Towed in St. Louis? $25 a Day Until You Get It Back
Revised October 29, 2026
How much is it to release an impounded car?
At the City of St. Louis tow lot, 7410 Hall Street, the tow fee is $100 and storage is $25 per day, plus $60 for a dolly or $80 an hour for labor if needed. Bring your registration, a valid driver’s license, ticket receipts and any police release order. Unclaimed cars are held 30 days, then auctioned.
Keep reading ↓Twenty-five dollars a day. That’s what the City of St. Louis charges to store a towed car, on top of a $100 tow fee, and the meter does not care that you found out at eleven at night with your keys already in your hand.
You know the moment. You walk back to where you parked and there’s a clean, dry rectangle of pavement where your car should be. First thought: stolen. Your stomach drops, your face goes hot, and four seconds later you look up and see the small sign bolted to the light pole you parked under.
Breathe. This is a solvable problem with a known order and, mostly, a known price. The fastest way to keep the bill small is to find the car today, bring the right papers, and know which rules cover the lot you parked in. Here it is in that order.
How much is it to release an impounded car?
If the City of St. Louis towed it, the published rates are a $100 tow fee and $25 per day for storage, plus $60 for a dolly (four-wheel drive, missing wheels, flats) and $80 an hour for labor. The City asks you to call (314) 383-7546 for your exact charge. Tickets and a police hold come on top of that.
City tows go to the City lot at 7410 Hall Street. It releases cars Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Miss the Saturday window and the next posted opening is Monday morning, and the storage line on your bill keeps adding a day at a time.
Here is the number that matters most if money is tight. The City’s Towing Division holds vehicles 30 days before they are sold at auction, and public auctions run every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Thirty days of storage alone at $25 a day is $750, more than seven times the tow.
Who towed it? Find the car first
Call the police agency covering the exact spot where you parked, because the tower had to tell them. In the City, check the Towing Division’s towed car lookup or call (314) 383-7546. In St. Louis County, the police non-emergency line is 636-529-8210.
That reporting duty is why the call works. Under Missouri’s RSMo 304.157, a tow from a signed private lot must be reported to law enforcement within two hours; other tows get twenty-four. Across the river, 625 ILCS 5/4-203 says the towing service must notify the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction within 30 minutes of finishing the tow. In the Metro East, call the department for the town where the car was parked, not the one where you live.
One detail trips almost everyone. A car hooked from an apartment complex or a restaurant lot is a private-property tow, and Missouri requires the sign there to carry the phone number of the local traffic law enforcement agency. The sign you just noticed is telling you who to call. Take a photo of the sign before you do anything else, in focus, with the whole thing in the frame.
What to bring to the City lot so you only make one trip
The City lists exactly what it wants at the window: a copy of the vehicle’s registration, a valid driver’s license, a receipt for any tickets, and a release order if police put a hold on the car. You also pay all towing and storage fees there.
Look closely at the payment list: Mastercard, Visa, a company or cashier’s check, or a money order. Cash is not on it. If your card is maxed, stop for a money order on the way so the ride out to Hall Street isn’t wasted.
Make the call before you leave the house. Ask for the exact total, confirm the car is actually at Hall Street, and ask whether a police hold is on it, because a hold means you need the release order before the lot can hand over the keys. Write the total on your hand if you have to. Standing at a window in the cold, short by twenty dollars, is the worst version of this night.
Bring a licensed driver too. Showing up with a dead license or a friend who can’t legally drive the car out means another day on the meter.
Does Missouri cap what a private lot can charge?
Not with a statewide dollar figure. RSMo 304.155 makes the owner responsible for “all reasonable charges for towing and storage” and does not define reasonable. So in Missouri, the sign is the cap.
A private-property tow under RSMo 304.157 needs a sign in plain view at all entrances, at least seventeen by twenty-two inches, with lettering at least one inch high, warning that unauthorized vehicles will be removed at the owner’s expense and disclosing the maximum fee for all charges related to towing and storage. It also has to list the phone number of the local traffic law enforcement agency.
Stand under it with your phone light if it’s dark. If there is no sign at the entrance you drove through, or the invoice beats the maximum printed on it, you have something real to argue with.
Missouri also aims a penalty at the property owner. Under RSMo 304.158, an owner who causes a car to be removed is liable to that car’s owner for double the storage or towing charges whenever the rules in that section were not followed.
Cash in your pocket? RSMo 304.158 says the people running a storage facility that holds a car towed under that section “shall accept cash for payment of towing and storage” from the registered owner or the owner’s agent. The City’s own lot, as above, publishes a different payment list, so bring a card or money order there.
