Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Towed vehicle

I don't see why you think your car was towed illegally. You admit leaving it unattended on someone else's property, and it seems you don't even know whose property it was given that Goodyear had moved away. Businesses aren't obliged to let people park on their property while they go shopping elsewhere, and four hours is long enough to justify getting towed.

I agree that the company is being pretty aggressive about this, since you say many other cars have also been towed recently. But businesses are entitled to enforce their rights aggressively, regardless of whether others wish they wouldn't.

And so what if the security company and the tow company are owned by the same person? The question is whether they were legally justified in towing you. It seems that they were, and an otherwise legal tow-away doesn't become illegal just because the same person employs both the driver and the guard who called for him.

Then there is the question of how to retrieve your car. You ask whether you should sue or try to buy the car at auction, but have you considered just paying the ticket and the towing/storage fees? That's what most of us would do, and it's probably cheaper than either of the options you have in mind. If you do this the company will have to let you take the truck back. Besides, the lawsuit won't work if the towing company acted legally, and you can't be sure you would be the winning bidder at an auction.