99% Invisible: Service Request #5 — Dude, Where’s My Car?
Host: Delaney Hall (filling in for Roman Mars)
Date: April 7, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode investigates the labyrinthine world of private towing, with a focus on predatory practices impacting everyday people. Prompted by producer Kelly Prime’s own car-towing ordeal in Brooklyn, the show unpacks how and why cars can disappear from private parking lots in minutes, explores the business and regulation of towing, and reveals loopholes and abuses in the system. Through detailed interviews—with a retired Detroit police lieutenant and a current tow truck driver—the show illuminates how predatory towing thrives and what (if anything) car owners can do about it.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Kelly’s Car Disappears: The Brooklyn Towing Incident

• [00:47–04:11]
  • Kelly describes parking in a 7-Eleven lot after failing to find street parking: “An oasis allure, some might say” ([01:45] Kelly Prime).
  • Fifteen minutes later, the car is gone. Store clerks act as if it’s routine: “Yeah, 20 cars get towed a day. There's a sign out there, call the number.” ([02:30] 7-Eleven clerk, relayed by Kelly).
  • Google reviews confirm a pattern of aggressive towing from this lot: “The store is running a scam. ... unethical car hostage and get $150 from you.” ([03:18] Google review read by Kelly).
  • Kelly’s confusion leads to bigger questions: “How is it that you can just park your car, 15 minutes later it's gone. ... Under whose authority are they working?” ([04:11] Kelly Prime).

2. Defining Predatory Towing and Its Scope

• [04:32–06:12]
  • The episode defines “predatory towing”: towers “actively hunt for cars to pick up and then demand inflated fees” ([04:32] Delaney Hall).
  • Detroit is selected as a case study, with a history of both corruption and aggressive private impounds.

3. How Towing Is Supposed to Work—And How Abuse Starts

• [05:22–07:53]
  • Tom Berry, former Detroit police officer and insurance investigator, explains towing as a public service—removing blocking, abandoned, or crash vehicles: “If it’s working good, ... the tow truck comes out and moves that car out of your way so you can go about your business. That’s a good deal.” ([06:12] Tom Berry)
  • Corruption enters when police favor certain tow companies, accepting kickbacks for inflated fees, as uncovered by federal investigation: “...the corruption kind of swelled. ... That’s what happened here in Detroit.” ([07:53] Tom Berry)

4. Mechanics of Predatory Private Towing

• [08:46–11:12]
  • Private property owners can contract tow companies to remove “non-customer” vehicles.
  • “Spotters” are employed—local residents paid to surveil lots and call in tows for a cut: “[Spotters] call me. And if I get the tow job, you get 50 or 100 bucks. No taxes. Everybody's happy. Except the person that parked there.” ([10:07] Tom Berry)
  • In Detroit and NYC, spotter usage is legal.

5. Inside the Business: A Tow Truck Driver’s Perspective

• [13:25–21:57]
  • Interview with Shane Nation, Detroit tow driver (started at 16); mostly towed private property impounds (PPIs):
    “We had two different spotters. ... We would sit around the corner. We wouldn't be no further than five minutes away.” ([16:31] Shane Nation)
  • Shane recalls towing hospital visitors’ cars, seeing their distress grow: “When I was 17... I had no remorse for them. ... Now ... I can understand ... it’s genuinely hard out here in the world.” ([17:00] Shane Nation)
  • Towing from the same profitable lot all day: “It's 100% returns other than the fuel. ... they're making a killing just towing 15 to 20 cars a day off that one lot.” ([17:59] Shane Nation)
  • Little to no regulation, and no verification with police for private impounds: “...there’s just no verification in the system. So everybody exploits it.” ([19:23] Shane Nation)
  • Eventually, Shane’s conscience forces him out: “It made me lose my love for towing and I genuinely just wanted out in any way, shape or form.” ([20:36] Shane Nation)

