Glad I don't let you guys tell my old Odyssey that then. She's got almost 215k miles on the full original powertrain and suspension in spite of having towed our 12' Sun Valley pup for about 25k of those miles, including to Glacier NP, RMNP, Telluride, Smokies, Black Hills and more.
FWD unibody vehicles are plenty able to tow medium popups reliably and safely, though I surely admit that the manufacturers don't make it plugNplay easy like they do with trucks and frame SUVs. We usually have to wire our own brake controllers and charge lines and often improve ATF cooling. Worth it though.
You do also have to do your homework before buying. Not sure if it's still true, but Forest River made stupid heavy tongue weight popups when we were shopping and some makes had frames not able to take wdh.
No, it's not changes in tow vehicles killing popup sales. It's changes in demographics. Pups once sold big to families in 1,800SF homes. People today in that category think they need a bigger house more than they need a popup, then they can't afford anything but the house, leaving RV buying to be a pastime of the rich only. Precious few wealthy folks want to crank up their tent trailer and squat to pee in a portipotti. Their loss.
