How much does it cost to get a car out of impound in Richmond?
A plain-English guide to impound and storage costs in Richmond: release fees, daily storage, the paperwork you need, and how to get your car back for less.
Why impound & storage fees costs what it does in Richmond
Impound costs inside the City of Richmond follow the city's own local towing fee ordinance, most recently revised by City Council in a 2025 ordinance reported to raise the hookup fee ceiling toward $195, still under Virginia's statewide maximum of $210 set by Va. Code § 46.2-1233.1. Virginia law requires the first 24 hours of storage to be free everywhere in the state, and Richmond has run police-directed tows through a single exclusive contractor, Seibert's Towing, since 1992. Reported figures from City Council's Fall 2025 action have not been independently confirmed against the final adopted Code of Ordinances text, so treat exact dollar amounts as directional until verified against Richmond's own Chapter 27.
The fastest way to confirm a Richmond tow isn't a phone call, it's the city's own towed-vehicle listing at apps.richmondgov.com/applications/towviewing. It posts make, model, color, partial VIN, partial plate, and lot address for 14 days after a tow, and the city itself recommends checking it before filing a stolen-vehicle report. Every police-directed tow in Richmond runs through Seibert's Towing, the city's exclusive contractor since 1992 under a contract renewed by City Council Ordinance 2016-176, at a 19-acre secured lot on Southside Plaza Dr. Call Seibert's at (804) 233-5757, or Richmond's non-emergency line at (804) 646-5100, if the listing doesn't answer it. Tows happen during "Peak Towing" hours, 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., from tow-away zones, for three or more unpaid tickets, or after an accident. Most routine pulls are for street cleaning and special events, not violations. An Advisory Board has overseen Richmond's towing program since 1996. City Council reportedly raised the local hookup fee toward $195 in a November 2025 vote, but no Richmond tow can exceed Virginia's $210 statewide ceiling, and the first 24 hours of storage is always free by law. Confirm the current figure with Seibert's or the city.
How we work Richmond
Richmond is the hub city here, the busiest call area on the map, running from Downtown and Court End through The Fan, Carytown, Scott's Addition, Church Hill, Manchester, Shockoe Bottom, and Northside out to the Southside corridor along Midlothian Turnpike. Each of those neighborhoods carries its own dedicated page. The city's defining call type sits right at its center: the I-95/I-64 overlap, the three-mile stretch VDOT itself calls one of the highest-crash, most congested corridors in the region, carrying roughly 149,000 vehicles a day past the Bryan Park Interchange. A stall or fender-bender there backs up fast, with almost nowhere for surface streets already at capacity to absorb the overflow. Winter brings its own signature call. Richmond's freeze-thaw cycle, repeated swings above and below freezing rather than one long deep freeze, chews potholes into the pavement all winter into early spring, and any hard ice advisory (the region still measures itself against the 1998 Christmas ice storm that cut power to 400,000 Virginians) means dead batteries and slide-outs stacking up fast. VCU's roughly 29,000 students concentrate move-in, move-out, and semester-break parking chaos into the narrow one-way streets of The Fan and Court End, and General Assembly session traffic layers state-employee commuter volume onto the same downtown blocks. We cover Downtown, VCU Medical Center, and the Capitol district, and the operators we dispatch run flatbed through downtown's tight one-way grid and for anything caught in standing water near Shockoe Bottom, with wheel-lift covering the ordinary breakdown everywhere else.
Richmond impound & storage fees at a glance
Ranges reflect Richmond Core conditions. These are starting figures, not totals - the operator taking the job confirms your full price before the truck rolls.
Want the exact number for your car? Call (804) 701-6752 and the operator taking the job confirms your full price before the truck rolls.
Common Richmond cost questions
How much does it cost to get my car out of impound in Richmond?
The City of Richmond sets its own private-property towing fee cap by ordinance, most recently revised in 2025; local news coverage of that City Council action put the new hookup ceiling near $195, though the exact adopted figure hasn't been independently confirmed against the final Code of Ordinances text. Either way, no Richmond tow can exceed Virginia's statewide maximum of $210 for the hookup under Va. Code § 46.2-1233.1, and the first 24 hours of storage is always free by state law. Ask for an itemized bill before you pay.
What do I need to get my impounded car back in Richmond?
Bring a valid driver's license, current vehicle registration, and proof of insurance. Virginia law (Va. Code § 46.2-1217) says a towing business cannot refuse payment by cash, an insurance-company check, a certified check, money order, or credit card, and it must post its full fee list where you can see it before you pay. If a law enforcement agency ordered the tow, ask what release documentation they require. Ask for an itemized bill regardless.
What happens if I don't pick up my car in Richmond?
Virginia's garage-keeper lien law (Va. Code § 46.2-644.01) requires the tow company to notify the DMV within 7 business days of taking your car to check for existing liens. Once DMV notifies you or your lienholder, you get 10 business days from that notice to reclaim the vehicle before the company can enforce its lien or relinquish it. Storage fees keep accruing the entire time, so picking the car up early is always cheaper than letting it sit.
Can Quick Tow Richmond get my car out of impound in Richmond?
We're a referral service for towing and roadside help, not the storage yard holding your car, so we can't waive the yard's fees or release it faster. What we can do is help you understand the process and send an operator to move your car wherever it needs to go once the yard releases it. Call (804) 701-6752.
Related towing info for Richmond
Impound & storage fees in the rest of the Richmond Core area
Need a real quote in Richmond?
The line takes calls 24/7. The operator confirms your full price before the truck rolls.