More than 200 euros to pay if your car spends just one day in the city’s impound lot.
Like running out of gas, having your car impounded is feared by all motorists. Rightly so, since having your vehicle taken away never comes at the right time and then requires several hours to recover it. So much time wasted and above all a lot of money since impound fees are expensive. This is even more true since March 1, the date on which the ceilings for collection and daily storage costs for private cars on the national territory were increased, with the exception of the cities of Paris and Marseille. , Lyon and Toulouse which have a separate scale.
Impoundment rates, frozen for four years, saw an increase of 6.38 euros (5.2%) for removal fees, now set at 127.65 euros, and an increase of 33 euro cents (0.05%) for daily care costs which today reach 6.75 euros. Already high, these cumulative costs amount to more than 134 euros and that’s not all. Moving the vehicle always costs 15.20 euros and installing a shoe, when it needs to be immobilized, 7.60 euros. For a single day of impoundment, and sometimes just a few hours, you now have to pay more than 157 euros to get your car back!
But there is worse. As seen above, some large cities have their own pricing. They justify it by traffic and parking problems and difficulties in implementing vehicle removal and custody operations. Whether in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, the scale is more disadvantageous for motorists. The prize goes to… Paris. In the capital, the collection fee alone costs 150 euros! The price of daily care, set at 29 euros, is four times higher than in an average city. So much so that in Paris, having your car removed can cost more than 200 euros including moving the vehicle and installing a shoe.
In France, there are several reasons why a car can be impounded. Illegal parking is the most common case, but serious traffic offenses, such as driving without a license, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, can also lead to the vehicle being immobilized and impounded. The non-presentation of administrative documents, such as the registration document or the insurance certificate, or the absence of a technical inspection are other causes likely to remove the vehicle from its owner who will then have to pay (expensively) to recover it.
