Does a Subaru or Tesla Need a Flatbed Tow in Boulder? Yes

Published 17 September 2026

Boulder Towing Company is asked most weeks whether a Subaru or a Tesla really needs a flatbed or whether the smaller wheel-lift truck would do. The short answer is yes to the flatbed, and it is not our answer: Subaru's own guide and Tesla's transporter instructions both say so, and AAA explains why.

Here is what each says, what a wheel-lift does to an all-wheel-drive or electric car, what to tell the tow company so the right truck comes the first time, and why the wrong truck, which looks cheaper, is the expensive one.

A wheel-lift lifts one axle in a cradle and the car rides on its other two wheels. AAA's rule for a front-wheel-drive car is to lift the front so the rear wheels roll freely, because dragging the front wheels can damage the transmission: the driven axle in the air, the free-rolling axle on the road.

All-wheel drive has no free-rolling axle. The front and rear are linked through a center differential, or in a four-wheel-drive truck a transfer case, so when one axle rolls and the other hangs in the air, the road spins one end of a driveline whose other end is meant to be still. AAA calls flatbeds ideal for all-wheel and four-wheel-drive vehicles. A flatbed removes the question: the car rides strapped at the wheels with nothing underneath turning.

Subaru's Getting Started Guide for the 2020 Legacy has a section headed Towing Your All-Wheel Drive Subaru, two sentences long: because Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive distributes power to all four wheels, improper towing may damage your AWD system, and the way to tow the car is with a flatbed truck, by a Subaru retailer or a commercial towing service.

Read that against the wheel-lift: lifting the front axle of a Legacy and rolling it on its rear wheels is exactly the improper towing the guide means, because the rear wheels turn the driveline while the front sits still. The warning is about the drivetrain, not the model, and the drivetrain is what to name on the call.

In Boulder the Subaru question usually arrives with snow on it: a car winched out of a bank on Magnolia Road that will not drive away afterward - a bent wheel, a steering pull, a driveline noise - leaves on the bed, not on a hook.

Tesla's Model 3 owner's manual has a section for the tow operator, Instructions for Transporters, and it is blunter than Subaru's: a flatbed truck or comparable transport vehicle is the recommended method of transporting the car, and, in capitals, never transport the vehicle with the tires in a position where they can spin, because doing so can lead to significant damage and overheating.

The one exception is narrow: with no flatbed available, a wheel-lift with dollies under the other axle may be used, for a maximum of 35 miles and never above the dollies' speed rating. Nederland is 17 miles up the canyon and Denver about 30 down US 36, so that is a local hop to a shop, not a transport.

Tow Mode is the other thing to know: it keeps the parking brake disengaged while the car is winched onto a flatbed and lets the tires rotate at under 5 mph for less than 30 feet, enough to climb the bed, which is why we ask whether the car will power up. The manual closes the argument itself: damage caused by improper transporting is not covered by the warranty.

The front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of many cars look the same from the curb, and a Model 3 with a dead screen looks like any other sedan, so the call has to carry what the eye cannot.

The same answers build the quote, the other half of the question: Colorado caps a tow you did not order and leaves the one you did to the figure you agree to, and how much it costs to tow a car in Colorado lays out the schedule. Five things settle the truck:

• Year, make and model, and the drivetrain - all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive or electric, said even if you are not asked.
• Whether an electric car will power up, which decides whether it can go into Tow Mode.
• Whether it rolls and steers. A car stuck in park with no key, or with a bent wheel, goes up on dollies, and that is time on the quote.
• Where it sits. A parking structure's ceiling or a switchback on Flagstaff Road decides whether the bed can come down at all.
• Where it is going, and whether the shop or charger will be open when the truck arrives.

A wheel-lift is the simpler hook-up, so a company that sends one for a Subaru or a Tesla can quote a little less. What it is selling is a chance: that six miles on two wheels does nothing to a center differential, or that a Model 3's tires turning for twenty minutes overheat nothing. If the chance goes wrong, the bill is a drivetrain repair, a second tow, and a warranty that, as Tesla's manual says, does not cover damage from improper transporting. The flatbed is a different truck doing different work, and that difference is the smallest number in the story.

The Colorado PUC does not settle this for you: it caps only nonconsensual tows, a private-property impound or a police-ordered tow, under 4 CCR 723-6, and has no schedule for a tow you request. What the state requires for your tow is disclosure of every rate and charge first, so the quote should name the truck.

Ours does. For a tow you have chosen yourself, Boulder Towing Company's flatbeds are what we send for all-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, electric and hybrid vehicles and motorcycles, quoted as one figure with the arrival window, at any hour. The page on flatbed towing for AWD, EV and motorcycles in Boulder covers the loading, the straps and the long runs; the short version is that all four wheels ride off the road, and nothing the manufacturers warned about ever turns.