Schaffer's Towing, a longtime Coeur d'Alene towing service, has new owners.

Tim Vulles says he and his son, Terry, have acquired the business. Vulles declines to disclose the terms of the transaction.

The new owners decided to take over the towing concern a few months ago when former co-owner Lavern Schaffer wanted to retire. His brother, Dave Schaffer, who founded the business in 1969, wanted to keep working and has stayed on as an employee. The company has two other full-time employees in addition to the new owners.

"I enjoy messing with cars, so this is right up my alley," says Vulles, who retired earlier this year from the Coeur d'Alene Police Department.

The business will keep the Schaffer's Towing name, and its offices will remain in a 640-square-foot leased building on a 1-acre lot at 625 W. Dalton, in north Coeur d'Alene.

Schaffer's has 10 medium to heavy towing rigs, four flatbed haulers, and four smaller recovery rigs.

"Business is doing OK, although we would like to see it do better," Vulles says.

Schaffer's client base includes several body shops and some of the bigger car lots in town, Vulles says. The company also handles towing for construction and communications companies, he says.