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Towing Towing

If your vehicle was parked illegally on the street and is no longer there, you may have received an Auckland Transport (AT) parking infringement and been towed by an authorised towing contractor.

If you want to report an illegally parked vehicle

If you believe a vehicle is illegally parked, call us on 09 355 3553.

Why vehicles are towed

If your vehicle has been towed, it will have been moved for one of 3 reasons:

  • Road safety.
  • Obstruction.
  • Public interest.

If your vehicle was towed and how to recover it

Steps to confirm whether your vehicle has been towed by AT

  1. Call us on 09 355 3553 as soon as possible. Our contact centre is open 24 hours, 7 days a week. We will be able to advise you regarding which towing company has towed the car.
  2. If your vehicle was parked in a private car park, phone the number provided on signs in the private car park.
  3. If you still can't confirm whether your vehicle has been towed after the above steps, contact the Police.

How to recover your vehicle

  • If you are unable to collect your vehicle straight away, please contact us before going to collect it, as it may have been moved to another storage facility overnight.
  • If an infringement was issued and the vehicle towed by an AT authorised towing contractor, you will receive an infringement notice and may also need to pay a towing fee.
  • If your vehicle has been towed by a private towing company, you will need to pay the towing company upon collection.

AT contractors and private towing companies must notify police when they have towed a vehicle. They are required to provide the licence plate number and location they have moved the vehicle to.

There may be a delay between your vehicle being removed and the information being provided to the Police, but this should not be longer than about 20 minutes.

If your vehicle was not parked illegally

If your vehicle was not parked illegally, it may have been moved for safety reasons. If your car has been towed for safety reasons, for example to enable emergency work to be carried out, you will not receive an infringement notice and your vehicle is likely to have been moved to a safe location nearby, rather than one of the tow yards.

Please check with the Police to confirm whether your vehicle has been moved or needs to be reported as stolen: