Jump starts, lockouts, spare tires and fuel delivery across Vanderburgh County, the calls that cost less than a tow and get tried first whenever they might work.
Call (812) 402-0614Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Vanderburgh County driver
Six boxes, about thirty seconds. You pick when to be called back, and that is when the phone rings.
Or call (812) 402-0614Plenty of calls that start as "send a tow" finish as a roadside fix. The battery that clicked at the pump wants a jump box. The keys on the seat want an air wedge and a reach tool. The flat with a real spare wants a jack and a quarter hour on the shoulder. Asking a few questions up front is how a truck gets sent that can try the cheaper fix first and hook the car only when that fails.
Evansville punishes batteries twice a year. August heat speeds up corrosion inside the case, and a battery that baked all summer in a lot at Eastland Mall has lost capacity it will never recover. The first hard freeze in January is when the loss shows: one sharp click, or a rapid chatter, while the dash lights sag. A jump box gets it turning over, and the car should then be driven for a while rather than switched off at the next stop. If it is dead again tomorrow, the battery is done and wants replacing. Silence with bright dash lights means the starter or its wiring, and that car rides to a shop instead of taking a jump.
Keys locked in at a store on Green River Road, at a downtown meter near Main Street, at the university, or in your own driveway in Haynie's Corner. An inflatable wedge and a reach tool open nearly every door in a few minutes without touching wiring or marking paint. Newer cars with a dead proximity fob can sometimes be started by holding the fob against the start button, which the driver tries first. A child or a pet shut inside goes out as an emergency, in front of everything else on the board.
Many cars from the last ten years came from the factory with a compressor and a bottle of sealant where the spare used to be. Sealant seals a nail hole. It does nothing for a sidewall ripped open by an Evansville pothole after a freeze-thaw week on First Avenue or Diamond Avenue. With a spare in the trunk, the driver swaps it on the shoulder. Without one, or with a bent rim, the car goes on a flatbed to a tire shop and the call becomes a tow. Say which situation you are in and the right truck is sent.
Two or three gallons delivered to the car on I-69 will reach the next exit. Diesel pumped into a gasoline car, or gasoline into a diesel, is a different matter: do not turn the key, and the car goes on a flatbed to a shop to have the tank emptied.
Stop-and-go through the Burkhardt work zone on a ninety-five-degree afternoon is where cooling systems give up. A temperature gauge climbing into the red means pull off at the next opportunity and shut down; driving it through is how a head gasket fails. A driver can bring coolant and check for an obvious leak, but a car that has already boiled over usually rides to a shop.
A service call is priced far under a local tow; the county's own contract puts a jump at the scene at a fraction of its tow charge. You are billed for what was done. If the jump fails and the car ends up on the hook, the tow is the charge, not both. The pricing page puts service calls and tows on adjacent lines.
Roadside Assistance in Evansville. Call (812) 402-0614 and a driver is dispatched with the right truck. You get the price before the hook goes on.
Call (812) 402-0614INDOT's Lloyd4U program, announced in 2020 and estimated at about $173 million as of 2023, is reconstructing a dozen intersections and replacing bridges and pavement along the Lloyd Expressway's 14.3 miles through Vanderburgh County. Construction began in 2024. The Vann Avenue and Stockwell Road intersections on the East Lloyd are complete; Burkhardt Road, Cross Pointe and Eagle Crest boulevards, and Red Bank Road are under construction and expected to finish by the end of 2026. West of US 41 the expressway is signed State Road 62 and east of it State Road 66.
Why it matters: Barrier walls and narrowed shoulders mean a stalled car in a work zone becomes a lane closure, a truck may have to reach the scene from the next crossover, and a crash that closes the Lloyd puts every recovery truck in the county on the expressway at once.
Sources: thelloyd4u.com · news.wnin.org · en.wikipedia.org
Vanderburgh County's Agreement for the Towing and Storage of Nuisance, Wrecked and Abandoned Vehicles, with the contractor for the 2018-2020 term, permits only listed fees on county-ordered tows: $60.00 to tow an automobile, pickup truck, SUV or passenger van; $50.00 for motorcycles, trucks over one ton, semis, buses and equipment; $50.00 per hour for recovery; $50.00 per hour plus $1.50 per mile for tows outside the county; $12.00 per day storage for all vehicles; $50.00 for a jump start at the scene; and no fee for dry runs or refused service. The contractor must have equipment at the scene within twenty minutes of being contacted, and must keep a 24-hour, 365-day service and a staffed storage lot at 1277 Maxwell Avenue.
Why it matters: These are negotiated volume rates for county-ordered tows and do not bind a private tow, but they are the only published local floor for what the work costs, and they show what a fair itemized bill looks like: a flat tow, hourly recovery, daily storage, nothing for a dry run.
Source: evansville.granicus.com
The Evansville Police Department's towed-vehicles page directs owners of police-towed vehicles to Tri-State Towing at 1501 N. Evans, Evansville, IN 47711, (812) 476-4004, states that only the registered owner with picture ID can recover the vehicle, and advises calling first to confirm the lot is open and that the proper paperwork is in hand. Vehicles towed for abandoned-vehicle violations are handled through Wolf's Auto Auction, (812) 425-4576.
Why it matters: A spouse or a friend cannot collect the car. Bring the registration or title and photo ID yourself, call ahead, and go quickly because storage accrues by the day.
Sources: evansvillepolice.com · evansvillepolice.com
Indiana Code 9-22-1-19 requires a public agency or towing service, within three business days after a vehicle is removed to a storage yard, to search the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System or an equivalent database to identify the owner and any lienholder, and, not later than three business days after obtaining the name and address, to notify them of the agency or towing service's name, address and telephone number, that storage charges are accruing, that the vehicle is subject to sale if unclaimed, and the earliest possible date and location of the public sale.
Why it matters: The law is built so an owner hears within about a week that the car is in a lot and the meter is running. Waiting for the insurer to call back is the expensive choice.
Sources: law.justia.com · in.gov
Upfront pricing · No obligation · Local Vanderburgh County driver