Cheap towing in Elizabeth, NJ: the money questions, answered the way dispatch answers them

Book it yourself online for a $129 booking fee rather than $149, send the car to a garage close to where it sits, and describe the trouble honestly. If the problem turns out to be a battery, a tire or keys locked inside, you pay one flat roadside price with no miles, which beats any tow.

The booking fee is $149 by phone and $129 online, and it covers the truck coming out and loading the car. On top of that come the miles to wherever you want it, which the dispatcher works out and tells you before anything moves. That is the whole standard bill; the pricing page breaks it down line by line.

The truck driving to your car and putting it on the hook or the deck. There is no separate hook charge, loading charge or call-out charge sitting behind it, because the booking fee already is those things.

Usually because the figure depends on things they plan to add at the curb. We can quote on the phone because our formula is fixed: booking fee, miles, and recovery work only when the car cannot roll. Ask any company those three questions and you will learn quickly whether the quote is real.

No. Asking costs nothing and there is no obligation. Plenty of callers get the total, check it against another quote and call back.

Not in the booking fee. Cars, SUVs, minivans and pickups all go on a wheel-lift or a standard flatbed for the same fee plus miles. A box truck, a bus or a tractor needs a medium or heavy-duty truck and gets its own quote on the call.

The wheel-lift is the lower-cost truck and suits most front-wheel-drive cars that roll and steer. All-wheel drive, electric, lowered and damaged cars need the flatbed. Give the dispatcher the make, model and drive type and she sends the cheapest truck that will not harm it.

No. The booking fee and the mile count are worked out the same way every hour of every day, holidays included. A car on Bayway Avenue before dawn on Christmas costs what it would on a Wednesday lunch hour.

Not on a live road. Call (908) 666-3168 instead, because the phone is quicker and your safety is worth far more than $20. Save the online booking for a car sitting safely in a driveway or a lot.

Probably not. A dead battery is a jump start, which is one flat price and carries no miles. If the battery will not hold a charge, the driver tows the car right there without a second call-out charge.

Choose a destination near the car. A garage in the same part of Elizabeth, or just over the line in Linden, Roselle or Hillside, keeps the count small. If you do not have a shop in mind, ask the driver to suggest one close by; the choice stays yours.

Your car goes to the address you give: a mechanic, a body shop, a dealer or your own curb. Because it never stops in a lot, there is no daily storage and no release fee to pay later.

Ours are. Every truck is licensed and insured, and the driver photographs the car before loading and after delivery. A truck that is cheap because it carries no insurance is the most expensive one to hire if anything goes wrong.

Usually yes. You pay us the quoted price, keep the itemized receipt and send it in. Late at night that is often quicker than waiting for a plan to find a contractor, and the refund makes your tow cheaper still.

On the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway the shoulder itself is served by the Turnpike Authority's authorized garages; book with us anyway, and once the authorized truck has the car off the highway we take it from the exit or the garage's lot to the shop or driveway you choose, at the same flat quoted price. Setting up the second leg before the first is done keeps the car out of a paid lot overnight.

Not normally. Rolling a boxed-in car onto skates and a wheel-lift is ordinary work in the Burg, and it sits inside the booking fee. Tell the dispatcher which side of the street the car is on so the truck approaches the right way.

Fleets near the port and the Turnpike warehouses can open an account with net terms and a single monthly invoice. The booking fee per job stays the same; what you save is the paperwork and the separate charges of paying call by call.

Yes. One or two people ride in the cab at no charge. If more are travelling, tell the dispatcher and she will help you sort it out.

No. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay and cash all cost the same. You pay on site when the job is done.

The same $149 booking fee plus the miles, told to you on the call. Each of the six towns bordering Elizabeth is a short local run. Longer trips, to the shore or out of state, are quoted the same way with tolls included.

Yes. Flatbed and wheel-lift drivers, owner-operators and roadside providers. Current openings and how to apply are on the driver jobs page.