The truck is hooking up your car right now
You hear the winch before you see it, that grinding whir and the clank of the chain. In Missouri, get to the car before it leaves the lot. RSMo 304.158 lets a towing company charge not more than one-half of the regular towing charge if the owner returns before the car is removed from the private property, and says “the regular towing charge may only be imposed after the abandoned property has been removed from the property and is in transit.”
That is statute, not a favor. Say it early and say it calmly. Photograph the truck, the sign, where the car sits and the time on your phone. Raising your voice rarely helps; the law already did the arguing for you.
A side thought for later: if the hook scraped a bumper, auto body work is its own separate errand.
How do you dispute a tow you think was wrong?
Watch the mailbox, because the clock runs off a letter. Missouri gives the towing company five working days to send written notice of the removal, the grounds for it and where the car went to the registered owner and any lienholder.
Under RSMo 304.156, the owner may file a petition in the associate circuit court within ten days after receiving the towing company’s notice to decide whether the car was wrongfully taken or withheld, and the petition must name the towing company among the defendants. You can get the car back while the case runs by posting a cash or surety bond equal to the towing and storage charges.
Start a folder the night it happens, even if it’s just an envelope on the kitchen counter. Put in the sign photo, the photo of the empty space, the receipt from the lot, the letter when it arrives, and a short note of what time you parked and what time you came back. Write it down while it’s fresh and you’re still angry, because two weeks from now the details blur and the paperwork is all that speaks for you. A judge or a hotline worker can act on a timeline. They can’t act on a feeling.
File a complaint alongside it. The Missouri Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Hotline is 800-392-8222. In Illinois, the Attorney General lists a Carbondale hotline at 1-800-243-0607 and a Springfield hotline at 1-800-243-0618. Send the sign photo, the invoice and the time stamps.
The Hall Street bill
What happens if you can't afford to get your car out of impound?
At the City of St. Louis lot the storage keeps running at $25 per day on top of the $100 tow fee, with $60 added for a dolly and $80 an hour for labor. After 30 days the car is sold at a Wednesday auction. Call (314) 383-7546 for your exact total, and go the day you can cover it.
Next time, pick the truck yourself
Three kinds of tow exist, and they price differently. A consent tow is one you call: you pick the company, agree on the rate and choose where the car goes. A police-ordered tow follows a crash, an arrest or a blocked lane, and the agency picks the company. A private-property tow is ordered by a lot owner, and you were never the customer.
Only the first one gives you a price before the hook goes on. Put two towing numbers in your phone tonight, while you’re calm, and check whether your auto policy or roadside plan covers a tow. Those plans cover breakdowns, not the storage meter at an impound lot.
Two more guides for the week after:
Want a tow truck you chose, not one that chose you? Browse towing companies across the St. Louis metro on St Louis Near Me Directory and save two numbers before you need them.
If you run the wrecker that answers at 3 a.m. with honest rates, make it easy for stranded drivers to find and check you first. A St Louis Near Me Directory listing puts your trucks in front of St. Louis customers at the exact moment they need a call back.
Frequently asked questions
How much does an impound fee cost?
At the City of St. Louis lot, the published rates are a $100 tow fee and $25 per day of storage. A private lot can charge up to the maximum its sign discloses, so the photo you took of that sign is your price sheet. The cheapest day to get the car out is always the first one.
How much do I have to pay if my car gets impounded?
For a City of St. Louis tow, start with the $100 tow fee and add $25 for each day of storage, plus $60 for a dolly or $80 an hour of labor if they were used. Add any tickets. The Towing Division will give you the exact figure at (314) 383-7546.
How to get impound fee waived?
Relief here comes from statute, not from asking nicely. In Missouri, a tower may charge no more than half the regular towing charge if you return before the car leaves the private lot. An invoice above the maximum on the lot’s sign is worth disputing, and if you think the tow was wrongful you can petition the associate circuit court within ten days of the tower’s notice.
Will Impounds do payment plans?
Don’t count on it. The City lot tells you to be prepared to pay all towing and storage fees at the facility, and it lists cards, checks and money orders as payment. Ask the Towing Division directly, and do it on day one, because every day of waiting is another $25.
What if I can’t afford impound fees?
Move on the cheapest piece first: call for the exact total so you know the real number, and check a private-lot invoice against the sign. If you are disputing the tow in Missouri, you can get the car released while the case runs by posting a bond equal to the towing and storage charges.
Can a tow truck take my car if I get back before it drives off?
In Missouri, not at full price. RSMo 304.158 limits the charge to one-half of the regular towing charge when the owner returns before the car is removed from the private property. The full charge applies only once the car has left the lot and is in transit.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.