Most reliable/easiest to hookup 4 down toad?

Have a 1991 Jeep Wrangler and a 1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport. I think the Cherokee is the perfect towed vehicle. 4 dr so you can take passengers, room to carry extra equipment. We have a car top carrier on it and it carries lawn chairs, water containers, Carryout satellite dish and a few other items. First towed the Wrangler, but it was a 5 speed manual without air conditioning, so my wife wasn't happy.

Depends on your preferences and needs. I tow a Jeep Grand Cherokee at times and I love to tow our Smart Car. The Smart is easy to hookup, light to tow and fun to drive and did I mention easy to find parking.

We've had our Jeep Liberty for 10 years with just regular maintenance done to it. It has given us great fun off-road. We had it lifted and bigger tires put on it and folks are amazed at the trails it can do. It has 175,000 miles on it; 65,000 as a towed. We would have definitely gotten another if they were still made.

The Cherokee replaced the Liberty. It is an awesome vehicle - plush, comfortable and still able to rock climb.

We recently bought an Equinox because we are giving up 4-wheeling. The Equinox is nice but the Jeep is fun. We've kept the Jeep, also, and still prefer it as our daily rider. It's a fun little car.

It all depends what you want to do with the vehicle. Don't buy a Jeep if you're not going to take it off-road. What's the point?

2014 Wrangler and 2012 Equinox.

When we first started full timing we kept our Wrangler, which was our third car while working. We used it during the winter and on occasional back road trips. Once it became our primary vehicle, it's shortcomings quickly became evident. Noisy, uncomfortable, horrible mileage, poor performance, and with little interior storage space behind the rear seats. Yes, it's a great off road vehicle, but as a daily driver it lags behind every other towables out there. CRV, Edge, Equinox.....all are far superior in quality and performance and more suitable for full timing, but if you're a vacation RVer, enjoy your Wrangler.

I would have no problem towing a Jeep, but for my personal preference they are a little expensive and a little heavy. We used to tow a 2004 Chevrolet Tracker. It was a great tow car. We now tow a 2013 Nissan Versa. It ways less than 2400 pounds, and is easy to hookup and a delight to tow. The only issue is that it must be a manual transmission. Since I personally like manual transmissions, and my wife doesn't mind it, that isn't a problem for us. We have towed the Versa for over 10,000 miles so far with not a problem, and the cost was only $11,000!!!! (Of course it is as basic as a car can be - the only model that comes with a manual transmission).

From what I have read most cars with manual transmissions are towable. If you prefer an automatic transmission, then probably the 4X4 Jeeps are hard to beat.

Ed Headington
2013 Newmar Ventana LE
2013 Nissan Versa toad

We have a '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, bought when it was 1 year old, still have it. It has been the most trouble free car I have ever owned. Had the turn signal flasher quit but other than routine maintenance that is it! Just set it up to tow this year and towed it
to Colorado and back. Very easy to put blue ox base plate on and do the wiring. Also easy to hook up, just put transfer case in Neutral and turn the key one click and it is ready. Only complaint I have is it is pretty heavy to tow, OK on level ground but the mountains it was a heavy pull.

93mastercraft wrote:
I know you said, other than JEEP, because of some supposed consumer reports. But, i am putting my vote in for the best vehicle to tow 4 down by far is the Jeep Wrangler. :) If any vehicle was made to "be towed" it is this one. Mopar even makes a factory wire harness that is used for tail and brake lights for towed mode. Any other manufacture do that?

Not to mention installing the tow bar brackets is a very easy do it yourself job on the Wrangler. Everything was easy to get to. At least it was on my 2001 Wrangler.

I know you said, other than JEEP, because of some supposed consumer reports. But, i am putting my vote in for the best vehicle to tow 4 down by far is the Jeep Wrangler. :) If any vehicle was made to "be towed" it is this one. Mopar even makes a factory wire harness that is used for tail and brake lights for towed mode. Any other manufacture do that?

After the DW decided the 2003 CRV had too many miles on it we looked at several options to replace it - first it had to be towable 4 down and second we wanted AWD or 4X4 for my daily driver in the winter months (rural roads to the city).

Sorry - all Chrysler product are out for me since I had a couple of real lemons in the 80's and again in the late 90's!(one got stolen and even broke down on the thieves!)

We looked at new and used CRV's and had narrowed it down to a 2012 model but decided to look at a 2013 Ford Edge AWD. The DW decided that the Edge was the one based on more interior room, drive height and general look and feel.

The towing setup between the CRV and Edge is identical in terms of base plates and pre-tow setup etc.

Just as an aside, my 2013 Fusion Hybrid (my summer daily driver) with a CVT is also towable four down but I'm afraid the front air dam is too low and would scrape on some roads, though you can't beat 60-70 MPG(Imperial).

Check out the towable vehicles as listed in a previous comment and then take some out for a test drive, then make the decision based on driveablity and budget. Don't get hung up on Jeep versus the rest.If you like the Jeep - buy it - if not there are other choices.:B

Chris