Forum Discussion

albireo13's avatar
albireo13
Explorer
Oct 19, 2020

favorite tow vehicle for small trailer??

Hi,
Newbie here.
Wife and I are looking into a small trailer (Aliner, Scamp, teardrop, etc) for maybe next year. We want something small so we can tow it with a car/SUV.
I am thinking <3500lb total weight.

My current car is a 2009 Pilot which is very long in the tooth. I relly need a new car so, I am shopping for that first. It will also be my daily drive car so, gas mileage is important, as is driving comfort. It will also be our tow vehicle in the future. I'd prefer a crossover or compact SUV or something like that.

My Pilot is chunky and gas mileage isn't great (< 20mpg highway, towing nothing). Plus, it has blind spots which bother me. I want to replace it soon. Budget is <$35K so high end vehicles are out of the picture.

Some cars I am considering:
Subaru Outback
Honda Passport
Toyota Highlander

I was wondering what folks use (and like) for towing their small trailers.
Whatcha got??
Tow Vehicles
  • carringb's avatar
    carringb
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2020
    X2 on going with a turbo. But also I do not recommend a CVT (Subaru Ascent). Taking a Subaru actually off-road has caused near-instant belt-failure for some owners (or at a minimum, limp-mode as it tries to stave off belt failure). I imagine a decent steep grade will result in a similar occurrence towing a trailer. Also note that Subaru does not rate their cars to the SAE J2807. Toyota does rate the Highlander to that standard. I also can't find any evidence that Honda rates the Passport to that standard.

    Might I suggest an Explorer? The 2.3L EcoBoost is rated for 5,300 pounds with the Class 3 towing package, and is calculated with SAE J2807 method. Plus the RWD-based platform will be better for towing anyways. And it's rated for 27 MPG highway, 23 combined.
  • wowens79's avatar
    wowens79
    Explorer III
    Oct 19, 2020
    albireo13 wrote:
    Hi,
    Newbie here.
    Wife and I are looking into a small trailer (Aliner, Scamp, teardrop, etc) for maybe next year. We want something small so we can tow it with a car/SUV.
    I am thinking <3500lb total weight.

    My current car is a 2009 Pilot which is very long in the tooth. I relly need a new car so, I am shopping for that first. It will also be my daily drive car so, gas mileage is important, as is driving comfort. It will also be our tow vehicle in the future. I'd prefer a crossover or compact SUV or something like that.

    My Pilot is chunky and gas mileage isn't great (< 20mpg highway, towing nothing). Plus, it has blind spots which bother me. I want to replace it soon. Budget is <$35K so high end vehicles are out of the picture.

    Some cars I am considering:
    Subaru Outback
    Honda Passport
    Toyota Highlander

    I was wondering what folks use (and like) for towing their small trailers.
    Whatcha got??


    We towed a popup with our Pilot and it did great. Pilots will last forever, we drove ours for 15 years, and 260k miles with no problems, sold it to my SIL, and it is still going strong.
  • kellem's avatar
    kellem
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2020
    goducks10 wrote:
    Not sure if it's from Covid or not but I do't recall ever seeing so many single women or older people camping in small Casita type TT's or R-Pods being towed with Subaru's and other small SUV's.


    The spike in small trailers sales were triggered by Covid.
    People wanted out quickly and this was a seamless transition vs buying a $70K HD truck to pull a 30 footer.....they have they're little trailer and get to keep the commuter, for the most part.

    Yes we've been seeing many variations of micro trailers of late.
  • goducks10's avatar
    goducks10
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2020
    Not sure if it's from Covid or not but I do't recall ever seeing so many single women or older people camping in small Casita type TT's or R-Pods being towed with Subaru's and other small SUV's.
  • ppine's avatar
    ppine
    Explorer II
    Oct 19, 2020
    I had a hybrid that weighed 2800 pounds and liked towing it with a Ford diesel.
  • p220sigman's avatar
    p220sigman
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2020
    Of the ones you listed, I think the Highlander has the highest towing capacity so with it and a <3500 trailer you aren't at the limits. The Outback will probably have the best non-towing MPG. I don't know if you have considered the Subaru Ascent or not. It is a little larger than the Outback, but can have a 5000 capacity. Mileage isn't terrible either.

    I can't say how any of them will tow as I don't have any experience with any of them. We towed our Popup that was close to 3500 total weight with our Toyota Sienna and it did great, but I'm not sure I'd want to tow a full-height trailer right at that limit with minivan.
  • ShinerBock's avatar
    ShinerBock
    Explorer
    Oct 19, 2020
    A tow vehicle with an engine that has turbos(either diesel or gas) will give you a significantly better tow experience than most naturally aspirated engines in this class. Especially if you are planning to tow in higher elevation or over mountain passes.

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