I am thinking of purchasing the following trailer or something similar: http://www.harborfreight.co

I believe Toyota specifically said Not to tow anything. I'm too lazy to find the page number but it's in your owners manual somewhere. With that being said, I installed a hitch to hook up a bike rack.

 

Prius is not what you should be towing with..................

 

All of the above are correct... you are not supposed to do it... but you probably can...

 

I tow a Harbor Freight 4x8 folding utility trailer with my 2010 hatchback. The trailer weighs about 250 lbs. Bedding, lawn furniture, Christmas trees, yard trimmings, furniture, lawn tractors, firewood, I've towed it all on dozens of occasions, generally keeping total gross weight within a few hundred pounds of the Owners Manual maximum. No problems, no issues, and a major improvement in overall vehicle utility! Wind resistance of the trailer itself is minimal - trip meter readings of MPG are within 3 or 4 of my typical warm-weather average of 58 even on the highway. Bulky items (like large Christas trees) will result in a larger MPG hit at highway speeds, but most of my towing is at moderate speeds within my local urban environment. I avoid "jackrabbit" starts and generally ask only modest acceleration of my Prius while towing. I'm confident that living in a hilly or mountainous region would be much more strain on the drivetrain than my occasional towing in the flatlands. My Quality S hitch unbolts and is stored in the garage with the folded trailer when I'm not using it. Cautions notwithstanding, I believe that the Prius is well suited to occasionally pulling lightweight trailers and modest loads. I love mine all the more for that added flexibility.

 

I too have the HF folding trailer - I LOVE IT. But I'd never haul with my C, especially while under warranty!

 

I have that HF trailer that I tow behind my Miata. I'm sure the C will tow it fine.
X

 

So just why is it Toyota says no to towing? Does it say that for the Yaris? What about all the small Scion cars too? Or are they just pooping on the Prius? It doesn't make sense; if the vehicle can haul 500lbs of worthless human waste, why can't it haul a trailer too? I don't understand the physics here.

 

Covering their asses. Just because it can, doesn't mean it was designed to.

 

I also have a HF folding trailer (comes with 2" ball fitting), but I restrict this to my Hyundai Santa Fe AWD SUV.

I purchased the subject "heavy duty" trailer (comes with a 1-7/8" ball fitting), and this is intended for my Prius c.

The net weight of the 42708 trailer is 125 pounds.

The GVWR is 1000 pounds for a maximum payload of 870 pounds.

These are usually in stock at HF stores. The store closest to me had two in stock yesterday, and one left after I picked up mine this evening.

I drove o'er The Hill (California 17) to San Jose to pick it up, thereby avoiding the dreaded "Overweight Item subject to $44.95 additional Freight Charge".

Cost me two gallons in gas to do the pickup, but with numerous other local errands included in that two gallons.

It might be a good idea to order an extra wheel with tire while you are at it as these are 4.80 x 12 71M tires, possibly not too common.

 

I have a single swivel wheel trailer that puts little weight on car There are two distributers ,one in texas and one in Florida I bought from texas as shipping was less. I think fla one has easier hook-up just google swivel wheel trailer

 

A better deal is #90153, which is also a Class 1 trailer. $30 more expensive. About 220 pounds more capacity, but about the same overall dimensions.

Small Utility Trailer - 1090 Lb. Cargo Capacity

The Instruction manual is more complete, and includes plans and installation instructions for a trailer bed and for stakes (these plans and instructions can also be adapted for the 870 pound trailer).

The 870 pound capacity trailer comes in two packages, the longest of which can fit within the Prius c itself if the rear seat is down (either the One's seat or the higher trim level's 40 percent seat) and the front passenger seat is forward. The second package can fit easily within the remainder of the rear, whether the 60 percent seat is up or down.

The 1090 pound capacity trailer has the same basic construction, but larger tires, so both 40 and 60 percent might have to be down to transport the second package ... don't know for sure.

You can save $90 "additional freight charge" if you pick the trailer kit up at a store rather than having the kit delivered. Many stores carry two kits in stock. Call ahead, obviously.

At least at my local Harbor Freight store, the stock clerk was pleased to load the trailer kit into my Prius c One, and he did so without incident.

The packages are heavy, as one might expect, but the packages may be easily "deconstructed" within the c's cargo area, and the package contents may be easily removed to an assembly area without assistance. No individual component weighs more than a reasonably fit adult can handle with complete safety.