car for towing

[Mymaize]

Hi. I have a 31 ft class A moho and I need to get a car to tow. It will have to be a used car. What do you suggest for a good towable car?

[Mymaize]

Thanks everyone. Will be deciding on something within the next month. Money is going to be the biggest problem. Son is a mechanic but knows nothing about RV towing.
Thanks again

[Blaster_Man]

DaveG39 wrote:
2012-2016 Honda CRV. Reliable and if you get the AWD model you will have rear wheel drive when front wheels slip. I have a 2012 and works great for me.

Agree, we are on our second CRV, perfect tow car. One correction to the above post....only CRVs 2014 and earlier are towable four down. 2015 and newer have the CV transmission...can't tow 'em.

[1968mooney]

If you can get by with 2 seats, I reccomend a Mazda Miata. I towed a 1995 for 6 yrs. Never knew it was back there except for seeing it in the rear camera. Bullet proof engine and trans. Owned it for 12 yrs.and sold it for $3500 less than purchase price.

[Mr_Mark1]

DaveG39 wrote:
2012-2016 Honda CRV. Reliable and if you get the AWD model you will have rear wheel drive when front wheels slip. I have a 2012 and works great for me.

The 2014 Honda CR-V is the last '4 down towable' year. Both of our Honda's were AWD.

MM.

[gutfelt]

Mymaize wrote:
Hi. I have a 31 ft class A moho and I need to get a car to tow. It will have to be a used car. What do you suggest for a good towable car?

If your super serious I very strongly suggest you follow enblethens link and buy the Grand Vitara
great vehicle very dependable great price tows great drive great
cant be beat as a tow vehicle

[ttempleton]

Saturn vues are good

[DaveG39]

2012-2016 Honda CRV. Reliable and if you get the AWD model you will have rear wheel drive when front wheels slip. I have a 2012 and works great for me.

[D_E_Bishop]

The Ford Edge while heavy in comparison to a Sidekick or Vitara is towable four down and with an automatic.

Suzi's are not easy to work on, they are small and there is ten pounds of stuff in every five pound capacity space. Good news is they are uber reliable.

We currently have four vehicles, the Winnie, the Sidekick for towing and two DD's an explorer and a F-150(beater truck) The Explorer has 265K miles and needs to be replaced. DW seems to like the Edge and it will replace the Explorer and the Suzi, with a net savings on insurance.

For ten or twelve weeks of towing the reduction in RV fuel economy towing the Edge is negligible over towing the Suzi. For us the swap is simple, a nice new Edge, replaces the Explorer that is worn out and the Suzi which is a GAS HOG and not very sophisticated.

[enblethen]

Here is a good example of a Grand Vitara in your area.
Grand Vitara

[rgatijnet1]

Check with some of the rental car dealers to see if they have any vehicles they are selling because of hail damage. I picked up a Chevrolet HHR several years ago that had MINOR hail damage from Enterprise Rental. From 10 feet you could not see the hail damage. In any case, the price, out the door, for this $26,000 vehicle, with less than 10,000 miles, was about $8200, which included the remaining factory warranty. It now has over 60,000 miles, PLUS the miles that I have towed it and it is still performing fine. If I get an occasional ding from being towed, I don't worry about it. :B

[Mr_Mark1]

Jplante4 said:

Oh yeah,if I could have found one in my price range that wasn't all beat up, I would have gotten it. The trouble with buying cars like Hondas and Toyatas (popular with people who are "not car people") is that they don't get much care beside an occasional trip to the dealer for an oil change. No one seems to have pride in cars anymore. You just use them up and trade them in. It's my opinion that they are popular because they can be ignored. Not the kind of used car I want, especially for the price that these cars demand. A well cared for car coming off a 3 year lease is fine with me.

............

I'm not disagreeing with you, I do find value in something that has a good track record like a Honda or other GM or Ford product. Our coaches are complicated enough, I found it relaxing jumping in the Honda without a care in the world. It's nice pulling a smaller car as you don't have to worry about parking spaces being too tight.

When I was looking for a new toad (my brother and his wife bought my Honda), I wanted something about the same size as the Honda. The Lincoln MKC is not towable (Ford Escape sister), the next model up, the MKX (Ford Edge sister) is towable four down. So, I went from 3,400 lbs, to 4,200 lbs, and the MKX is a nice SUV with a lot of safety features.

Now, a lot of cars fit Honda's reliability too as many cars are much better than in past years. The lease returns you are talking about are a good value, even for a Honda.

Most of us can't work on our cars, just too many electronics now and you can't even see the motor in some with all of the covers on top of the engine. I don't have the tools or space to work on a car which are much more sophisticated than my '72 Dodge Charger I had in high school (bought used). I had changed the brakes and starter in that car with the guidance of my older brother....those 'repair' days are gone now. LOL!

Carry on!
MM.

[Campinghoss]

Ford Fiesta with auto or manual. With automatic you have to cut ignition on put in neutral and wait for display to say transmission ready. Then cut ignition off and remove negative cable from battery. You can put a disconnect on but make sure it on the negative terminal and not downstream. On the manual you just put it in neutral and go. I know that on the 2016 and 2017 the steering wheel does not lock so it is very tow friendly.

[wborst]

We tow a 2010 Chevy Cobalt with automatic transmission four down. With this car you only need to remove one fuse and you are ready to tow. I added a switch inline with this fuse so now I just flip a switch and it’s ready to tow. We have towed this car for 15000 miles so far and no problems yet.

Also, these cars are reasonably priced.

Bill

[harley-dave]

donn0128 wrote:
Sizuki Sidekick or Samuari are cheap, reliable, easy to work on, and flat towable.

I hate to say it but these are not really cheap if in good condition. We have a Tracker and it is reliable and easy to work on. Hard to get parts for it though. Tows good behind our Itasca "C".

Dave