How to Find Out Whether a Vehicle Has Been Towed or Stolen

If your car is missing, the fastest way to tell whether it was towed or stolen is to check posted tow-away signs where you parked. Call the towing company listed on the sign or your city’s non-emergency police line. Confirm whether the vehicle was logged as an impound. If police and towing services have no record of the vehicle, it is likely stolen, and you should file a report immediately. A VIN or license plate search in your local tow database can also confirm towing, often within minutes (where real-time databases exist). In the U.S., 850,708 vehicles were stolen in 2024, a ~17% decrease from 2023, according to NICB data.

Definition: Towed Vehicle Search

A towed vehicle search is the process of confirming whether a vehicle was removed by a towing provider and entered into an impound record. It typically uses a license plate number (and sometimes the VIN). Common sources include:

• A city/county tow or impound lookup portal.
• Police or parking enforcement impound logs.
• Towing company intake records (especially for private-property tows).

Towed or Stolen? How to Find Out

In general, if your car is missing (and it wasn’t taken by someone you share it with), it has likely been towed, stolen, or repossessed if you were behind on payments.

Start by looking around the parking area. Check for “no parking,” “tow-away,” street-cleaning notices, fire-lane markings, or private-lot signage. Private lots often post the towing company name and phone number.

If there are signs listing a towing service, give them a call. If they don’t have your vehicle, it may have been stolen.

Signs of Towing vs Signs of Theft

If there aren’t signs suggesting a tow and no tow company or police record exists, treat it as a likely theft and report it.

Common Reasons Cars Get Towed

If your car was towed, it was likely due to a clear parking or legal violation. The most common causes include:

• Parking in a tow-away zone or during restricted hours.
• Parking in a private lot without permission.
• Blocking a driveway, fire hydrant, or fire lane.
• Expired registration (in some jurisdictions).
• Accumulated unpaid tickets leading to holds/boot/tow (varies by city).

Where Towed Cars Are Usually Taken

These facility types give you a general idea of where most towed vehicles end up:

• City impound lots (public).
• Contractor-run lots (private).
• Police impounds.
• Apartment/HOA contracted towing yards (private-property tows).

What to Do If Your Car Was Towed

If you believe your vehicle was towed, call the towing provider listed on posted signage, or check your city’s tow database. Use your VIN or license plate. Alternatively, contact the local non-emergency police line for impound verification.

If signage lists a towing provider, contact them first. Ask where the vehicle is being held. If you were parked in a private lot, contact the property owner or manager. Verify whether they requested a tow and which company was used.

Once you have located your vehicle, you'll want to check into what documents you'll need to get your car back.

Documents Required to Retrieve a Towed Vehicle

• Valid driver’s license.
• Vehicle registration (or proof of ownership).
• Proof of insurance (sometimes required).
• Impound or case number (if provided).
• Payment method for towing/storage fees.
• An authorization letter if someone else is retrieving the vehicle.

Official city websites often provide towed-vehicle lookup tools; for example, New York City offers a public search service. Enter your VIN or license plate number into your city or county’s official tow-lookup portal. If the system shows your vehicle, it will display the impound lot address and phone number. If no record appears, contact local police to verify the removal.

How to Find a Towed Vehicle Using a VIN or License Plate

In most places, license plate + state is the primary key for real-time impound searches. VIN is more often used for identity verification than for immediate “where is my car” results.

Recommended steps:

1. Find your license plate number and state.
2. Check the city/county tow/impound portal (if available).
3. Review results (lot address, phone, release instructions).
4. If there is no result, call non-emergency police/parking enforcement.
5. If it may have been a private-lot tow, contact the property manager and likely tow providers.
6. Use the VIN mainly for verification and later paperwork.

What to Do If Your Car Is Stolen

If you believe your vehicle was stolen, report it to local law enforcement immediately. Provide as many identifying details as possible. Include your VIN, license plate, and the exact location where you last saw the car.

Information Police Will Ask For

• Make, model, color, and year of the vehicle.
• License plate number.
• Vehicle Identification Number (VIN).
• Distinct features or modifications.
• Tracking device or GPS details (if installed).
• Time and location where you last saw the vehicle.

Contact your insurance company as soon as possible. Start a claim and provide the requested details promptly.

Insurance Actions

Most insurers also require a copy of the police report. They may ask for a complete list of personal items that were inside the vehicle.

According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), vehicle recovery rates vary by region. However, a significant portion of stolen cars is never recovered. Many are quickly dismantled or transported out of state.

Many insurers wait a period (often around 30 days) before declaring a stolen vehicle a total loss, but this varies by policy and jurisdiction.

How to Check If a Car Is Stolen

When buying a used car, you should always verify that it has not been reported stolen by checking the VIN, comparing vehicle records, and confirming its status with official databases such as the DMV or NICB.

When a car is stolen, it may be dismantled for parts, moved across state lines, abandoned, or resold.

You can also check with the DMV and NICB databases. Reporting and database updates can take time, so it’s smart to confirm through more than one official source.

How to Verify If a Vehicle Was Stolen Step-by-Step

1. Get the VIN from the seller and verify it on the vehicle (dashboard, door jamb, paperwork).
2. Check the VIN through official or widely-used resources available in your jurisdiction (police/DMV portals, where offered).
3. Use NICB VINCheck (U.S.-focused and limited in scope; it may not include every theft record immediately or universally).
4. Consider an NMVTIS-approved vehicle history provider (U.S.) for title/branding signals; combine with inspection and paperwork checks.
5. Verify seller identity and title status; avoid deals that bypass normal documentation.

Red Flags That May Indicate a Stolen Vehicle

• Seller refuses to share or verify the VIN.
• Unusually low price with urgency/pressure.
• Missing or inconsistent title/paperwork.
• Seller refuses a professional inspection.
• VIN plates look tampered or mismatched across locations.

Using a trusted VIN history provider can help confirm ownership records and detect theft-related red flags before you complete a purchase.

Summary

• Start with signage + quick area scan, then call the listed tow company if present.
• Use your city/county impound lookup, where available, usually by license plate.
• If uncertain, call the local non-emergency police line/parking enforcement to confirm records.
• Treat repossession as a real third branch. Call the lender early if payments are behind.
• “No record” doesn’t automatically mean theft; it can mean lag or private removal. But after reasonable checks, theft becomes more likely, and you should report promptly.
• For used-car purchases, rely on VIN consistency + paperwork + official tools + reputable history sources, not a single “magic” database.

If your vehicle is missing and there’s no tow record, theft becomes more likely, especially when records and local towing providers come up empty. A VIN check is also a practical way to validate identity, ownership history, and red flags before you finalize a used-car purchase. EpicVIN is one option that can support that verification step by compiling VIN-based vehicle history data into a single report.

Frequently Asked Questions