Towing possible?

A number of people have towed here on Priuschat. I wouldn't do it, but that's just me.

If you ever have a failure under warranty caused by towing, Toyota has every right to deny the claim as it would be considered abuse. As for the bolded part, Prius has a recommended tow rating of 0 pounds.

 

Yes you can tow a Prius so long as the wheels are off the ground. Technically if you can get the front wheels off the ground and not drag the back of the car, that is OK.

Toyota only recommends you not tow WITH a Prius.

 

...since the obvious is out the of the way, like the owners manual stating you can't tow, and toyota voiding a warranty...

you can tow. it's recommended to get a trailer 500lbs or lower... so your overall tow weight will not exceed 1,500lbs.

 

I seen a Gen II pulling a single sit down Jetski on a trailer last summer in Wisconsin. It certainly didn't have any issues pulling as far as I could see.

Mike

 

I'd recommend a 2" CLASS 3 hitch - same price - but you have great options for towing/add-ons...

Google "Quality s" and Prius

Does anyone think you should pull 5,000 lbs - no... But you at least have options. And if the end of the world comes, and you need to grab that 23 ft boat, and drag it into a harbor - more power to ya....

 

just as reference, i've towed two cars with my prius. both over a local mountain ridge at low speeds. one trip was a bit longer than the other by a good 20 miles...

you will burn oil... just so you know. things get warm and the prius engine is listed as burning oil anyway. i've seen documents where they say expect to lose x amount over x miles. these things happen. shrug.

i now have a 5'x6' trailer. it's from home depot for 500 or so. it comes with a ramp (trailer and ramp are metal/mesh). mine doesn't have the ramp (it was a gift). it's listed as weighing 400lbs... i guess mine weighs less. i was going to get a tow n stow trailer but now i'm not sure since it weighs 500lbs.

 

Do you mean you've towed two trailers or two cars using your Prius? If it was a car, well, then it likely weighed somewhere between 1600 (for a death trap by today's standards) to 4000 lbs.

 

Really, burn oil? Do you mean just the 2004 or all Prius? I've not read anything regarding Prius burning oil. Please reference docs that I can read. Thanks.

 

you should have no problems towing a riding lawn mower with a utility trailer. I would avoid mountainous terrain if possible while towing with the prius

 

Yes...you can tow a riding mower on a small trailer with a G3...and yes, it wil void your warranty (if you get caught.)
Your call.

There's towing...and there's towing.
I wouldn't have any problem hauling my 620# motorcycle across town, or my 300# 36" riding mower, or using my trailer to pick up some plywood from HD…like a few sheets of plywood. Not a trailer load!

However (comma!!!) If I were going to haul one of my bikes across several states, or my 1,100# Exmark anywhere.....the G3 ain't gonna cut it.
The factory tow rating for this car is exactly zero pounds. For comparison, the Corolla is rated to tow 1,500#. That means that you can bolt a trailer to it and haul that (total) weight cross-country....like across the whole country. This is one of the main reasons why I will probably be a Prius driver (fleet car) but not a Prius owner.

So yeah...you can tow with a G3.
Should you?

Your call.

 

A Prius pulling a Jetski! Boy, there's a contradiction in terms, concepts,q[34pb n344t90 ijogjeo yiq5[

 

It was one of those 1000 pound SeaDoo ski's too It looked funny as heck but proof the Prius can tow if done right. I always wondered how well it did pulling the ski out of the water? Would traction control take over and stop the Prius dead at the launch

Mike

 

Officially and as per owner's manual, NO.
What you do with your car, as long as you are within road regulations, is up to you. If you break something and you are under warranty, forget Toyota paying you for the damage...
Sorry, it's just like that. If you really need to tow, get a rental or get another car if you need to do that often. The Prius is not designed to tow.

 

Of course, any good hypermiler knows that you should never brake a Prius...
</spelling nazi>

 

To answer the original question, yes.

I've towed this 560 pound (empty - a few pounds more with gear) trailer about 1500 miles so far. Generally got about 32 mpg with the trailer where I've gotten about 47 mpg on the same route without trailer. Top speed was about 10 mph less (55-60) on open freeway, or the general flow of traffic on high speed 2-lane roads.

The car with trailer has more power than many trucks on the same routes. There is a theoretical problem of running out of traction battery power on an extended uphill, but I've never experienced it.

 

Dumb-de-dumb-dumb

 

Perhaps a Ford Explorer is better suited to the job...:violin:

 

it was two cars.. i've towed about 10 or so different trailers. (rentals and personal)

i've been doing this since early on. i have plenty of getup and plenty of braking power. the only struggle is top end speed. as you add on weight to the hsd, your top end speed lowers.

 

Getting 47mpg!!