6. Navigating the (Un)Regulated System

• [21:57–27:35]
  • Kelly’s difficulty reclaiming her car: repeated calls, sketchy non-responses, sudden and arbitrary fees.
  • In-person negotiation: “...the guy was like, it's gonna be $350 to get your car back because the office is closed right now.” ([23:19] Kelly Prime)
    • The posted sign said $125.
    • Justifications for extra fees included “closed office” and “owner not present.” Ultimately, her friends paid $200 but received no receipt.
  • Tom Berry explains common abuses: delayed access just to drive up storage fees, refusal to disclose actual fee schedules, and selling unclaimed vehicles at auction for profit:
    • “They know good cars and bad cars ... they kind of pull that to the side of the auction ... Cars are valuable.” ([26:18] Tom Berry)

7. Why the System Persists: Regulations & Enforcement Gaps

• [27:35–29:58]
  • Towing regulation varies wildly by state; half of states don’t cap fees or require disclosures, and in 34 states, kickbacks are legal.
  • The “big gray area”: “There’s a big gray area there. Huge. ... The only way to stop it is get a law, make a law or an ordinance in the city. ... Unfortunately, many cities don’t fight it till it’s so out of control...” ([29:04, 29:44] Tom Berry)
  • Some cities offer municipal/public towing—but it’s rare due to cost/oversight hurdles.

8. Advice for Vehicle Owners

• [30:54–32:24]
  • Tom Berry’s practical advice:
    • Avoid risky lots: “Pay attention to those signs because ... they got somebody watching and they’re going to tow you.” ([31:01] Tom Berry)
    • If towed and you catch them in the act, try to settle/drop the car on-site for less.
    • Always try to negotiate the price: “Let's say it's 400, say, oh my God, would you take 250 barter, barter, barter. ... Get your car back. Don't leave it. Don't wait.” ([31:55, 32:24] Tom Berry)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• The Powerlessness of the Victim:
  “They kidnapped my car and then, like, ransomed it for an uncertain amount of money based on how much cash my friends had on hand.” ([24:22] Kelly Prime)
• On the Thin Line Between Enforcement and Exploitation:
  “Some of what they do just sounds like aggressive business practices ... when do you think it crosses the line ... to something more like fraud?”
  Tom Berry: “I don't know where the line is, but there's certainly a wavy line there that nobody knows about.” ([28:44] Delaney Hall, Tom Berry)
• On Defeating the Cycle:
  “The only way to stop it ... is sort of nip it in the bud, ... stop it when it's small so we can control it.” ([29:58] Tom Berry)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [00:47] – Kelly recounts her car being towed in Brooklyn
• [04:32] – Introduction of “predatory towing”
• [07:27] – Corruption in police-initiated towing (kickbacks and skirting lists)
• [10:07] – Explanation of spotters and private lot schemes
• [13:25] – Detroit tow driver: a typical tow worker’s day
• [16:31] – Aggressive private impounds and emotional toll on drivers
• [17:59] – Profits and scale of the operation
• [21:57] – Kelly’s experience negotiating to retrieve her car
• [24:22] – Feeling “ransomed” by the system
• [27:35] – Laws and loopholes: the patchwork of oversight
• [29:58] – Why cities don’t operate their own towing services
• [31:01] – Tom Berry’s advice to potential towing victims

Takeaways

• Private towing, especially from commercial parking lots, is rife with predatory practices and gray legal areas.
• Spotters and enforcers work parking lots like traps—making millions for tow companies in partnerships with property owners.
• Due to minimal oversight or standardization across states, abuses are common and prosecution is rare.
• The best defense: avoid dubious parking lots, read (sometimes hidden) signs, and if towed, try to negotiate on the spot to limit financial and personal pain.

Service request resolved: The reality of predatory towing is a combination of profit-seeking, legal ambiguity, and lack of consumer protections.
Key advice: Don’t get towed—but if you do, don’t wait, negotiate, and always try to get your car back as fast as possible.

Featured voices:

• Kelly Prime, producer and car-towing victim
• Tom Berry, retired Detroit police officer, fraud investigator
• Shane Nation, Detroit tow truck driver