Guide
What to Do in Buffalo, NY, When You Cannot Afford a Tow Truck Right Now
Stuck in Buffalo and a tow is more than you can pay today? Here are the options that cost less than a tow, the ones that cost nothing, and the one that pays you.
- $160 + $7/miTow formula, published
- 24 hoursEvery day, no after-hours rate
- (716) 277-7012Call or text your location
- West Side base415 Rhode Island St, Buffalo
Short answer: Stuck in Buffalo and a tow is more than you can pay today? Here are the options that cost less than a tow, the ones that cost nothing, and the one that pays you.
First, Make Sure You Actually Need a Tow
A lot of cars that get towed could have been fixed where they stood for a fraction of the cost. A dead battery needs a jump start, not a truck ride. A flat with a spare in the trunk needs a tire change. An empty tank needs a few gallons of fuel. All three are flat prices with the booking fee included, $129 flat for the jump, $169 flat for the tire and $129 plus the fuel for the fuel, and none of them involve the $110 hook-up or the per-mile charge. Before you decide you cannot afford this, decide what the car is actually doing. Battery or alternator is the usual question.
Options That Cost Nothing
If the car is parked legally and safely, it can stay there while you sort out money. A car on a residential side street in Kaisertown or Lackawanna is not going anywhere. A car on a snow route during a storm is a different matter, and a plow ban will get it towed by the city, so check the signs. If you have roadside cover through your insurance or a credit card you may already have paid for the tow without knowing it. Read the policy before you pay twice.
Shortening the Tow to Make It Affordable
If a tow really is the answer, the mileage is the only part you control. Our formula is $50 to book, $110 to hook and $7 a mile, so a one-mile tow to the nearest shop is $167 and a ten-mile tow to the shop you usually use is $230. Pick the nearer one. A wheel-lift does the job for most cars that are not all-wheel drive, and we will not put you on a flatbed you do not need.
The Option That Pays You
If the car is not worth fixing, stop paying to move it. Junk car removal in Buffalo works the other way around: a non-running car has scrap value in Western New York, and with the title in hand the haul can net out in your favor. Here is what you need before the truck shows up.
The Numbers This Guide Uses
- Tow: $50 booking fee + $110 hook-up fee + $7 per loaded mile. $160 before mileage; $195 on five miles; $300 on twenty. Flatbed and wheel-lift cost the same.
- Jump start $129, car lockout $129, flat tire change $169, fuel delivery $129 plus the fuel, battery replacement $199 plus the battery. Flat, booking fee included, no mileage.
- Winch-out and recovery: $199 to book plus $150 an hour from when the driver arrives. How far off the pavement, what the truck can anchor to and whether the car rolls decide how long it takes.
- No after-hours, weekend or holiday rate. Quoted before the truck is sent; paid when the job is done.
Every number is on the pricing page with a calculator, and the questions page has the short answers.
Where This Comes Up Most
The question this guide answers gets asked from every part of Buffalo and Erie County, and each area has its own page with the streets, the places and the prices from there: towing and roadside assistance in Grant-Amherst, towing and roadside assistance in North Park, towing and roadside assistance in Parkside and towing and roadside assistance in Park Meadow. The same service, jump start, has its own page in each of them too: jump start in Grant-Amherst, jump start in North Park, jump start in Parkside and jump start in Park Meadow. The areas page has all 72.
Read Next
Cheapest Tow Truck in Buffalo NY — What Cheap Really Means, Car Won't Start in Buffalo? Battery or Alternator, Fast, How Much Does a Jump Start Cost in Buffalo NY? and Car Battery Replacement in Buffalo — What It Costs On the Spot. The service page is jump start in Buffalo, and the blog write-up covers the part most people get wrong.
Where We Run Jump Start Across Buffalo and Erie County
Jump Start in Buffalo is the service page. The same work, with the same published numbers, runs in every area we cover.
On the West Side we handle jump start in Allentown, jump start in Elmwood-Bidwell, jump start in Elmwood Village, jump start in Linwood, jump start in Lower West Side and jump start in Upper West Side. On North Buffalo we handle jump start in Black Rock, jump start in Central Park, jump start in Grant-Amherst, jump start in North Park, jump start in Parkside, jump start in Park Meadow, jump start in Riverside, jump start in University Heights and jump start in West Hertel. On South Buffalo we handle jump start in First Ward, jump start in Hopkins-Tifft, jump start in Kaisertown, jump start in Seneca Babcock, jump start in Seneca-Cazenovia and jump start in South Park. On the East Side we handle jump start in Broadway-Fillmore, jump start in Delavan Grider, jump start in Ellicott, jump start in Fillmore-Leroy, jump start in Fruit Belt, jump start in Genesee-Moselle, jump start in Hamlin Park, jump start in Kenfield, jump start in Kensington-Bailey, jump start in Lovejoy, jump start in Masten Park, jump start in MLK Park, jump start in Pratt-Willert Park and jump start in Schiller Park. In the inner ring around the city it is jump start in Cheektowaga, jump start in Amherst, jump start in Tonawanda, jump start in Kenmore, jump start in West Seneca, jump start in Lackawanna, jump start in Depew, jump start in Sloan, jump start in Williamsville, jump start in Blasdell and jump start in Grand Island.
Flat Tire Change in Buffalo runs on the same footing. Closest to the city that means Cheektowaga, Amherst, Tonawanda, Kenmore, West Seneca, Lackawanna, Depew, Sloan, Williamsville, Blasdell and Grand Island, and the areas page has every neighborhood and town.
Fuel Delivery in Buffalo runs on the same footing. Closest to the city that means Cheektowaga, Amherst, Tonawanda, Kenmore, West Seneca, Lackawanna, Depew, Sloan, Williamsville, Blasdell and Grand Island, and the areas page has every neighborhood and town.
Junk Car Removal in Buffalo runs on the same footing. Closest to the city that means Cheektowaga, Amherst, Tonawanda, Kenmore, West Seneca, Lackawanna, Depew, Sloan, Williamsville, Blasdell and Grand Island, and the areas page has every neighborhood and town.
The blog post on jump start is the companion to this guide. The questions page covers what people ask before they call, and the pricing page has every number in one place.
Questions This Guide Gets Asked
Can I pay for a tow in Buffalo after the fact?
Payment is settled when the job is done. What we can do is quote you before the truck is sent so there is no surprise, and tell you honestly if a roadside fix would cost less than the tow you asked for.
Will the city tow my car if I leave it on the street in Buffalo?
On a posted snow route during a plow ban, yes. On an ordinary residential street, a legally parked car can sit. Check the signs where it is sitting, and if it needs to move a short distance a wheel-lift tow across the neighborhood is the cheapest ride there is.
Does my car insurance cover a tow in Buffalo?
Many policies include a roadside benefit that reimburses a published tow or roadside charge. Most people do not know they have one. Check the policy, keep the receipt, claim it back.
Can I leave my car where it broke down overnight?
On a legally parked residential street, usually yes. On a snow route during a plow ban, no, the city tows it. A short wheel-lift hop to a safe spot is $167 for a mile.
What is the cheapest roadside call?
A jump start or a lockout at $129 flat, booking fee included, with the car staying where it is.
Stuck right now? Call and get the number before the truck is sent.
$50 to book, $110 to hook, $7 a mile. Jump start $129, lockout $129, flat. No after-hours rate.