Long trip towing trailer?

The Prius is rated to tow 0 pounds.

My sister towed a 250 pound popup for 9,000 miles behind a Prius v.
Lightweight Pop-Up Tent Trailors | Pop Up Tent Trailers | Small Car Tent Trailors


Please note that this trailer will have little issues with wind, (side or head) but what you are describing will.

My suggestion is to flat bed tow your Prius behind an RV, as no trailer the weight you need will be safe to tow behind a Prius.

A hybrid Toyota Highlander is rated to tow a trailer like what you describe. (3500 pounds)
2017 Toyota Highlander Hybrid SUV | See where your limits take you.

 

There are many threads on towing.
You'll have to read them and do the coin toss yourself, but in the end towing anything more than about 1,000 pounds at interstate speeds is.........................and I'm trying my very best to be diplomatic here.......................counter to good common sense.

Sure.
The Prius generates something like 130BHP which can easily pull a surprisingly large and heavy object (eventually) up to interstate speeds.

However (comma!)
Pulling isn't towing!!!

There's a difference between hauling a garden trailer down to the local big-box store, throwing a couple dozen 4x4s in the back and driving back home and towing an RV on the interstate or even a lonely US highway when something goes awry.
Pulling is easy!!!!!
It's the turning and stopping that can sometimes generate organ donations.......and unfortunately not always the person causing the accident!!!
We haven't even taken into consideration wind loading, terrain, and what towing an RV will do to your car's drive-train and brakes!
When you get into the smaller class of RVs with black tanks and non-chem toilets you have to also consider that the trailer will be considerably heavier when you load fresh water (@ 8.35 pounds a gallon), food, clothes, mandatory cook-out and fishing gear, and beer.
Lots of beer.
You'll need it.

There is at least one person who tows (or did....) a relatively large RV with a Prius.
The guy I'm thinking about uses load levelers and electric brakes at least, so it CAN be done.
When I say 'guy' I'm not being a sexist.
It almost certainly has to be the male of the species, because generally speaking women have more common sense.
Come to think of it........
I haven't seen him in a while.
When you find his postings, click on the member info and see how long it's been since he's been on this site.

In short....
If you love your Prius, you won't tow an RV with it.....but don't take my word for it.
Read through the posts on this site.

Good Luck!

 

I tow this exact same trailer. 20k miles under tow behind my 2011 and couldn't be happier. The anti-towing crowd jump in at every chance telling me what they think owners manual says. The manuals says "not recommended" when it comes to towing or even attaching a hitch to carry around a bicycle. It doesn't say "0" as stated earlier, nor does it say to not tow at all. "Not recommended" is a long way from "do not tow" as some here like to state. That being said, be reasonable OP. Dont hitch up a 1000 pound pop up with a bathroom behind your Prius and expect it to make the climb along i40 from flagstaff to the Grand Canyon or climb i77 up fancy gap. The Prius will be miserable, you will be miserable and the motoring public driving around you will be miserable. That being said, research motorcycle camping trailers. Most weigh under 300 pounds and the Prius is very capable of towing them. In the last month I've towed my lees ure lite from flagstaff to the Grand Canyon, up i77 through fancy gap, the long climb up to apache summit and many points in between. Leaving this weekend for a week long excursion to the Florida keys. 1k miles 1 way along i95.

Now to your bathroom issue, here is what I use. Yes I carry a portable camping toilet in a 250 pound trailer. It fills the need and keeps things light.

Lastly, feel free to private message me any questions you have. It would be my honor to help you any way I can. But please don't buy a 1000 pound thing and hitch it up.

 

I completely agree with everything that's been said before me. That said, I towed a variety of things with my old 2013 Prius and I was *shocked* at how well it performed with 900lbs+ in tow. I drove from San Francisco back to Portland (including the VERY steep Siskyou Summit pass) towing a U-Haul 4'x8' enclosed trailer (empty weight 850lbs + 50lbs of artwork), and that thing was a beast on the uphill sections! I was astonished to be passing trucks and semis on the steepest uphill sections, with the pedal floored (obviously). I was literally doing 65-70mph uphill through the pass. My return MPG (with the trailer) was 29.8MPG over 700mi. Not bad at all!!

I also towed my motorcycle with the U-Haul motorcycle trailer (empty weight 550lbs + 435lb motorcycle) for shorter 10-20mi. roundtrip trackday visits here in town, and it felt solid. I sold my car before I had the chance to change/inspect the transmission fluid afterwards, so I can't speak to how that may have affected the tranny...

I used a U-Haul hitch (1.25'') with 2'' bal

 

http://www.odot.state.or.us/forms/dmv/36.pdf

page 2 details the hazards of Siskyou Summit. I would treat it seriously with a trailer.

 

Just returned from a trip in the Florida keys towing my lees ure lite. 1900 miles round trip, averaged 42.8 mpg. Drove home in one day, 945 miles total with the cruise set on 80 most of the way. Monitored mg1/mg2 temps carefully and the highest mg2 observed was 220 degrees. Well within safe limits.

 

do you know the name of the hitch, how long to install and about how much it was? Thanks

 

If you're inquiring for your Prius c, this thread is 3rd gen. Also, it's been about a year since @The MCA posted.

Just googling "prius c trailer hitch":

Toyota Prius c Trailer Hitch | etrailer.com

Again, even for the regular third gen Prius Toyota doesn't recommend towing, and I'm sure that goes double for the c. Ok for a bicycle rack, that sort of thing.

 

I'm always amused by the "well, I towed x miles and didn't have any problems" posts.

That goes for playing Russian roulette also. Everything is fine....until its not.

 

Same goes for driving really. That also goes fine until you have an accident.
But you seem to imply that driving with a hitch always inevitably leads to a problem. Why so?

 

You may wish to read that again. What he really implied was that towing may lead to a problem. It is not the hitch at all, it is the weight you attach to it.

 

My apologies for my flaky English. It is the towing part that I meant.