Portland, Maine Tow and Impound Fees, and How to Find a Towed Car

Last reviewed 2026-07-25. Journalists, researchers, and community groups are welcome to cite any figure on this page with attribution and a link.

This page collects what the City of Portland publishes about towing and impound charges, what Maine law says about who may order a vehicle removed and what your insurance may owe, and the practical sequence for finding a car that is no longer where you parked it. Every figure below comes from the city's own towing page or from the Maine Revised Statutes, and each source is listed at the bottom.

One caution before the numbers. These are the City of Portland's charges for a city-ordered tow. A private property impound, or a tow ordered by South Portland, Westbrook, Scarborough, or Falmouth, means a different operator with different rates. If your car is gone, the first question is who took it, not what the city charges.

What the City of Portland charges

These are the charges the city publishes for a tow it orders. They stack: a vehicle towed on a Saturday night, collected Monday evening, and needing a flatbed because it is all-wheel drive can carry the tow fee, two days of storage, the after-hours charge, and the special-equipment charge at the same time.

Figures as published on the City of Portland's towing page. They apply to city-ordered tows in Portland only, and the city can change them.

Why Portland tows a car

There are three common routes. A vehicle parked in a designated tow zone can be removed, which is the posted, predictable case. A vehicle left on a street during a declared parking ban can be removed so plows can work, which is the seasonal case. And a vehicle carrying three or more unpaid parking tickets can be towed for the tickets alone, which is the case that surprises people.

The ticket route deserves its own sentence because it has no trigger event. There is no storm, no notice, and no single moment when a legally parked car becomes a target. The balance simply crosses a line, and the tow arrives later on an ordinary day. Release requires paying the full outstanding balance, fines and penalties included, on top of the tow and storage.

How to find a car that was towed in Portland

Work out who ordered the tow first, because that determines who is holding the vehicle and what it costs. A city-ordered tow follows the process the City of Portland publishes on its towing page. A private property tow is held by whichever company the lot contracts with, and that company is named on the sign at the entrance. Those are two different phone calls and two different price lists.

Then move quickly, for a reason that is purely arithmetic. Storage is charged per day after the first 24 hours, so a car collected the same evening costs less than the identical car collected two days later. If the tow was ticket-driven, add time for clearing the ticket balance, because release depends on that being paid in full.

• Confirm whether a parking ban was in effect, or whether you were in a posted tow zone.
• If the city ordered the tow, work through the City of Portland's published towing process.
• If the car was on private property, the sign at the lot names the company holding it.
• Bring the registration and your license, and expect to pay before release rather than after.
• Ask for the running total, because storage keeps accruing daily until the car leaves the lot.

What your auto insurance may owe

Maine law requires most private passenger automobile policies to include coverage of up to $500 per accident for reasonable towing and storage charges when the vehicle is towed at the request of a law enforcement officer. The requirement is in Title 29-A, section 1605-B of the Maine Revised Statutes.

The limits matter as much as the coverage. It is tied to a tow an officer requested, so it does not turn every impound bill into an insurance claim, and the statute excludes policies insuring more than four vehicles as well as commercial policies written for garages, automobile sales agencies, repair shops, service stations, and public parking places. If an officer had your car moved after a crash, though, it is worth asking your insurer before you absorb the bill yourself.

Who can order a vehicle removed in Maine

Under Title 29-A, section 2069, law enforcement officers, the Maine Department of Transportation, and the Maine Turnpike Authority may order a vehicle removed, and the listed grounds include a vehicle that interferes with snow removal. The same statute provides that the State is not liable for damage to the vehicle or for the charges that result.

Two consequences follow for drivers. A snow-related removal is not limited to cities that formally declare parking bans, because the statutory authority applies statewide. And the bill belongs to the vehicle owner even when the removal was somebody else's decision, which is why the insurance question above is worth asking whenever an officer was involved.

Sources & Methodology

Every figure above was taken from the primary sources below (accessed 2026-07-25). Where a number is derived (arithmetic on published figures) or covers a broader period or area, the text says so.

1. City of Portland, Maine — Towing — tow fee, daily storage, after-hours and special-equipment charges, tow zones, the three-unpaid-ticket threshold, and snow ban towing
2. 29-A M.R.S. sec. 1605-B — Coverage for towing and storage charges — up to $500 per accident on most private passenger policies for a law-enforcement-requested tow, and the excluded policy types
3. 29-A M.R.S. sec. 2069 — Removal of vehicles — who may order removal, the listed grounds including interference with snow removal, and the State's non-liability for charges