Can my Prius pull a Uhaul trailer

Legally I don't think Uhaul should let you rent a trailer, since the trailer rating for the Prius is zero.

Tom

 

It is either legal or completely tolerated to tow a small trailer behind a Prius. At least in the US (and apparently not in Australia). The real question is whether doing it will break something, or shorten the life of the car. My guess is that a 1000 pound trailer can be towed on relatively flat territory at normal freeway speeds. At 2000 pounds, the car will have overheat problems, particularly the transmission. On a long uphill at full power, the traction battery will run low, and you will be left with the gas engine as the only source of power until the load goes back down. This means joining the trucks in the slow lane.

I'm working on refining those guesses. The first thing I'll be doing is using a ScanGauge to monitor temperatures. I'd really like transmission oil temperature, but I'm not quite sure how to get that. When the temperatures go too high, you have to stop until they recover. I'm also looking into adding an oil cooler for the transmission. Starting a big trip with fresh transmission oil sounds good, and changing the oil after the trip sounds even better.

As you can see, I think the weakest link is the transmission oil heat dissipation. But there are certainly other weak links, like engine and battery temperatures. The suspension was never designed with towing in mind, so that could be a problem.

So go ahead and do it! Tell me what breaks before I find out myself...

 

It is legal to tow a trailer behind a Prius. Many of us do so routinely.

The question was whether a Prius could tow a *Uhaul* trailer. I'm not sure Uhaul will rent one to pull behind an unrated car. I suspect they would face too much liability if something went wrong.

Tom

 

Uhaul has some rather obscure policies. I think it's the Ford Explorer that they deem "unrentable". Not that the thing isn't big enough, but they don't like Ford lawyers.

I haven't dealt with uHaul since the local facility tried to charge me for the 7 miles they drove a truck from another facility before renting it to me. Part of their "solution" to my objection was to double charge me for the same vehicle rented at the same time. I think they make a lot of money with these stunts on people who are already at wits end with a move.

 

Yes, they do not rent to Ford Explorer owners but they will rent to Mazda Navajo owners or Mercury Mountaineer owners (both of those are "badge engineered" versions of the Explorer.)

They will probably rent you a Uhaul trailer for your Prius until someone has an accident and sues. Then they won't rent to any Prius owners anymore. Has nothing to do with safety or common sense.

 

Wouldn't it be cheaper and less worrisome to rent a box van from Enterprise with unlimited miles? You don't have the worry of overheating anything on the Prius since it is not designed for towing. One repair on the Prius could cost you three times the price of a box van. I am talking about a full size van, such as a 15 passenger without the seats installed behind the front two seats. They usually run about $60/day and you have no issues to worry about. Plus, you'll save 750 miles on your Prius! Think about it...

 

I've done it quite a few times.

It depends on the tow rating of the hitch you have installed. I'm good for 2000 kilos, but, the Prius never could pull that much.

I rent the smallest one that has a roof and sealed door. Of course, my MPG doubles on the highway pulling it, and I keep my speed at/below 55MPH.

 

You might consider if you are still under warranty. My 2005 Owner Manual states in no uncertain terms that the Prius should NOT tow anything! I don't know anything about warranties for other years. However, it might be very expensive if you had a major drive train problem expecting to be covered by your warranty, only to have the Service Manager show you evidence that you had towed a trailer and present you with a get-serious bill.

 

Ask question. Get Answer. Yes.

 

Sure they would, they will even install a the trailer hitch on your prius too.