Honda CRV

aerbus32 wrote:
Having dealt with the poor reliability of Jeeps in the past...

...In my experience, the CR-V is the best choice as a dinghy for a gas coach.

Not sure where the jeep comment comes from, but for the record, we're on our 4rth and 5th jeep. DW's 2010 liberty bought new has never broken down and never in the shop except for maintenance. 60k, just changed tires, still original brakes and shocks.

I bought my 2000 wrangler 5 years ago with 212,000 miles on it. It's at 288,000 now. It is the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned... I drive it every day. Long trips chort trip, all day on the highway. All day crawling over rocks and hills and mountains in the desert...

CRV's are good toads too, prior to 2015. As are many other vehicles. Not sure what the fuel your motorhome uses has to do with it though?

We are on our second CRV as a toad...great vehicle.

I'll chime in to sing praises of our 2009 CRV. It's been towed roughly 70,000km behind two different RVs and driven another 140,000km over the past 6+ years. Only thing I've done to it is change the oil (engine regularly and transmission once). Very reliable and easy to tow. We usually carry our bikes on the back using a Yakima SwingDaddy rack.

JimM68 wrote:

aerbus32 wrote:
Having dealt with the poor reliability of Jeeps in the past...

...In my experience, the CR-V is the best choice as a dinghy for a gas coach.

Not sure where the jeep comment comes from, but for the record, we're on our 4rth and 5th jeep. DW's 2010 liberty bought new has never broken down and never in the shop except for maintenance. 60k, just changed tires, still original brakes and shocks.

I bought my 2000 wrangler 5 years ago with 212,000 miles on it. It's at 288,000 now. It is the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned... I drive it every day. Long trips chort trip, all day on the highway. All day crawling over rocks and hills and mountains in the desert...

CRV's are good toads too, prior to 2015. As are many other vehicles. Not sure what the fuel your motorhome uses has to do with it though?

Jim, I don't want to dog Jeeps but I had two back to back that were very troublesome. Both were bought new... a '96 Grand Cherokee and a '99 Grand Cherokee. I kept both for three years under their warranties.

Both had to be towed to the dealer for breaking down on me.... 3 times for the '96, 2 times for the '99. The '99 had to have a whole new 4x4 system installed. So, I shy'd away from Jeep products when we were looking for a tow vehicle. I hope that they are better now, I just happened to get two lemons. I drove both Jeeps until about 36,000 miles each.

Both Honda's have been perfect so far..... drove the 2007 almost 70,000 miles and towed it another 57,000 miles (125,000 miles total). The 2013 we've driven 22,000 miles and towed it about 17,000 (39,000 miles).

I'm not a General Motors fan so I'll look at Jeeps and Fords the next time around. I really like staying below 4,000 lbs. if I can.

MM.

We bought our 2010 CRV (new) specifically to be used for our toad......we do have a charge line running to the LSL toad charging system.....so never had to worry about pulling fuses. The CRV has been GREAT......and the curb weight is pretty light!!

Thanks!
Hhg

Mike and Trish wrote:
We have a 2014 CR-V, and had the battery run down the first couple of times we towed. (I tried following the directions in the manual, but they told me to pull the wrong fuse.) I plan to have a charge line installed one of these days, but in the meantime, I just disconnect the positive battery cable as the last part of my hookup. Adds about 30 seconds.

Two years ago, I had our 2010 run down the battery when, during a very bad weather situation in Central Texas, I drove for an extended period. I immediately replaced the original battery with a Costco battery, apparently a much better battery. My practice has always been to take a break after driving a couple of hours, turn on the car, run it through the gears and then let it idle for a couple of minutes. So far, I have gone as long as 5 hours before starting the car without any issues. And since I like to drive for 3 hours and stay for 3 weeks, it works for me!

JimM68 wrote:

aerbus32 wrote:
Having dealt with the poor reliability of Jeeps in the past...

...In my experience, the CR-V is the best choice as a dinghy for a gas coach.

Not sure where the jeep comment comes from, but for the record, we're on our 4rth and 5th jeep. DW's 2010 liberty bought new has never broken down and never in the shop except for maintenance. 60k, just changed tires, still original brakes and shocks.

I bought my 2000 wrangler 5 years ago with 212,000 miles on it. It's at 288,000 now. It is the most reliable vehicle I have ever owned... I drive it every day. Long trips chort trip, all day on the highway. All day crawling over rocks and hills and mountains in the desert...

CRV's are good toads too, prior to 2015. As are many other vehicles. Not sure what the fuel your motorhome uses has to do with it though?

Class A gassers typically can only tow 5K pounds. DP's are often double that. If I were in the Dutch Star I keep lusting after, I'd be pulling a 4WD full size truck.

As far as my reference to Jeeps, I always wanted a soft top Wrangler. My wife nixed that but liked the FT4WD Grand Cherokee Overland. Our brand new 2002, very pricey, with everything on it, was the off-road vehicle of the year that year. At 4700 lbs (I weighted it) it was over the 80% rule, but the same weight as the 21' Sea Ray I pulled with it & our previous Class A. It was a superb tow vehicle for the boat. Knowing it would be both a tow vehicle & a toad, I bought a very good extended warranty. (Something I never do.). Within 2 years, the heater stopped working. 8 hours of labor plus parts. Under warranty. At under 60k, the FT4WD started making a funny noise. Fortunately, a very good friend is the service manager of the Dodge dealership where I had it regularly serviced. They rebuilt the entire 4wd system. After the 60k service, it started blowing oxygen sensors whenever I let it idle for more than a few minutes at an angle. Like at a boat ramp. I took a huge beating on it when, at 80k miles I traded it I on our Honda.

I have the 2015 Consumer Reports New Car Buying Guide open to p.159 in front of me. The Grand Cherokee & the Wrangler (p. 161) continue to be plagued with lousy reliability histories. Glad to hear you have avoided what appears most have not. (Incidentally, my service manager buddy, is now driving a Grand Cherokee. Not 4WD. And it's easy for him to get it repaired.).

After all this I am thinking hard about purchasing a relatives CRV. 2013, w/12100 miles. They only drive to/from church & store for food. Seems like a great idea. Currently to w/dolly and 2010 Corella, to low to the ground so I need ramps to get on tow dolly, spare tire for tow dolly, straps, and all this ads weight, time and frustration.

Thanks for alls comments.

We tow our 2007 and love it. I do not pull any fuses and have never had a battery issue. We travel about 3300 miles/ or 5 hours per day. We will buy another CR-V when the time comes.

aerbus32 wrote:
With the new CR-V's no longer towable 4 down, I suspect that the towable years will become relatively sought after as used cars,expressly to be towed. Our 2010, with Navigation, does not require the pulling of the fuse. It only has about 70k on it, but I get new car fever way too often. Was planning on replacing it with a new CR-V but will definitely not be. Having dealt with the poor reliability of Jeeps in the past, our only other choice would be a Subaru, but they can't be towed as automatics. Which my wife insists on. In my experience, the CR-V is the best choice as a dinghy for a gas coach.

You better check your owners manual. They all say to pull a fuse. If you're looking for a good toad the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain are great toads. Been towing mine 4 yrs. with absolutely no problems. My daughter has a Subaru Forrester its a very dependable car but very noisy compared to my Equinox and the ride isn't as good and there is much more room for passengers. For that matter the CRV doesn't ride as good nor is there as much room for passengers especially in the rear. This has been told to me by several CRV owners that have ridden in my Equinox and my daughter.