A tow-tal wreck

November 30, 2018 9:58 PM

I am planning to go on 6 month-or-so road trip in a teardrop trailer, with long pauses visiting various friends and family and scuba diving in various places. I've gotten ahold of a used Hiker Trailer that suits my purposes, and now I need something to tow it across the country with.

I have a 2012 Honda Fit. It's not rated for towing the U.S., where I live. I wish I could just use my Fit! I love it, I'm the original owner, it's well-maintained mechanically (and a little cosmetically decrepit). But I really don't think it's up to towing outside of my fantasies.

I'll be buying used and trying to keep it under $16,000. I currently live somewhere with a mild winter and no road salt. Not scared of some mileage but I want to keep it under 200,000. Automatic or manual okay -- open to ideas there. I'm assuming I need a V6 engine, but correct me if I'm wrong. I've got a star mechanic to inspect the vehicle for me once I've got something I'm seriously considering.

Needs:
* Towing a 4x8 Hiker Trailer that weighs around 800 lbs over mountain passes (I assume it will weigh more when it's full of food, clothes, gear, etc).
* Rear cargo area for scuba diving gear and other gear, ideally somewhere I can hose off but also somewhere that I can keep dry.
* Safe and reliable.

Wants:
* Non-horrible mileage (this might not be possible?)
* Maybe some clearance so I can drive a little bit off-road, but I don't plan on doing anything too intensive/crazy.
* 4wd is important if I get a pickup truck, since I am likely to end up living somewhere very snowy after my trip. If I get an SUV or a crossover, do I need AWD or 4WD, or can I survive without it?

Vehicles I've considered:

Pickup trucks:
I tried a Tacoma today and it just seemed so.... enormous! Won't it be a pain to park if I use it for a daily driver after my trip is over? Should I ignore the size-shock and chalk it up to driving the Fit for 6 years? I think I'm also a little more forgiving of mediocre mileage in a truck, because it seems so useful for... hauling things I don't frequently have the occasion to haul.
* 2-door, 4wd 6cyl Toyota Tacoma. Tacomas are very expensive for their mileage and vintage where I live. I'm willing to deal with that if the reliability is worth it.
* 2-door Ford Ranger. But would it be reliable?
* 2-door Nissan Frontier

Not pickup trucks:
* Toyota FJ Cruiser. I really like what I've seen of this vehicle. But they're kind of expensive and the mileage is pretty awful. I've also heard bad things about the visibility.
* Nissan XTerra. Mileage also bad, but possibly promising otherwise? Maybe I could get waterproof mats for the rear cargo area?
* Honda Element. Is it up to regular, long-haul towing? Should I be looking for tow ratings more of at least 3,000 lbs as a safety margin if I want to haul 1,500 lbs, or can I haul right up to the rated limit?
* Various Volvos.
* Various Subarus.
* Jeep Renegade. As someone who's only ever owned extremely reliable Japanese cars, I am skeptical of the Jeep reputation around reliability. But it does seem pretty neat, and cheaper than the FJ Cruiser.
* Tiny cars with 1,500 tow ratings (eg, Toyota Corolla). Problem: Seems like maybe a bad idea, given I want to tow for quite a few miles, over the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains?

What should I be considering here? Is one of these vehicles a great idea? What other magical vehicle have I not considered? What do I need to know about towing in general? I feel lost! Please hope me narrow down what to test drive.

posted by octopodiatrist to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

Response by poster: (I know mileage while I'm towing will be not good. But I'm still taking mileage into account because ideally, I'd like to have a vehicle that can also function as a decent daily driver.)
posted by octopodiatrist at 10:01 PM on November 30, 2018

Best answer: My Ranger was highly reliable. The only problem in 10 years was with the AC, and the dash plastic suffering from UV (always remember armorall in Texas!) Only sold it because I needed car seats room.

The Taco is a pretty small truck, so yes I would say you are just suffering Fit shock. I drive a Civic so I understand.

When I'm ready to give my Civic to my eldest, I'll be getting a used Tacoma, fwiw.
posted by BeeDo at 10:50 PM on November 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I mean, I would just use your fit. There are custom no-drill hitches which are made for your car AND plug in wiring harnesses. This is a good sign. If you were going to tow a 12000 pound behemoth aure, but you're talking about a tiny little trailer. I would trailer with your car without even thinking about it.
posted by chasles at 4:28 AM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love my Honda Element! I use it as my daily car, and some additional regular hauling. For what I need it for, the boxy shape is perfect. But I would not use it for long-distance travel on the regular, because holy hell it gets crappy mileage due to that box-on-wheels shape. It is also incredibly loud and occasionally hard to handle in windy conditions.

So unless you need the interior storage space in addition to what you can fit in your trailer, I would not get an Element.

Although I do have almost 167,000 miles on mine (a 2003), and it's still going strong.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 5:00 AM on December 1, 2018

Best answer: If your Fit isn't rated for towing and you are in an accident while towing you are giving your insurance company a get out of paying for anything free card. The Fit may even be rated for towing in Europe or Australia (my Camry is) but not in the US. Apparently the US has stricter standards. More info in my AskMe on this same subject a few years ago.
posted by COD at 6:16 AM on December 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Don't use a car that is not rated for towing to do extensive towing. Yes you can physically mount a hitch on it, but that doesn't mean that the engine and transmission are up to handling the extra strain. You already seem to be on board with this, but just to counter any tempting advice you might get to stick with your current car for this six-month trailer-based road trip that includes multiple large mountain ranges—don't do it.

