Tows R Us

Nothing to say here, except that my experience is identical to many reviewers on here. Shame on AAA and NYC for letting these guys stay in biz

I will refrain from writing anything too detailed, but know that all the past reviews are accurate and speak loudly enough for the experience you may have if ever unlucky enough to deal with this company. After being towed there by AAA, the experience that followed was hellish and be sure that these guys make a living off of cars arriving in their garage that won’t start and diagnosing them with all kinds of problems when a simple kick in the tail pipe would have it running again. Long story short, I met a tow truck there to junk my car (after paying them $ 69 + $ 85 for diagnostic/​storage) and they drove the thing out of the garage running perfectly fine when they told me I’d need to spend $ 800 to fix it. Needless to say, I hopped in my car and took it to my mechanic in NJ who I should’ve gone to all along and will never make a similar mistake again.
Feels weird giving them any stars… my rating is in the negatives.

Same incident with me. Dead battery AAA picks my car up and brings me to there shop even after telling them I want it brought to my mechanic. I needed an alternator $ 1800.00… I had to pay another tow truck to take it out. But first had to pay those crooks $ 85.00 diagnostic charge. AAA was no help at all. I now use another road side assistance program

Scam artists like all the other posts indicate. Had the same exact story regarding the ‘broken alternator’, cowboy hat tow guy and all, when all I needed was a battery charge. They start charging battery at the shop but Rony says the alternator is busted and I won’t get more than 10 minutes before it dies if I try to drive off. Obviously a lie when I drive off without a problem. They even tried to drain the battery after the initial charge by leaving the headlines on with the engine off while I was negotiating. Borderline criminal. Needed my car towed again last week and I asked AAA to NOT have Citywide/​Tows R Us pick me up. The AAA operater claimed «that you are not even one of the first 10 people to complain about them, I think we are no longer affiliated with them». Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to be the case. AAA, when one of your operators acknowledges how terrible they are, might be time to cut ties. Nothing less ethical than sending people to someone your own employees admits is bad.

BEWARE!!! These guys are now going under the name «City Wide.» My car was sent here on the recommendation of the AAA tow truck driver… apparently it’s his shop. My car ran low on oil due to a faulty oil change, so they put more oil in at $ 19.99 PER QUART, when the cost should be (according to three other garages) $ 8.75-$ 9.25 per quart. They charged me $ 40 for the oil filter, when the charge should have been $ 14. They also claimed I need an entire new engine. I took it around the street to Active Auto, and they took a second look, and told me I only need new tensioners. If I had only checked Unilocal before sending my car to this hell hole, I would’ve saved myself $ 411 for an oil change. DO NOT SEND YOUR CAR TO TOWS R US OR CITY WIDE!!!

What a horror– They charged me 3times what every other repair shop would have charged. When i challenged it, the guy started yelling he has been in the business 26 years. We were an 1hour a way and he said if we didnt approve the repair he would roll car on to street. Of course our vehicle would have been impouned– He gave us a time to pick up car after bilking us and than kept us waitng for hours– This place is a HORROR. STAY AWAY– Im filing a complaint with the NYC Dept of Consumer Affairs– Shameful–

