Towed in Tulum? One disputed bill shows why receipts matter

A driver is disputing 5,761 pesos in Tulum tow-truck charges from EconoGrúas after traffic officers sent his Jeep to the impound lot, and nearly half the bill is for one line: 1.92 units of maneuvering.

Most of the rates on his receipt line up with Quintana Roo's official tow tariff. What he contests is whether a Jeep he says was running and undamaged needed those services at all. That question applies to anyone towed in Tulum over a paperwork violation, and the state mobility institute acknowledged in May that its rules leave tow companies room to charge differently.

According to the driver, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, officers stopped him on a Saturday night near CETLI on the Tulum-Cobá highway. When he handed over his documents, they found his tarjeta de circulación, the vehicle registration card, had expired, and ordered the Jeep taken to the corralón.

He says the vehicle was not crashed, broken down, stuck, or abandoned, and that he has photos and videos showing its condition before it was loaded onto the flatbed.

Seven charges on a 5,761-peso receipt

When he recovered the Jeep, he received a receipt for 5,761.31 pesos. The breakdown:

• Storage, four days: 219.32 pesos
• Banderazo, the flat hookup fee: 607.43 pesos
• Distance, 21 kilometers: 433.02 pesos
• Flagging with a tow truck: 602.24 pesos
• Manual flagging: 50.61 pesos
• Custody with a tow truck: 502.44 pesos
• "Conditioning and/or maneuvering," 1.92 units: 2,566.52 pesos

The subtotal came to 4,981.58 pesos, and taxes and withholdings brought the final figure to 4,981.58 pesos.

The driver points out that storage, the hookup fee, and the charges tied to actually moving and holding the car add up to 1,259.77 pesos before tax. The larger share of the bill comes from maneuvering, custody and the two flagging charges.

Tulum tow truck charges track the state's 2020 tariff

The Quintana Roo Mobility Institute, known as Imoveqroo, published a maximum tariff for towing, salvage and vehicle storage in the state's Periódico Oficial in November 2020. Several figures on the receipt match it closely.

The tariff sets a hookup fee of 607 pesos and 20.62 pesos per kilometer for type B tow trucks, the category for camionetas, or light trucks, of up to four tons. Twenty-one kilometers at that rate comes to exactly 433.02 pesos. Storage for a camioneta was reported at 54.83 pesos per day, which, over four days, is 219.32 pesos on the receipt.

The maneuvering line follows the same pattern. The tariff price for "special maneuvers" for type B vehicles is 1,336.73 pesos; 1.92 times that amount is 2,566.52 pesos, the amount billed. The complaint reads those 1.92 units as close to two hours of work.

When the schedule took effect, press coverage described the special-maneuver fee as applying to the rescue of vehicles, their parts or cargo, or to vehicles involved in crashes. Article 33 of the tariff, as reported at the time, requires the traffic authority to record the start and end times of those services in an official report.

The receipt, as the driver describes it, does not say what maneuver was performed or how the 1.92 units were measured.

A running Jeep and a discount that never appeared

The driver says he has received no explanation for a charge above 2,500 pesos when, by his account, the only work required was lifting the Jeep onto a flatbed.

He also questions the 21 kilometers billed between the checkpoint and the impound lot and says he will verify the distance himself. And he says he was initially told a discount would apply, but he cannot find one identified anywhere on the receipt.

He does not dispute that driving with an expired registration can carry sanctions under the applicable rules. His point is narrower: every additional service should be documented and explained to the person paying for it, especially when it multiplies the final cost.

The Tulum Times has not obtained EconoGrúas' explanation of the charges.

Imoveqroo concedes the rules leave room

In May, Imoveqroo director Rafael Hernández Kotasek said current regulations on tow companies are open enough to allow significant differences in what drivers pay. He noted there is no national standardized tariff for towing, salvage and storage, and argued that some flexibility exists because pulling a car out of a pothole differs from pulling one out of a deep hole. He said the institute would strengthen supervision of concession holders.

Disputes over tow bills in the region are not new. In 2019, La Jornada Maya reported that tourists towed in Tulum's beach zone were quoted 12,000 pesos to retrieve their vehicle after a trip of about six kilometers, a situation resolved only after the municipal Transit director stepped in. In Chetumal in 2022, a couple who challenged a 2,100-peso tow bill said Imoveqroo sided with them after they compared it against the posted rates, and local press reported a 15,000-peso fine against the company.

Imoveqroo's website lists a complaints mailbox for abuse reports.

The record that would settle it

The driver is asking EconoGrúas and the relevant authorities to explain the 1.92 units of maneuvering, prove the 21 kilometers, and say whether the discount he was offered was ever applied. He is also urging other drivers who have been towed to keep their receipts, so any pattern in these charges can be traced.

If the traffic authority logged when a maneuver began and when it ended, as the tariff requires, that report would show what the 1.92 units measured. The driver says nobody has shown it to him.

Have you paid to get a car out of an impound lot in Tulum, and did your receipt explain every charge? Join the conversation and share your perspective with us on Instagram and Facebook at @thetulumtimes.