This will make you cry a little inside.

Tongue is too heavy. Needs to shift the towed vehicle back on the trailer a bit.

 

Way too much on the tongue. And then there'll be the strain on the drive train getting it moving. Better go really slowly and not very far. Will they be able to stop in time??!

 

Yeah, the weight distribution is awful !! but if the tow doesn't go to far.....

 

hopefully he didn't have to go far and that was the only option.

 

Well that's definitely a wrong tool for the job moment.

I don't know, I value vehicles. Things I own. Bothers me to see someone so obviously NOT giving thought to the risk and damage he could be creating.
The biggest issue to me, would be I wouldn't feel trying to pull that? Would be anywhere near safe.

 

Better weight distribution if the SUV was backed onto the trailer, then the heavy engine block and transmission would be toward the back of the trailer or over the trailer's wheels.

 

I saw that posted on Facebook

#1 in Easley,SC

 

Amazing what (some) people do just to save a few bucks. I hope the driver was ticketed and not just helped by the police.

later that car will be sold to unsuspecting used car buyer who will bitch about poor reliability of toyotas lately.

 

This is to all the people of PC that say DON'T tow anything at all haha! In all seriousness this is complete insanity. Could you imagine trying to stop this terrible rid? So dangerous.

 

Better still to put the Prius on the trailer and tow it with the SUV

 

For that Generation Prius?
It's Toyota that say's towing is not recommended.

 

I'd bet he isn't gaining much regen in those brakes. While they last.

 

Well the driver clearly loaded it stupidly and had too much weight put on the tongue when he could have obviously backed it in and kept it further to the rear.

But I do not think it was the wrong tool for the job. The Prius is an extremely versatile tow tool if used properly. This wasn't.

The transaxle in the Toyota hybrids is awesome at low end torque and there is no crappy car tranny in there to die. All one nice big gear with no shifts and electric boost. It is a tow dream. And for safety stopping? The Prius has better brakes than most trucks. Not only can you smash the friction pads together, but you can slow it down magnetically. No tow truck has that. The Prius is a beast and if he had loaded it properly, it wouldn't be news.

I see many more stupidly loaded pickups driving down the highway with crap flying off the back of them or with the same problem and the whole truck front-end is pointed towards the sky as the tow hitch almost scrapes the ground. Not a Prius problem. Just a loading problem.

 

Yes! People echoing Toyota. Toyota said no towing for the first 3 generations of the Prius. So many people have used them to tow despite Toyota. And my people on here believe you shouldn't tow at all. I've been on here a while now, I've seen it. Excited to tow with mine this summer!

 

Oh yeah, it's always a bad idea to echo what is offered by the manufacturer and actually printed in the owners manual. (Sarcasm)

I'm tired of the debate as well.

My bottom line is The Prius...is not the best tool for the job.

Those that have "discovered" that The Prius doesn't explode upon immediately hitching a trailer up to it?
Well that doesn't change the reality IMO that The Prius is still a poor choice for a towing job.

It's a hybrid. With electric motors, and E-CVT transmission and regenerative brakes. As well as software designed to integrate motor and engine to produce efficiency.
It's NOT designed to be a towing vehicle.

Given the relatively inexpensive cost of renting a truck? I certainly wouldn't put the unnecessary strain, risk, of using a Prius as a tow vehicle.

But if doing so provides anyone with some "Bad Boy" breaking the rules excitement? More power to ya.

 

Why I never buy used.

 

:O