This place is full of dirty scumbags trying to prey on other motorist because AAA sends them to «help» you with your stranded vehicle.
I called AAA when my car was stuck in Chelsea. About 45 minutes later a truck with a man wearing a cowboy hat shows up. After I tell him that I just need a jump he suggests that I have the car towed to his AAA Approved station to check it out. I tell him that I know its the battery can he just give me a jump. He reluctantly gets the cables out and hooks it up. No go. The battery is too dead to start even with a jump.
So I ask him to take me to my mechanic in Queens because I know I can get a battery for $ 99 and have them install it for another $ 15 or I can install it myself. He then says that the distributor looks dark and it may be burnt out. He was definitely pressing to have the car taken to his shop. I told him I would prefer him to take me to my mechanic. He said that it would only take a few minutes and if its the battery I can just get one there. I would get a 10% discount and it would be fast. I thought… ok…why not trust the tow guy.
We arrive to the station and the owner comes out. Asks me what the problem is and I tell him I need a new battery. He tells me to pop the hood and tests it with a battery tester. Tells me that yes I do need one.
How much I ask? He tells me $ 139. Not too bad. And $ 45 to install it!!!
I told him that was too much and could I just buy the battery. He said no– he had to do it. I then told him that the price was outrageous and that I couldn’t believe that AAA would ok this type of practice and that I want to be towed to the place I originally asked to go. He said ‘Call AAA” and walked away. Dirty nasty scumbag.
I then called AAA and they sent another tow truck from another company. While I was waiting I turned to the man with the cowboy hat and told him,“You deceived me and lied to me. There is no 10% discount-​there is a $ 45 installation fee that is mandatory. You just wasted over 2 hours of my time and your boss is a dirtbag. Thanks for nothing.“
He looked hurt and went to talk to his boss. Who cares.
I was towed to my mechanic picked up a battery installed it in 10 minutes and the car is good as new. No distributor problems.
AAA should be ashamed that they are sending people to this shoddy scam shed. I am going to write to AAA and let them know and send them links to all the bad reviews.
Do not ever take your car here. Insist on taking it where you want.
AAA…you let me down on this one. and Tows R Us. you can rot in hell dirty scumbags.

SCAM ARTIST. Experience is the same as the previous 2 reviews. AAA tow service brought me there. The guy «Mike» calls me and told me that the alternator is damaged and needed to be replaced. He actually told me that it was physically smashed and a chunk was missing. I knew that this was wrong because I looked at it. Worse, he grew angry when I showed up at the shop, refused to show me my car, then approached my face and screamed at me, punching a table and shreiking like a threatened mother chimpanzee (not actually intimidating) when I asked him to be reasonable. Another, more reasonable person then drew me aside and negotiated the appropriate repairs (no work on my healthy alternator). If Mike is still there after I submit my formal complaints, I will speak to the authorities.

Ugh. I had an experience that was almost identical to the one described in the earlier review. Car wouldn’t start, called AAA, they sent over Tows ‘R Us, and the guy tried to sell me a new starter. I resisted, so he started up the car. My mechanic later confirmed that while my battery wasn’t good, the starter was sound.
This can’t be a coincidence or just one rogue tow operator working out of this garage, as I’ve seen these SOBs written up on other rating sites. I also called up AAA to complain and was paid lip service. The problem is really with AAA, which has a contract with this outfit and inflicts it on the motorists of Manhattan.
Some advice from my mechanic: watch these tow operators like a hawk. If they’re there to give you a jump start, be sure they’re hooking up the cables to the car. NEVER let them repair the car, just do precisely what you called them to do. No more.
Advice to other Unilocalers scammed by these creeps: complain to AAA.
PS Just to confirm that as of September 2013, my starter is still A-​OK. What a bunch of thieves. AAA should be ashamed of its rotten self.

This guy is a scam artist. I called AAA because my car wouldn’t start and asked for battery service, just in case the battery was dead. The guy called me and told me he was going to have to tow me in to do the battery service (there’s no reason why he should have to do that). Then when he gets there, he opens up the hood and points to the alternator and says, «It’s the alternator.» He says he knows that because of the corrosion on the battery. I thankfully had a friend that has a car garage and called him to check what the guy was telling me. My friend told me it was actually the exact opposite. I told the guy just to jump me and I’d take my chances. He was pretty miffed about it, but did it. The car started, I drove it around for an hour, turned it off, and it started just fine (another sign it’s not the alternator). I called AAA to let them know what happened, but I also wanted to let people on Unilocal know, too. If you don’t know anything about cars it’s really easy for them to take advantage of you, and this place definitely exercises that privilege. You’d be better off taking your business elsewhere.