When reporters set out to quantify the impact of a Connecticut law that allows companies to sell some cars they’ve towed after just 15 days, the DMV said records would cost $47,000; it has revised the estimate but hasn't given us the records.

It turns out Connecticut has a more than 100-year-old law that allows tow truck companies to sell someone’s car 15 days after they haul it away, if they can convince the Department of Motor Vehicles that the vehicle is worth $1,500 or less.

Two-and-a-half years later, it seems the DMV doesn’t even know the answer — and we’re still waiting for thousands of records.

In the fall of 2022, the DMV told me it would cost us $47,000 to get the documents. Not only did it sound like the sticker price for a new car, but I realized we were in for a long fight. (The DMV now says the estimate was an error.)