Your Car Was Towed in Santa Maria: What to Do Next

Published 17 September 2026

Santa Maria Tow Truck takes calls that begin with a car that is not where it was left, and the first thing we say is that we cannot find it - but the agency that ordered the tow can, and in Santa Maria there are only a few. Which one it was decides where the car sits, who releases it, what you bring and what you can contest.

Here is the order of calls, the release rules at the Santa Maria Police Department and the CHP, the 72-hour rule, the hearing under CVC 22852, the 30-day impound under CVC 14602.6 and the one-hour rule for free lots under CVC 22953.

A car towed from a city street was almost always ordered off by the Santa Maria Police Department, non-emergency line (805) 928-3781 ext. 2277. A car towed from US 101 or another state highway was a CHP matter: the CHP Santa Maria Area, (805) 608-6310, covers about 30 miles of the 101, 78 of the 166, 17 of the 135, 20 of Highway 1 and 12 of SR 33. In Orcutt, Sisquoc, Casmalia, Tanglewood or Los Alamos, call the Sheriff's Santa Maria Station, (805) 934-6150.

A car towed from a private lot was ordered off by the property owner, and CVC 22658 requires the entrance sign to carry each towing company's name and phone number; the owner must also notify the local traffic law enforcement agency within one hour of authorizing the tow, so the police have a record too.

For any tow a public agency ordered, CVC 22852 requires notice to the registered and legal owners within 48 hours of storage, excluding weekends and holidays, with the vehicle's location, the reason and how to request a hearing; until it arrives, the calls above get you there first.

A vehicle the Santa Maria Police had towed is released through SMPD Records at (805) 928-3781 ext. 2294, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The registered owner brings a valid driver's license and the current registration; anyone else needs a notarized letter from the registered owner. The City charges an administrative release fee, authorized by CVC 22850.5 to recover its own costs of the removal, storage and release, on top of the tow yard's towing and storage charges.

At the yard, CVC 22651.07 applies whoever ordered the tow: an itemized invoice before you pay, showing the dispatch, arrival and completion times and every charge as its own line item, with the daily rate, the days stored, any gate fee and who directed the tow; your personal property at no charge on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; payment by cash, an insurer's check or a valid bank credit card; and no lien fee if you retrieve the car within its first 72 hours.

The CHP Santa Maria office draws a line that decides whether you need it at all. A stored vehicle - a crashed car, one left on the freeway beyond four hours, one that blocked a lane - is released directly by the tow company to the registered owner. An impounded vehicle needs a release from the office that impounded it, and the tow company will not hand it over until the CHP says so; the examples are unlicensed drivers, investigation holds and invalid registration.

The longest hold is the 30-day impound under CVC 14602.6, for a driver with a suspended or revoked license, on a restricted license without a required ignition interlock, or never licensed at all. The agency must mail notice to the legal owner within two working days, return receipt requested, and the owner gets a storage hearing under CVC 22852. Early release is available if the vehicle was stolen, the seizure had no legal authority, or the driver reinstates or acquires a license and proper insurance; a lender may recover it early by paying towing and storage.

Most street tows start with Santa Maria Municipal Code 7-5.22: no vehicle may be parked in one location on any street or alley for more than 72 consecutive hours. CVC 22651(k) lets an officer remove a vehicle left 72 or more consecutive hours in violation of such an ordinance, and the City's abandoned vehicle hotline is (805) 928-3781 ext. 2956. A dead car counts: a breakdown in front of your own house is on a clock.

Private lots have a clock that runs the other way. Under CVC 22953, on private property held open to the public for free parking, the owner may not tow a vehicle within one hour of its being parked, except one within 15 feet of a hydrant, in a fire lane, blocking an entrance or exit, or in a disabled space. It does not cover residential lots, and an owner who breaks it owes twice the towing and storage charges.

Whoever ordered the tow, CVC 22852 gives the registered and legal owners a post-storage hearing: request it within 10 days of the date on the notice, in person, in writing or by phone, and the agency must hold it within 48 hours of the request, excluding weekends and holidays. If reasonable grounds for the storage are not established, the agency that ordered it pays the towing and storage.

Every rule above belongs to a tow somebody else ordered, and each costs something a tow you call for does not: a release fee, storage days, a notarized letter, a wait for a weekday morning. The 72-hour clock on a street and the four-hour clock on a freeway both stop when a truck you called takes the car to your shop instead.

That is the point of the emergency tow you call for yourself in Santa Maria: you name the destination, you get the total and the arrival window on the call, and no agency holds the keys. Santa Maria Tow Truck's wheel-lift and flatbed trucks run around the clock for that call, and the sooner it is made, the less of this page you need.

A car that is stuck rather than broken is a different job again: how a winch-out from sand or mud works near Santa Maria is the next guide.