Looking for a TOAD for our New Travato

[Racorman]

Hello all,

My wife and are long time boondockers and have downsized to a 2023 Travato 59K. We need to sell our Jeep and buy a manual tranny TOAD that is just around 2500 pounds. We would appreciate all suggestions.

Google search says: if your Travato is fully loaded, using all of your OCCC, up to a full GVWR of 9,350 lbs. that you are still limited to the GCWR of 12,000 lbs. So, your trailer or towed vehicle should not exceed 2,650 lbs. (GCWR 12,000 – GVWR 9,350.)May 8, 2022

My wife likes to sew and stay in camp after we land set up and I can take off to go fishing for the day.

Thanks!

[Racorman]

We bought a 1987 Suzuki Samurai 4x4 that weighs 2,094 lbs and It came with a tow bar. My wife has significant back problems and after taking her for a drive.... we could not keep it. We ended up with a Chevy Spark. We'll miss the off roading, but happy wife, happy life. Our Sammy is for sale.

[SteveAE]

Knowing nothing personally about this topic, but curious. A quick internet search yielded a couple possibilities in your desired weight range.....and several others that were darn close. Maybe take a look at this website. Good luck and safe travels.

[Racorman]

Thank you all for chiming in.... looks like a Chevy Spark (manual) is what we'll be looking for!

[ferndaleflyer]

Smart cars are flat towable or on a dolly if you wish. Ours is set up with a Road master tow bar but I dolly it most of the time. These cars are hard to find but worth the effort. So much that as of now we have 3 of them. Good luck

[LadyRVer]

I towed a Fiat 500, manual transmission. Great little fun car. I seem to remember it came in under 2500.

[bob_nestor]

The Chevy Spark is a nice choice, if the right ones were available. It's about 2300 lbs, but you need one with a manual transmission to be flat towable. Chevy stopped taking orders for them last June and permanently shutdown the factory in South Korea last August. There are still a lot in new inventory, but almost all of them are with automatic transmissions. Dealers are actually selling worn-out used ones (if they can find them) for more money than the new ones with automatic.

I lucked out in my search for one and found a salesperson who went the extra mile to find me one - a new 2022 with manual that's now set up for flat towing.

The car manufacturers have all pretty much stopped any new car production due to government CAFE requirements, opting instead to produce larger less fuel efficient SUVs and trucks as they come under different CAFE requirements. If the march to ban or eliminate ICE vehicles continues I figure my Spark will be worth it's weight in gold in a year of two.

[rjstractor]

This used to be a really easy question to answer 15-20 years ago, just pick up a Saturn SL2 and be done with it. Even the auto was towable, and under 2500 lbs. Good luck finding one today that isn't worn out. If you want a new or almost new car, your options are almost nothing. Chevy Spark and Nissan Versa come to mind, and even the Versa is over 2500 lbs. Kia's and Hyundai's smallest cars are no longer available in a manual transmission, and IIRC virtually none of the CVTs in modern cars are flat towable. I don't think a newer SUV or pickup exists that isn't over 2500 lbs.

[enblethen]

You are not going to find much meeting your 2650 weight.
What kind of vehicle SUV, sedan small pick up?