For whatever reason, a while back, I stumbled upon a bunch of Chicago towing websites. In fact, a chokingly large amount.

So, for lack of a more inspired piece of journalism and perhaps a flirtation with a autumn depression, I give you:

The Ultimate Internet Reference Guide To Getting Towed By The City Of Chicago

If you have had your car towed, you know first hand, what a pain in the ass the entire ordeal is.

Below is a listing of the most basic information provided by the city generally on what you need to know. It’s just facts and information. We’ll get into more practical strategies later on.

TELEPHONE

If you are stuck in the pre-internet days or just prefer to speak to one of the lovely, well-trained, customer service oriented people from the city, who have graduated Magna Cum Laude from Mayor Daley’s School of Charm and Grace, be my guest.

You can dial 311 or call the 312.744.4444, seven days a week, 24 hours a day.

If your car was booted and towed, you need to talk to the kind and nice people at the Dept. of Revenue first. There number is 312.744.PARK (7275).

INTERNET RESOURCES

What To Do If Your Car Has Been Towed

At least, here’s what the city thinks you should do. This gives you the general run down on the most basic tow information–where to call, what the costs for towing, storage and boot fees, and what happens if you don’t pay to have your car removed from the auto pound.

Locate Your Towed Vehicle

If the city of Chicago has towed your car, find out to which auto pound those bastards took it.

Search by license plate number, VIN number, make of car or tow date.

Chicago Police Vehicle Tow/Steal Search

Car been towed, stolen, don’t know? The Chicago police has a search function to check the status of a towed vehicle or a reported stolen vehicle.

Information is updated every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day. Search by license plate or VIN number.

City of Chicago Towed Vehicle Information

This is a great resource for general information on getting your car towed in Chicago. The site includes an FAQ of towing questions, an overview of the towing process, a list of vehicles that are being disposed, an overview of the city’s towing process, and interesting data like city revenue from towing, ward by ward breakdown of tows, monthly tow data, laws regarding towing and much more. A crazy amount of towing information.

Chicago Auto Pound Locations

A list of the locations and addresses of all Chicago auto pounds, each with it’s own Yahoo map. It’s important to note, auto pounds are open 24 hours a day–for your convenience, of course.

Chicago Tows.com

I honestly don’t understand the purpose of this website.

It seems to be just listing what cars have been towed, updated every half hour, based on the information coming from the cops’ tow database listed above.

But it’s pretty cool! It’s kind of like the internet equivalent of the police radio scanner but for towed cars. Don’t you think it’s sad and pathetic that someone (me, The Parking Ticket Geek) would find this interesting?

But there’s a lot of interesting (at least to me–again creepy) information there. You can browse by latest tows (in as close to real time as possible), by towing company, state plate, vehicle make, date and street. When you search by street, it shows historical tow data block by block back to 2005.

SUMMARY

Look, this is just the official information from the city, the data, the hard cold facts.

In the near future, The Expired Meter will be doling out unsolicited advice and tips on the dealing with the ordeal of being towed by the city. Stay tuned and try not to get towed.