Cut a long story short, I get straight to the point as its kind of a emergency I guess:

 

I lost my car keys. Car parked at my mates living in a council tower block flats. So it's not a private car park but a council public car park where people living there park their cars. I don't see any permits on car windows or any limited time parking signs there. My mate lives couple of hours drive away from me. I know a local recovery company to where I live that can recover the car back to me from my mates and cut a new key and reprogram the chip much cheaper than the quotes I had from my mates local recovery companies.

 

Beginner questions:

 

Where are the tow hook locations on the car?

 

The only recovery option available is a recovery truck with a winch? Will hooking a winch to one of the tow hooks on the car with the car handbrake still on cause any damage to the car while winching it up on the truck?

 

Will I be in trouble with the council for parking my car there for long periods of time?

 

 

 

Maybe getting a mobile auto locksmith to go to the car would be more economic than recovering it on a truck.

 

I wouldn't worry too much, most drivers will run a strap to the wishbones or use their own towing eye when winching on. 

Some recovery vehicles, such as those called out to remove badly parked cars, can crane the car onto the truck using straps around the wheels. A few phone calls should find one.

 

Tow hook locations are shown in the handbook. If don't have one, then download yours from the pinned links sections above these threads.

 

 

Unbelievable but recovery truck drivers usually know how  to recover cars.  Some can even open a locked car without damage. 

If your screw in tow hook for the front is in the boot there might be one in their truck.

& dollies to put under the wheels when an automatic is in P or a handbrake on.

Edited 7 January, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

Seems a bit extreme when there are plenty of automobile locksmiths around who can quite easily get into a locked car with minimal or even no damage these days.

 

Any recovery driver worth their salt will not use the towing eyes on the car, especially not a front wheel drive one that has the handbrake on and/or in gear. They will either hook to the wishbones (as said above) or just straight lift the car with a crane.