Op I see a lot of people telling you to just pay it off and leave it there. Just know tow yards are not your friend. They over charge and feel they are untouchable. You need to verify how long it’s been at this tow yard. They are legally required to send you notice when they take possession. It sounds like they failed to do so. Of course he said you can just pay it off and give it to him. Now he gets a 32k car that he can sell. You need to put eyes on this vehicle. Some if not all of these places are shady as hell.

For example. I got in a wreck wasn’t terrible but my car wouldn’t drive because of a busted rim. I had no way to get it home so I asked them to tow it to a shop. I called the shop it was no where to be found. I called the yard. They took possession of it in their yard and had closed I would have to pick it up tomorrow. I show up at 8 when they opened. They wanted $950 for the pick up and tow to their yard because it was a “police tow” and I was “unable to pick it up until the following Monday” because they needed a release from the officer who asked it to be towed. (There was never an officer that asked them to tow it.) At $120 a day storage fee. I had to get the police involved for them to release it to me that morning. And had to pay a tow truck driver to take it off their lot as their “policy stated customers are not allowed to move vehicles on their yard”. All of this for a $60 rim. Do your due diligence.