAT was freaky, I must've just about sucked the seat cover right off the cusion, I had such a pucker factor.

 

My mercedes got chalked on monday. I saw it monday night, but there was no notice and no number to call.

I'm going to call the DOT tomorrow and get in touch with the guy who is in charge of my area. I'll just tell him it's going to Kidney Cars and I have to stop by their office to sign some paperwork and they'll come and tow it.

...Unless the state wants to be a jerk and steal it from the kidney foundation....

Hopefully that'll buy me a little time, I just need one weekend. Since the car doesn't run, and my truck doesn't either to tow it, I'm just going to swap the wheels so it looks like I drove it.

Scott

 

Yikes. Have fun... I would push it around some, and scrub the chalk off while I was at it. Had to do that to my black GP before I sold it.

 

HI85WH1 is correct I do towing and wenever we have to tow a vehicle without keys and we have no choice but to tow it on the drive wheels we disconnect the linkage. It is on the drivers side of the transmission on most GM rwd cars and very simple to reconect.

 

Okay, cool. I'm glad it was such a simple problem, because I used a simple fix - I had a 13mm front seat nut from a Camaro (thanks, SHawn!) and it fit perfectly. Maybe I'll throw some locktite on it just for the peace of mind. It's been fixed for a few days now, so no biggie. I'm gong to drop my claim and call it all good, I'm just out 153 bucks to cover the stupid tow int he first place. But then again, they didn't say anything about disconnecting the linkage. The guys I called to two it again just picked up the butt end and lashed the steering wheel tight so it wouldn't move..