Cost to Tow a Car in Colorado: The 2026 PUC Caps, From Boulder

Published 17 September 2026

How much does it cost to tow a car in Colorado? We hear it often at Boulder Towing Company, and two different answers exist. For an impound or a police-ordered tow, the Colorado Public Utilities Commission caps each charge. Order it yourself and Colorado names no price; you pay the total you approved before the tow truck left.

Below: the PUC schedule dated March 15, 2026; the mileage and fuel surcharge rules; the Towing Bill of Rights; and where complaints go. Each dollar amount comes from the PUC and applies to a nonconsensual tow. None of them is what we charge.

Towing carriers in Colorado are regulated by the PUC under 4 CCR 723-6. Rule 6501 defines a nonconsensual tow as moving a vehicle off private property without prior consent from its owner, operator, agent, lienholder or insurer. It defines a private property impound, a PPI, as a tow the property owner authorizes. A tow ordered by law enforcement stays under the rules even if you consent, unless you keep the right to halt it and pick your own carrier.

Rule 6511 sets the rates, and it caps just two things: private property impounds, and law enforcement-ordered tows, which are billed by the hour. Consensual tows have no schedule. In October 2022 the PUC's Towing Task Force said carriers doing consensual work need not follow any set pricing structure. The state's one demand, according to the Colorado Legislative Council's December 2022 brief, is that all rates and charges be disclosed before the tow, estimated mileage and storage included.

The PUC publishes the schedule on its towing-rates page and adjusts it each March 15 for inflation, using the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood consumer price index. This year's adjustment is 2.28 percent. Treat every figure as a maximum; billing below it is allowed.

The numbers move. The April 30, 2024 schedule set the impound base at $239.88, and the Legislative Council recorded $211.11 in late 2022. Look for the effective date on any schedule someone shows you. As of March 15, 2026, per the Colorado PUC:

• Impound base rate. $250.91 below 10,000 lb GVWR, the class for nearly every car, SUV and pickup. $288.57 up to 19,000 lb. $388.96 up to 33,000 lb. $439.15 above that.
• Police-ordered tow and recovery. $286.15 an hour below 10,000 lb, climbing by weight class to $516.48 an hour above 33,000 lb.
• Storage. $48.19 per 24 hours below 10,000 lb; $59.45 at 10,000 lb and up; or $1.82 per foot.
• Drop charge. $97.70 below 10,000 lb, commercial property only. Zero on residential property since August 10, 2022.
• After-hours release. $106.06. Notification fee. $75.00 when the car came off private property, $150.00 off public property.

Rule 6511 sets impound mileage at $3.80 a mile, capped at 12 billable miles within ten miles on either side of I-25, and at 16.5 miles for mountain and eastern plains communities beyond that. A fuel surcharge rides on top whenever diesel tops a $2.60 base on the U.S. Department of Energy's weekly Rocky Mountain price. September 2026's surcharge is $1.07 a mile, for a $4.87 maximum with the base. February's was $0.25 and June's $1.11, so the bill should show the month the tow happened.

Storage runs on its own timer. HB22-1314 requires the carrier to notify the owner within 10 days, and until it does, only the first 24 hours of storage, prorated hourly, can be billed. A car held a week before the letter went out should not carry a week of storage. The after-hours release fee applies only to a pickup outside business hours.

The Towing Bill of Rights is House Bill 22-1314, law since August 10, 2022, amended by House Bill 24-1051 from August 7, 2024; the text is C.R.S. 40-10.1-405. If the car has not yet left the lot when you get there, the carrier must hand it back free on request. A towed car can be reclaimed for fifteen percent of the fees, sixty dollars at most, with the PUC's release form signed for the rest. Belongings come out within 30 days of notice without paying the towing fees.

Before a residential tow, a written notice must sit on the windshield for 24 hours, with exceptions such as a blocked driveway or a fire zone. An expired plate is not grounds for a tow unless an officer orders it. The carrier must photograph the car first, or the law presumes it caused any damage. Cash and major credit cards must be accepted. HB24-1051 adds three things: the property owner's permission in writing, within 24 hours, for each tow; signs in English and Spanish; and coverage under the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

Bill over the schedule, or a yard refusing the partial-payment release? Call the PUC's Consumer Assistance line, 303-894-2070 or 800-456-0858, or file the complaint form on its towing page. PUC enforcement returned $280,289 to consumers in 2022-2024. Car missing, towing company unknown? Start with tracing a towed car around Boulder.

Most Boulder calls are different: a stall on 28th Street, a no-start in Table Mesa. You asked for that tow, so it is consensual, and the PUC sets no ceiling or floor for it. Your safeguard is the full figure we give by phone; an opening bid is not one.

We work by that rule ourselves. Boulder Towing Company names a complete price once it knows the address, the car, the fault and the drop-off, and gives the arrival window on that same call, so you decide with both in hand. Distance, which tow truck fits and any winching change the figure. The clock does not.

Online rate tables for Colorado describe impounds and police tows only. Your own tow is priced another way; the Boulder price breakdown shows each piece.