How long before buying a toad
How long did you have a Class A motorhome before you bought a tow vehicle. I just bought a Class A but don't have a car that I can tow without a dolly. I'm not going to tow a vehicle on a dolly.
Forum Discussion
47 Replies
- Bought 34 ' class A last May. First trip about 700 miles and we rented a car at our destination from Enterprise.
Next trip close to 3000 miles round trip. Towed my car on a dolly. Couldn't flat tow.
Found it a hassle setting up dolly and storing at campgrounds.
Came home and bought another toad to flat tow.
Heading cross country in 4 weeks.
Definitely vote for having a vehicle with you for convenience and sightseeing. - The test for us was to have my wife follow in our daily driver to a favorite, 150 mile away campground. We really enjoyed having the car and visited spots we wouldn't have tried to go with the MH. We already had the Honda CRV, so it was an easy decision to have it set up for tow.
Since then, it's a nice option to tow or not. Gas mileage-wise, it costs us about 1 MPG and I'm pretty sure we make up for that by using the towd for sightseeing instead of the MH.
Norm Blaster Man wrote:
Got the toad first.
yep, once you find a toad that fits your needs, you will know the weight your A has to pull.
bumpy- Got the toad first.
rockhillmanor wrote:
If you go to the Escappees classified forum there are always a ton of used Toads for sale ALL equipped to go four down. All ready to just hook up and go. And usually the tow bar is either included or for an added price. The sellers are all RV'ers.
Thanks for that tip didn't realize :) OK to the OP we have been doing numerous extended trips of 6 to 8 weeks for over 13 years since buying our 37ft Gas Class A and have never towed. We have in that time hired a car twice = once in Vegas at $9/day for 3 days to explore more out in the boonies once and once for 3 days again in Anaheim for ease of covering lots of ground in a short period of time. Apart from that we park RV where we need to be or we bike/walk/catch public transportation as need dictates, and honestly haven't missed the toad whatsoever.
With becoming Fulltimers next year, and our escape not being towable 4 down (so a change afoot), we're going to try the six months and see how we go toadless and reassess, and again at the 1 year mark also and based on cost analysis versus convenience we will make a decision regarding getting a toad at that juncture or not. We're pretty easy going folks and very little inconveniences us and we just plan around our intended short term schedules during travelling. We also eat at home most often than eating out as preference FWIW, we are also avid boondockers/dry campers, except when needs must to explore places like LA, San Fran, NYC etc.- We went from a 5th wheel so naturally had the big ole' truck but we purposely went to a motorhome so we could tow a Jeep. It gave us lots of pleasure and entertainment 4-wheeling on gorgeous roads. We could never be without a car for siteseeing. That's the purpose we RV'd - to see things. We don't sit in a campground.
- Can I say never without one. Been RVing since 1962 with my folks and a slide in but towed my jeep. Then on my own my first A in 72 or 74 and towed from the beginning. And now for just over a year a C with a towed from the beginning again. OH we have and do once in a while go without the towed but the we are near everything for a weekend or so and use the feet or bikes.
LEN - I tend to volunteer at various state or federal parks/refuges, so I need a car. First year I towed a motorcycle on a trailer, but decided after that I needed a car because I won't ride a bike at night. Or in the rain (got a lot of that in the South).
- Not an A, but a 30 foot C. Went from 2005 to 2012 without towing another vehicle, although I had one set up to tow, just never got into a situation where we would have found it necessary or even useful. A couple of times, long stays in a park close to home, my wife drove out in her car.
After my wife died, I started towing. Not when traveling, but when putting the motorhome on a site out at a local lake for a week or two. Did it so I could get back to town to pick up mail, take care of my rental properties, do some grocery shopping. Y-Guy wrote:
We've had our Class A nearly 10 years, still no toad. We tend to stationary camp; used to ATV and we have a boat. Have Jeep Wrangler now and sometime in the next year I'll set it up to tow behind. We have taken it sometimes, but after doing the good ol' cost-benefit analysis it was cheaper to have my wife drive it then to buy everything to tow it. We just have higher priorities for our money right now.
How does your wife make you a sandwich driving down the road if she is another car?
