Once I let my daughter drive my Prius on a longer trip as her car has no warranty and is not as fuel efficient. She parked illegally overnight and the car was towed away. I have no knowledge how the car was towed, but the distance was fairly short, several miles. There is no damage to the car that I can see. Does anyone know if the towing companies always use flat bed trucks for Prius towing and if not, how easy is it to damage Prius drivetrain by towing? This brings a memory when my wife's car, AWD Subaru, was in an accident and the tow track driver was planning to drag it on rear wheels. Fortunately, I intervened as AWD should be towed on a flat bad. Obviously the tow truck driver knew that too, but he didn't care.
If they pick it up from the fnt wheels, the it was just a matter of releasing the parking brake......if it was applied. Now of it was picked up from the rear wheels, I hope that they used a dolly to set the fnt wheels on. If it was a smart tow truck driver, maybe he released the parking pawl which can be done from inside the fuse box. Either way, if they dragged it, u would see/feel a flat spot on the front wheels. If this is the case, I would file a claim for damages.
I would check under the engine for damage since the arm that sits under the engine is pretty close, if they went over any bumps it would have hit the bottom
If the car was locked and forcibly unlocked, an "alarm" would have sounded for sure. That all said, if the parking brake wasn't engaged, then it's just a matter of lifting the front wheels. Otherwise, jacking up the rear and placing it on a tow-dolly eliminates the need to "break and enter". Even if the parking prowl was disengaged, towing wheels-down is bad-news for the transmission as there's high risk of over-spinning MG1 (the smaller generator) beyond a certain speed (42-46mph).
Mod note: Please click reply on all posts before completing the post vs. posting 3 small responses! When I lock my car w/ the fob (or via interior switch, then close the last door), then my kids try to get out some seconds later (unlocking the car in the process), the horn will sound and lights will flash. Perhaps VIP is required now...
