Car recovery in Brighton and Hove
Timeless Transport recovers cars and vans across Brighton and Hove, on a flatbed trailer driven by the person who answers the phone. We are a one-man vehicle transport and recovery business based in West Chiltington, West Sussex. If your car has stopped, will not start, or has been hit and cannot be driven, ring 01403 458457, say where you are, and you will get a straight answer on time and price before anything moves.
Who comes out
Who turns up when you ring, and where are we coming from?
One person. Kyle runs Timeless Transport, drives the recovery vehicle, loads your car and delivers it. There is no dispatcher, no subcontractor and no second phone call from somebody you have not spoken to. The number on this page goes to the driver.
We are based in West Chiltington, inland of Worthing. We will tell you the real arrival time when you ring, not a time designed to stop you phoning someone else. If we cannot get to you quickly enough, we will say so.
The same vehicle does our transport work, so if the car needs to go further than a local garage, it can: to a specialist in Sussex, to a body shop in Surrey, or home to anywhere in the UK, on the same trailer, in the same move. See vehicle transport, open or enclosed for how that works.
A city job
Why is recovery in Brighton different from recovery on a country road?
Most of our recovery work is on the A24, the A27 and the lanes between Horsham and Worthing. Brighton is a different job, and it is worth saying why, because it changes what you should tell us when you ring.
Space to load
A flatbed needs room in front of the car to drop the ramps and winch straight. On a Brighton terrace with cars parked nose to tail on both sides, that room often is not there. Tell us the street and which way the car is facing. Sometimes the answer is to move the car a few metres to a side road or a bay before loading; sometimes it is to come at a quieter hour. We would rather plan that on the phone than find out at the kerb.
The seafront and the bus lanes
Kings Road, Marine Parade and the Old Shoreham Road are busy, and stopping a recovery truck on them at the wrong time blocks a bus lane or a cycle lane. If you are on the seafront, tell us the nearest landmark, the pier, the Peace Statue, the Marina, rather than a street number.
The A23 and A27 approaches
A breakdown on the A23 at Pyecombe or Patcham, or on the A27 between Hangleton and Falmer, is motorway-style recovery: get behind the barrier, well off the carriageway, and give us the junction or the nearest blue location marker. The vehicle recovery in Worthing page covers the A27 further west; the roads behave the same way here.
Parking enforcement
A car left broken down in a residents’ bay or on a single yellow in Brighton can be ticketed within the hour. If you have to leave the car, photograph where it is and ring us straight away so we can agree a time.
What we take
What can we recover in Brighton and Hove, and what can we not?
We can recover: cars, vans and light commercials up to 2.8 tonnes; non-runners that will not start, winched on; cars with a flat battery, a failed clutch, a puncture with no spare, or a seized engine; cars that have been in a collision and cannot be driven, once the police have released them; cars with locked or seized wheels, using skates; low cars, on low-angle ramps; and cars that simply need moving from where they are to where they need to be, running or not.
We cannot recover: anything over 2.8 tonnes (lorries, motorhomes, large vans); vehicles on their roof or on their side, which need a crane; vehicles in a multi-storey or underground car park with a height barrier the recovery vehicle cannot pass; and vehicles the police have not yet released after an accident. If it is one of those, we will tell you on the phone and, where we can, tell you who to ring instead.
Everything we recover is strapped by the wheels, not the bodywork, and photographed before loading and after unloading, so there is no argument later about a mark that was or was not there.
Price
What does car recovery cost in Brighton?
We give the price on the phone, before we set off, and it does not change when we arrive. The price depends on where you are, where the car is going, whether it is a runner or needs winching, and the time of day. A short move from Hove to a garage in Portslade costs less than a non-runner from the Marina to a specialist in Horsham, and we will tell you both numbers plainly rather than quoting a “from” price that nobody ever pays.
You do not need breakdown cover to use us. If you have cover, check whether your policy will pay for a local independent recovery, because some will; if it will not, our price is the price and there is no membership to buy first.
For the full picture of how we price recovery across the county, see vehicle recovery across West Sussex.
Straight answers
Car recovery in Brighton and Hove, answered
How quickly can you get to Brighton?
We tell you the real time when you ring, and we update you if it changes.
Can you recover my car from a Brighton side street with cars parked both sides?
Usually, yes, but we need to know the street and which way the car faces before we set off. If there is not room to drop the ramps we will plan how to make room, and we will say so on the phone rather than turn up and find out.
Do you cover Hove, Portslade and Shoreham as well as Brighton?
Yes. Hove, Portslade, Southwick and Shoreham-by-Sea are on the same run from our side of the Downs, and Shoreham is on the Worthing page as well.
I have broken down on the A23 or A27. What should I do first?
Get behind the barrier and well off the carriageway, then ring us with the junction, the direction you were travelling and the nearest blue location marker or landmark. Do not stand between your car and the traffic.
Can you take the car somewhere other than the nearest garage?
Yes. The same vehicle does our transport work, so the car can go to a specialist anywhere in Sussex, Surrey or Kent, or further, in the same move. Tell us the destination when you ring and the price will include it.
Quotes by phone, WhatsApp or email. No obligation.
Vehicle transport and recovery from West Sussex. Enclosed and open transport nationwide, fully insured, with live GPS tracking and photographs at collection and delivery on every move.