The Tacoma is a good choice. Yeah they feel big if you're coming from a Fit, but you'll get used to it. I often drive my dad's 4Runner, which is just a Tacoma with an SUV body on it, and it's fine. I don't take it into cities or do parallel parking in it, but people drive commercial vehicles that are much bigger than Tacomas inside dense urban cores, and they manage. You get used to it, and if you're mostly driving in suburban or rural areas and on highways, you get used to it very quickly. Tacomas are generally nicer and more reliable than Rangers and Frontiers; in the world of not-enormous trucks, the Tacoma is the one everyone wants.

I would recommend something with serious 4WD, including a low-range mode, if you're going to be doing a lot of trailering in snowy, mountainous areas. Something pretty burly. That's pretty serious business, and one of the only times when I wouldn't just tell someone, "A Crosstrek or CR-V will have more than enough capabillity for your needs." Crossovers and similar are more than enough for almost all types of driving, but you want something serious.

I'd get the Tacoma. I'd also get a set of tire chains.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 6:24 AM on December 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Of what you listed, I'd vote for the Tacoma or the Frontier if you want a pickup, or the 4Runner or Xterra if you want an SUV. The Toyotas hold their value better (which is good if you are buying new, not necessarily so good when buying used) so the Nissans can sometimes be a better deal. The 4Runner and Xterra are pretty similar to the trucks in how they drive and handle, and both are capable of towing your trailer. I haven't owned a Ranger but have had them as work trucks and they were definitely somewhat less reliable -- however, I'd happily own one if the price was right.

Should I be looking for tow ratings more of at least 3,000 lbs as a safety margin if I want to haul 1,500 lbs, or can I haul right up to the rated limit?

I would say yes. Occasional towing at the maximum capacity is one thing, but it really is safer for the kind of trip you are describing to not be pushing the vehicle's limits. (And before you buy anything, check how the overall capacities will work out, including the weight of the loaded trailer, the cargo you will have in the vehicle, and the tongue weight of the trailer. Check also how much your vehicle can tow before the trailer needs to have brakes.)
posted by Dip Flash at 8:01 AM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the advice, everyone. It's very helpful. I'm leaning towards the 4Runner at the moment, but I'm going to do some more research. Most of the things I transport on a regular basis in the current incarnation of my life would be happier inside a vehicle than in a truck bed. I don't move around water heaters or big piles of firewood or giant heaps of manure with my personal vehicle on a regular basis (anymore).

And yeah, I'll definitely get chains for whatever vehicle I decide on. My chains for the wee little Honda Fit have gotten me safely through some very sticky (well, slippery) situations.

Thank you again!
posted by octopodiatrist at 5:18 PM on December 1, 2018

I have a 2008 Ford Ranger, the 4 cylinder version. I towed an 1,800 lb trailer from Colorado to Maine. I couldn't go above 65, mostly drove 55. There were a couple hills that were white-knuckle territory. I would not repeat the trip. Previously, I had a 6 cylinder Honda Odyssey minivan that did great towing the camper, and held a ton of stuff.
posted by theora55 at 6:40 PM on December 1, 2018 [1 favorite]

We have and like a 2011 Honda Pilot in EX-L trim and use it to tow our 2000 pound pop up trailer, although we live in flat-ish Iowa.

We keep the 3rd row seats folded down all the time for cargo space.

Has a V6 engine, and weird hybrid 4WD/AWD (front-wheel drive, can clutch in the rear wheels when necessary, fully automatically) that gets pretty good reviews for snow driving.

Highway mileage unloaded is in the low 20s, so not great. It also came with the towing stuff (hitch receiver, trailer light wiring, oil cooler, etc) built in from the factory.

Ours has the back-up camera option, which is super helpful for attaching trailers (the hitch ball is right in the middle of the screen!) and for parallel parking.

Another similar SUV we have experience with is the Toyota Highlander, which is car-platform (Camry) based, but handled our camper just fine when we borrowed my mother-in-law's that one time.

Again, we really like the pilot, and I think you should add one to your research list. (Or the Ridgeline, which shared platforms for several years)
posted by ArgentCorvid at 6:58 PM on December 1, 2018

octopodiatrist: "Towing a 4x8 Hiker Trailer that weighs around 800 lbs over mountain passes (I assume it will weigh more when it's full of food, clothes, gear, etc). "

It's important to weigh your trailer with it's expected load; though it goes against the whole point of a teardrop to load a bunch of stuff into it that has to be unloaded every time you want to sleep. Hard to realistically imagine getting the GVW of the trailer over 1500lbs. Especially since the axle configuration penalizes having a bunch of stuff in the sleeping space.

The long tongue length of a teardrop is both good (because it helps damp wagging and makes it easy to back up) but also bad because it is easy to exceed a 10% tongue weight. So keep that in mind when adding weight to the trailer.

Be careful though when looking at ratings that you won't be exceeding the GCWR of the the vehicle once you have anything in the vehicle itself besides the driver. Some vehicles don't leave much margin if towing a maximum trailer load.

Personally I'd have some margin on the rating for extensive pulling but I'd think a doubling or tripling of the actual weight of the trailer is wild overkill. A 2000lb rating for your trailer is probably plenty.

Given your criteria I'd be looking at a 3rd gen Forester. The N/A engine runs cheap gas and the turbo will be better in the mountains. Both have 2400lb towing capacities.
posted by Mitheral at 10:34 AM on December 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm used car shopping and a Toyota Highlander Hybrid is rated to tow 2000 lbs. There are forums where you can ask about pretty much any vehicle.
posted by theora55 at 7:00 AM on December 5, 2018