Flat Towing

Question

When I retired in 2001 and started looking for a car to tow behind my motorhome I found a Saturn. I purchased one. That car allowed me to tow on all 4's, didn't run up mileage when towing and it was very good on gas mileage.

For the last three or four years I looked for a replacement for the Saturn. I could find very little information on what small cars could be flat towed either from web searches or even get a dealer to tell you if it could be flat towed. Last fall I ran into some luck. I found and purchased a new Ford C-max Hybrid. This car has met all of my expectations.

I installed a Blue Ox tow system and a rear hitch system so that I could haul my wife's 3-wheeled scooter on a mobility lift inserted in the rear hitch. With this additional weight and putting something over 12,000 miles on the car since I have an average mileage rate of 40.4. Although I am very pleased with the mileage I just received a $475 check in the mail from Ford. They said their had been a mistake in the quoted EPA mileage rate. The car is equipped with 17" wheels that make it feel and drive like a much bigger car. The ride is very quiet as well. It has unbelievable acceleration. You do not have to be a contortionist to get in and out of the car. Both the front and rear doors are designed with a lot of head room. The seating height is perfect and the leg room is more than sufficient.

Just thought that some of your readers might like to have this information.

Jerry
Virginia

fishinghat · Answer

Thanks for sharing.  Many of us are or will be in the market for a toad and the more first hand experience from others that we can add to our knowledge base, the better.

happily_retired · Answer

We bought our Ford C-Max Energi in April to tow behind our Axis. We are equally happy with ours, and it has become our favorite daily driver of all our vehicles!

Ford sent us a $775 check last month, and we will have a $4007 tax credit for this year!! Great deal!!

We plug in at the house and campgrounds. We are currently averaging 130+ miles per gallon!! Other than the original dealer tank we have only purchased 7 gallons of gas, and we still have most of that after nearly 2000 miles.

willald · Answer

Just over a year ago, we purchased a Ford Fusion hybrid, that has same basic hybrid drivetrain as your C-max. We absolutely love it, glad to see you're happy with yours, too.

We got it mostly 'cause of how simple and easy it is to flat tow. Mileage was just an added bonus. I thought it was ridiculous that Ford got all that 'grief' about the mileage, so much so that they felt the need to compensate many owners for mileage not being represented right. My thoughts with it was, yea, mileage isn't quite what was advertised. I'm actually on average getting MORE mileage than was advertised! I average between 48 and 50 commuting to work and back every day.

Driving style, technique, etc. plays a huge role in the mileage you get with a hybrid. Even more so than with a conventional drivetrain. I think a lot of people got these things and drove them like a sports car, then griped and complained that they didnt get 47 mpg. If one doesn't insist on being the first one away from traffic lights and the last one to start braking....Well, you can easily get the advertised mileage of a hybrid. Otherwise, your mileage will be a little lower.

Not sure if you've learned this 'the hard way' yet or not, but one thing you do have to do when towing these Ford Hybrids: Run a charge line to the battery. There is a constant draw on the battery with them, and if you don't run a charge line, the battery will be dead after just an hour or two of towing. Very simple and easy to set up a charge line, though, and once you do, you'll never have to worry about running down the battery.

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