Ooops … you are right, it would be possible at least on my truck for a kid to start the engine with the transmission in P. But it wouldn’t be possible to start the engine if the transmission was left in gear, D or 2 or 1, which is of course the safety-purpose of that gadget. Not to prevent starting the engine in P. Newer vehicles have add’l protections I think, like you have to press on the brake pedal to shift out of P, which would be difficult for a kid to do.
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What would happen if the tow truck driver didn’t put my car in any kind of neutral and he just towed it?
You were told the driver unhooked linkage and put it back. You clearly don’t have the skills required to solve this problem. As Insightful says just bite the bullet and have someone fix this thing. Your chance of proving the wrecker company did something wrong is close to zero.
I’m not parked illegally they moved it for an event. (But I am getting roadside assistance.) But the city does frequently lack care when dealing with people’s property and if they were held accountable more, maybe they would be more careful. It seems they forget they are in civil service…
It’s not an uncommon things for vehicles to be damaged during towing, especially if it is an unwanted towing, meaning there’s no access to the passenger compartment to set up the transmission, transfer case & free running hubs (if applicable) first.
If anybody’s curious about an update I called Good Sam and they sent a company to help me at 8:30am. and its 12 o’clock and I’m still waiting apparently the truck that came to service my van broke down. To top it off it just started sprinkling with cold rain… New York City is the worst place to have vehicle issues.
tell Good Sam to check that the truck that is coming to service you has the shift linkage hooked up…
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The debacle is over and everyone who said it was the shift linkage thing you were correct. I told the guy that came that it wasn’t the battery and I told him everything that you guys said but he still didn’t believe me. Then I told his tow truck driving buddy (that towed him here) that my shifter on the inside was very loose. So his tow truck buddy told him that it was probably the linkage thing. He went in my van he checked the shift himself so he went under did the linkage, and bam the van started right away. Meanwhile, the mechanic said he didn’t know that tow truck drivers did that linkage thing. So in the end it was a good thing that the mechanic got towed to me himself since the tow truck driver told him how to start my van. (because he was not paying me, a woman, no mind).
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