Towing vs. Non Towing

yogasam wrote:
Thanks so much for everyones advice on towing vs. renting.
We just traded our 2012 Kia Sportage in for a 2012 Ford Focus. So now we have a flat towable car.
Next we have to get the proper towing package. Any ideas on getting a reasonably priced package.
Thanks once again.
Sandie

READYBRUTE/ELITE always gets the most votes for simplicity, durability and the best bang for the buck and there's plenty of discussion threads available in the dinghy towing secton.

Thanks so much for everyones advice on towing vs. renting.
We just traded our 2012 Kia Sportage in for a 2012 Ford Focus. So now we have a flat towable car.
Next we have to get the proper towing package. Any ideas on getting a reasonably priced package.
Thanks once again.
Sandie

I didn't read all of the posts but I see there are a lot of different opinions.

We rented RV's for the first three years to see if we wanted to buy and RV. As you can see, the answer was YES, we love RVing! The first rental was a class C so we were able to break camp and drive around touring.

The second and third rentals were class A's so we rented cars because our personal cars were not set-up to tow and were too heavy. Getting a rental was difficult and non existent in some places. It was expensive. I see some people have gotten cheap rentals but we didn't have that experience.

We could not get a rental in Sedona, AZ. (in 2005) at a normal rental company (closed on the weekends). The only thing open was a used car rental store which came to pick us up. Worked out nicely but I just couldn't understand the no rental on weekend from the major companies. You could only get a rental from them if you flew in the airport.

So, when we purchased our RV, we knew we had to get a tow vehicle and wouldn't have it any other way. The convenience alone is worth every penny spent setting it up for towing.

Safe travels,
MM.

When we travel in the MH, most of our CG stays are one night only (unless we need to do laundry!). We do 120 to 180 miles between CGs and do our sightseeing on the way. We don't consider a toad to be necessary.

Our '03 Kia Sedona weighs 4800 pounds and with aux braking, transmission lube system and tow bar hardware, would be over our 5000 pounds hitch limit. We don't consider a toad to be required by our RV lifestyle - it would be nice, but not worth the expense to sell the Sedona and get something lighter.

Most of the time, we want to see the sights and we are often not near a town or city where we could rent a car. I think you should at least have the option to tow and decide whether to bring the car on each trip. So far, we have not taken a trip without the toad. We tow a Honda Fit.

tow!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went like 3-4 years without a towed.. This means I had to take down and pack up to go shopping, to church, to ______ and of course we never went out for dinner unless we were also shopping or church..

Then finally I got a jeep, 4 days later wife totaled it (And herself) following me campground to campground.. Oh well..... Once the dust settled, with a bit of help from the President of the US, the Attorney General of the state of Michigan, and some insurance companies, I got another car.. now I get over 3 times the MPG going to church, shopping, if I want to run to town for dinner instead of cooking, and so on. When Daughter graduated from the Master's program at Armstrong, I burned 1 1/2 tanks of gas round trip from where I was parked,,, Now, by that measurement it would have taken just about the same amount no matter which ride I drove, but where as the car that is about 18 gallons more or less.. On the motor home it's over 100.

2gypsies wrote:
Just wondering how you sitesee without a vehicle? We like to explore and not sit in a campground. We travel backroads, explore unique small cities and completely check out our national parks. We would never think of doing that by driving our motorhome constantly from our campground site. Just curious.

We do the same, but have not always towed. Now when hopping from campground to campground and stopping at sites along the way, we once we're in the parking lot at West Thumb having lunch and looking out the window at the long lines in front of the food stands and rest rooms, so that was one time for example, that it was most convenient in having the coach with us.

2gypsies wrote:
Just wondering how you sitesee without a vehicle? We like to explore and not sit in a campground. We travel backroads, explore unique small cities and completely check out our national parks. We would never think of doing that by driving our motorhome constantly from our campground site. Just curious.

sometimes its not about site seeing instead its about getting away, doing NOTHING & relaxing ! not all of us have to be moving constantly !

2gypsies wrote:
Just wondering how you sitesee without a vehicle? We like to explore and not sit in a campground. We travel backroads, explore unique small cities and completely check out our national parks. We would never think of doing that by driving our motorhome constantly from our campground site. Just curious.

For us, we do our site seeing while driving to our next destination. We also have a 31 foot motorhome. Most of our national and state parks I can get my motorhome into while site seeing, with the exception of off roading. For that, I will pull my Jeep. I get up early, leave the campground drive two or three hours to our next destination and spend the day exploring with the motorhome. If we find a place to rest for a few hours, we have the motorhome and generator running along with all of our household amenities for comfort. After we are exhausted from spending the day out exploring, we find a place to park, or a campground. If it is a state or national park, we are camping in, we get there before sunset. We have bikes we carry with us as well. If we are within a few miles of a destination and we really want to see something after we are hooked up for the night, we get the bikes out and get a little exercise. We just got back from a two week vacation along the forgotten coast of Florida, taking us around the big bend, into south Florida and the Keys. The only time we could have used an extra vehicle was while we were in Key West, however, we would have had the problem of finding a place to park it there. We road our bikes from Boyds RV to old town Key West and explored one day. The next day we took a taxi.