Most reliable/easiest to hookup 4 down toad?

We currently flat tow a Honda Fit. I cannot say enough good things about this car. It gets great gas mileage and has lots of room in back. It is also reasonably priced.

However, we go on some trips where we need something more capable on dirt roads. I had a Subaru Forester that I loved but it was automatic so would need to be towed 4 up. I spent a good part of a year looking at various options: getting a trailer for the Subaru, getting a manual transmission Subaru, and purchasing a Jeep. For me, the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon won out in the end. I expect delivery next week so I cannot talk about reliability personally. But in my quest to make a decision, I stopped every Jeep owner I could find and asked them what they liked and did not like. They are very well loved vehicles! Most of the folks I talked to were retired people. About half were motor home owners and the other half were people that were just driving the Jeep.

At the end, my concern with the Jeep was not reliability. The negatives are the poor gas mileage and the higher purchase cost. However, you are purchasing a vehicle that can go off road so you are paying for those capabilities. We go off road by ourselves so the lockers were important to us.

You really need to decide what you will use the car for. If you are driving the car around on paved roads when you get where you are going, I would go with a CRV, Fit or a manual Subaru. They are all great cars that get better gas mileage than the Jeep. If you want to do some off roading and exploring on dirt roads, I would go with the Jeep.

We have owned several Chrysler vans. No problems at all and very comfortable. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Jeep. I am skeptical about magazine reliability reports and find them often biased.

Executive wrote:
When we were looking, our short list was the Jeep Cherokee. We liked the looks and some of the convenience items they offered. The storage compartment INSIDE the passenger seat was cool. The negative was the harsh ride, but as said, it's a Jeep. We've owned Wranglers and Grand Cherokees. Jeeps also come a little on the heavy side. Anyway, I ended up driving a Chevy Equinox LTZ and there was no comparison. The ride was superior and the interior space was larger. Comparably equipped, the Equinox came in almost $2k less than the Jeep. Our list included, moon roof, remote start, leather interior, heated seats, navigation system etc. The rear seat folds flat for extra carrying capacity and there is no rear seat hump. Drive both vehicles and I think you'll agree.

To tow the Equinox, a fuse had to be pulled so I installed a toggle switch so I could flip that instead of pulling the fuse. The towed mileage does not show nor has the battery ever run down. I use the Ready Brute tow system with a BlueOx baseplate, so there is no add on braking system.

We are happy we chose the Equinox over the Jeep......good luck with your choice...Dennis

Dennis, does the Equinox have to be the all wheel drive version?

You don't say what your tow limit is, so you might find some limitations there.

My wife's Jeep Wrangler set itself on fire with an injector leak.

We tow a 2013 Silverado 1500 4x4. I run my motorcycle up in the back and we are down the road. Brake buddy elite and Blue Ox base plates.

2015 is the second year for the jeep Cherokee. It is not on a truck based frame, but rather it is a car based cross over suv. It does not ride like any of the previous jeeps except maybe the grand Cherokee. it is a crossover based on the dodge dart. Have never been a fan of Chrysler however do like lots about this new Jeep. Many of the comments here are based on the jeep wrangler and it appears many are not aware of this particular jeep.

While Jeeps are popular as "toads", there are quite a few 4-down capable vehicles out there. You've got to RESEARCH...various price ranges and weights.

My past and current "toads":
1996 Ford Contour, 5 spd stick. Leave key in ignition (keep front steering free) put it in neutral, hook up and go.

2007 Chevy HHR automatic. Pull a 2 amp fuse, keep key in ignition put in "N" and go.

2011 Ford Ranger 4WD automatic. Have to buy a "Transfer case neutral kit" (all electronic now) a Ford only 400 buck thing, but it works. Follow the procedure and go.

All 3 of these toads are (were) under 5000 pounds (the towing limits of 99.9% of the gassers)...the Ranger tops out at 4000. The others were in the early to mid 3000. Never a towing problem with any of them.

I really like the looks of the Jeep and really, wanted to tow one, but I read the reviews like you did and decided against taking the risk. Maybe the Jeep only has a 10% failure rate while the Honda CRV or something else might have a 5% failure rate. I'm not surprised so many folks have had no problems with their Jeeps because like most cars today, they are pretty reliable.

But nobody can make that decision for you. You've got to decide if the small risks are worth it.

I ended up towing two very different vehicles, a Scion XB and I currently tow a 4x4 Ford F-150. The Ford is a very comfortable vehicle with plenty of room in the King Cab and I have taken it on very bad dirt roads and mountains. In fact, I originally bought it for my farm and the wet clay on the unpaved roads is a serious challenge for most other vehicles.

If a Jeep is better than my Ford F-150, then it must be an amazing vehicle because I couldn't hope for any better handling and cargo carrying on unpaved roads.

Our experience included a manual PT cruiser as our first toad, and we had no problems at all with the set up, or performance. We sold the class A and the PT cruiser years ago.

For our new rig, we went shopping in September for a toad. We looked at and drove about every vehicle out there, and mentioned in the posts above. We selected a new 14 Jeep Cherokee. I will be outfitting it next month to tow.

I am shocked by those stating the ride is harsh, as we and our friends and family who ride in it remark about how smooth and comfortable the new Cherokee is....and we love the ride. I have put 5K miles on it since September with zero problems, but we are new in the purchase. Good luck, there are many options, this one seemed to scream yes to us!

We tow a 2007 Chevy Trailblazer 4x4 auto. It has an electric transfer case so shifting to neutral is easy. It has no steering wheel lock so you can just turn the key off. It does not add miles while being towed. It might not be the best off road vehicle, but on the highway and around town it is a nice riding vehicle.
There is nothing wrong with jeeps,it depends on what you want.

John, I also tow a Honda CRV. And, I also was surprised about all the bad mouthing of Jeep products! Two months ago it was there best model finishing 27th in a safety report. Last week there was a report saying they cost .71 cents to run per mile. I can't recall seeing one Jeep broke down along side of a highway.