If San Diego police or parking enforcement towed your car, AutoReturn is the company holding it, and their online locator is the fastest way to find it. One quick note before we go further: Quick Tow SD is a separate private towing company. We don’t run the city’s impound lot and we can’t release a car that AutoReturn or SDPD is holding. What we do is drive you and your car home once it’s released. If you just need to locate a car the city towed, this is the right page. If you’re past that step and want the full cost breakdown, see our impound release cost guide.
AutoReturn is the official towing and impound contractor for the City of San Diego. That means every car towed by SDPD, a parking enforcement officer, or a city abandoned-vehicle crew ends up in AutoReturn’s system, not some random private lot. Knowing that saves you a lot of wasted calls.
What AutoReturn actually does
AutoReturn holds the contract to tow, store, and release vehicles for the City of San Diego. If a patrol officer tows your car for expired tags, a suspended license, or parking in a tow-away zone, AutoReturn’s yard is almost always where it lands. They run the storage lot, they take your payment at release, and they keep the online system that tells you where your car is.
This is different from a private operator like Western Towing, which holds cars under separate rotation contracts and runs its own lots around the county. If a private tow company hooked your car from a apartment complex or a private lot, AutoReturn won’t have it. Start with your registration paperwork or the tow company name on any notice you got.
How to search the AutoReturn locator
AutoReturn runs a free online tool built for exactly this. Go to autoreturn.com/san-diego-ca/find-vehicle/ and enter your license plate or VIN. If your car is in their system, it’ll show the lot address and a rough idea of what you owe.
A few things make the search go smoother:
- Have your plate number and state ready, or your VIN if you know it.
- Search within a day or two of the tow. Records post quickly but not always instantly.
- If the plate search comes back empty, try the VIN instead. Typos on old plates happen more than you’d think.
If the site doesn’t turn anything up and you’re sure the city towed your car, call AutoReturn directly at 619-527-4392 or email [email protected]. Someone can look it up manually. For more general steps on tracking down a towed car anywhere in the county, not just city impounds, check our find your towed car guide.
What it costs to get your car back
AutoReturn charges under a fee schedule set by the city, not whatever they feel like that day. Here’s the current breakdown for a regular passenger vehicle:
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Tow fee | $178 |
| TICR (Tow/Impound Cost Recovery Fee) | $54, flat, on every release |
| Daily storage | $41/day, starts the day the car arrives |
| After-hours release (after 5 PM, weekends) | $48 |
| Flatbed or dolly, if needed | $47 |
So a car picked up the next day usually runs around $314 ($178 tow, $54 TICR, and two days of storage at $41). Let it sit longer and the storage adds up fast. Medium and heavy duty vehicles carry higher tow and storage rates. For the full math on longer holds, including what a 30-day sit costs, our impound cost breakdown walks through it line by line.
Retrieval is available 24/7 once the fees are paid, so you’re not stuck waiting for business hours if you have the money and the paperwork ready.
Documents you’ll need at the lot
Show up without the right paperwork and you’ll be turned around, so bring:
- A valid driver’s license, or a restricted or temporary license if that’s what you have
- Proof of current registration for the vehicle
- Proof of current insurance
- Payment for the fees above (check what AutoReturn accepts before you drive out)
If you’re not the registered owner, call ahead. AutoReturn can tell you what extra documentation they need before you make the trip.
If you think the tow was wrong
Getting the car back and disputing the tow are two separate things. You can request a post-storage hearing to challenge whether the tow itself was valid, and that clock starts running fast. Our post-storage hearing guide covers the deadline and what to say.
If the locator can’t find your car at all, or you’re not sure the city was the one who towed it, call SDPD’s non-emergency line at 619-531-2000. For questions specific to the impound process, SDPD Tow Administration handles it directly at 858-495-7830. And if the tow happened on Port of San Diego property near the bay, that’s a different agency entirely, worth a look at our Port of San Diego impound guide before you assume it’s AutoReturn.
Once your car is released
Paying AutoReturn gets your car unlocked from the lot. It doesn’t get it home if you don’t have a second driver or a way to move it yourself. That’s the part Quick Tow SD actually handles. Once AutoReturn or SDPD releases your vehicle, call us at (858) 923-5787 and we’ll send a truck to pick it up and take it wherever you need it, no detour through another lot required.