What Towing and Roadside Help Cost in Waterloo and Cedar Falls

Each from-price on our price list is only where a Cedar Valley quote starts. These are the things that move it up.

• Towing, from $117: miles past the first stretch, winching before the car can be loaded, after-crash work, storage, the hour, the weather and the vehicle.
• Winch-out, from $125: the snow or mud, the distance out to the car, the hour and the vehicle.
• Flat tire change, from $95: the hour, the weather and the distance. A flat or missing spare turns it into a replacement tire or a tow.
• Jump start, lockout and fuel delivery: the hour, the weather and the distance. For fuel, add the fuel itself at the pump price.
• Battery, replacement tire and mobile mechanic: priced on the call, by the part or the repair your car needs.

Availability matters on every job. A stormy night can cost more than a dry afternoon for the same work.

No per-mile rate appears on our price list. The $117 from-price covers the hook-up and the first stretch of the trip, and a longer tow costs more. We quote the total for your trip on the call, from where the car sits to where it is going. That is why this page shows no sample trip totals. A tow across Waterloo and a tow from New Hampton to a Waterloo shop are different jobs, each priced when you call.

We answer at any hour, and the time of day or night is one of the things that can raise a price. You hear the 2 a.m. price on the call at 2 a.m., and you are free to turn it down.

Whether the car rides on a wheel-lift or a flatbed depends on the vehicle. If you want a flatbed, or the car is low, damaged or all-wheel drive, say so on the call. The vehicle, and the truck it needs, are part of the price you hear.

All-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive vehicles start from the same $117 tow price as any car. Give the drive type when you call, so the truck suits the vehicle. If that raises the price, we tell you the new figure before you agree.

Every from-price on our Waterloo price list assumes a car, SUV, pickup or van. For a motorcycle, say so at the start of the call. We confirm whether a suitable truck is available, and what the tow costs, while you are still on the line.

If anyone is hurt, or a wreck blocks a lane of I-380, US-20 or US-218, call 911 first. Under Iowa Code 321.89, police take custody of a vehicle parked on the highway where they judge it a hazard to other traffic. Since July 1, 2026, the owner's certified-mail notice goes out within 10 days. The owner then has 20 days from it to reclaim the car by paying the towing, storage and notice costs. If the tow is left to you, a crash tow starts at $117, and cleanup or winching after a crash adds to it.

You need no auto club, insurance plan or membership to call us anywhere in the Cedar Valley. Each call gets its own price from the list on this page, with nothing to sign up for first. The bill covers the job you agreed to and nothing else.

If a car has to be held somewhere before it goes on to a shop, storage is added to the tow price. You hear that on the call as well. After a police or impound tow, storage is charged by whoever holds the car, under the custody process above. It is paid to them, not to us.

Since July 1, 2026, a company holding a car that way must post its daily storage and impound fees at its business and on its website. It must also hand the owner an itemized account of every fee when the car is reclaimed.

A tow ordered by the city, the university or the police is not priced by us. When Cedar Falls enforced its 48-hour parking ordinance in January 2024, any car not moved within 24 hours of its ticket was to be towed at the owner's expense. UNI can tow or impound a car with five unpaid citations or $50 in unpaid penalties, without notice. And in Waterloo's snow emergency of December 29, 2020, city leaders said every unattended vehicle would be towed for snow removal.

Iowa law sets the notice and procedure for impounded cars, but it does not regulate what towing or storage may cost. So there is no statewide cap on hook-up, per-mile or storage charges. That is why the quote matters. We read you the whole figure for the job on the call, and you are under no obligation to accept it.