Comparing Tow Vehicles

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

Interested in hearing mpg you ended up avg. while towing the Lil Snozzy. Though we are not currently in the market for a new vehicle, we will be in 2 or 3 years. The RAV is our current tug of choice for our next vehicle. Also, is there room to fully open the rear door of the RAV while the trailer is connected?
The biggest downside to purchasing a RAV in Pittsburgh or the North East for that matter, is that they do not bring any two wheel drives into North East Dealers. I will probably have to go to Virginia to get our RAV as I do not want to buy sight unseen.

[MCDenny]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

Interested in hearing mpg you ended up avg. while towing the Lil Snozzy. Though we are not currently in the market for a new vehicle, we will be in 2 or 3 years. The RAV is our current tug of choice for our next vehicle. Also, is there room to fully open the rear door of the RAV while the trailer is connected?
The biggest downside to purchasing a RAV in Pittsburgh or the North East for that matter, is that they do not bring any two wheel drives into North East Dealers. I will probably have to go to Virginia to get our RAV as I do not want to buy sight unseen.

Bill, the side hinged rear door does open all the way with 3 or 4 inches clearance to the front of the LS. I really did not like the door when I bought the car but in time came to appreciate it. There is a big compartment under the floor where the spare tire would normally go and you don't have to worry about hitting the top of the garage door with the open door. ( it happened with the Forester!)

When I bought mine in 2007 there were 2 and 4 wheel drives to pick from in Michigan. The 4 wheel drive was 1 mpg worse and $1000 more expensive than 2 but Edmunds predicted the $1000 premium would be recovered at resale time. I decided the 4 who drive was better for me with some snow to contend with in the winter.

[Mike Magee]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

Interested in hearing mpg you ended up avg. while towing the Lil Snozzy. Though we are not currently in the market for a new vehicle, we will be in 2 or 3 years. The RAV is our current tug of choice for our next vehicle. Also, is there room to fully open the rear door of the RAV while the trailer is connected?
The biggest downside to purchasing a RAV in Pittsburgh or the North East for that matter, is that they do not bring any two wheel drives into North East Dealers. I will probably have to go to Virginia to get our RAV as I do not want to buy sight unseen.

That's funny, I had trouble finding a base model Highlander with 4wd and had to drive to a Kansas dealer for one. Why don't you like 4wd? For so little extra money, you get better performance on iffy surfaces. I think 4wd is much better for handling while towing, since any loss of front traction is compensated for by the rear wheels kicking in. Great for snow, ice, even rain-slicked roads.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

I have never been a fan of all or 4 wheel drive due to the expense associated with additional repairs, the need to often replace 4 tires at one time, the loss of 1 or 2 mile per gallon. I don't really concern myself with resale as any vehicle I'm finished with generally needs towed out of my drive-way with 200+K.
But I guess the real reason is that I can only think of one or two times in 45 years of driving that I needed more than two wheel drive. I do always use 4 ice treads in the winter as I do appreciate the ability to turn and stop even more than I like to be able to go.
I am probably more than a little unusual in that I do not like automatic transmissions simply because I love to drive and enjoy shifting gears.
If you read my personal profile you will come to the conclusion that I am an "over the hill" gear head. My wife says I turn into a 16 year old every time I'm behind the wheel. So go ahead - think I'm weird!

[Mike Magee]

I see. My experience is that I get more even tire wear and far less tire "scrub" with AWD (really that's what I have, even though Toyota calls it 4WD) than with FWD. And I have experienced many, many times when a trailerless 2WD could hardly get started moving (wheels spinning) on icy surfaces, but the AWD easily gets going even with a trailer attached. Then there's the occasional deep snow, when the neighbors are all stuck while I'm out to the store and back, even pulling some of them out, with my AWD.

There's room in the world for all of us, though.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

I have never been a fan of all or 4 wheel drive due to the expense associated with additional repairs, the need to often replace 4 tires at one time, the loss of 1 or 2 mile per gallon.!

My experience with 4 wheel drive that one needed to engage when needed was not great either but full time All Wheel drive is for me a different story. On my 3rd AWD and have not noticed any difference in the speed of tire wear from the rear wheel drive or front wheel drives the AWD's have shared the driveway with. No expensive repairs etc. actually none other than normal maintence. As far as gas mileage goes I suspect it depends on the make/model of the tow but I know mine gets far better than most 4 WD or rear WD. Have found the AWD makes for a solid tow and as others have mentioned a real stand out in the snow with or without the snow tires on.

Your not weird, just suspect your experience with a different make/model was perhaps not a good one.

[MC1]

There was a Rav4 on the news the other day. It was driven a lot and had 640,000klm's on it. It had been serviced regularly by Toyota but had not suffered any serious problems. A good vehicle for sure.

[fusedlight]

We decided on the V6 4WD Rav4 when we bought a "new" vehicle (2008 model) a couple of months ago. It came with the transmission cooler, so what's not to like? We sprung the extra thousand or so for the "save us from everything" warranty.

When we pick up our Scamp in less than a month (!woot!) I'll let you know how the tow goes.

[BCDave]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

I have never been a fan of all or 4 wheel drive due to the expense associated with additional repairs, the need to often replace 4 tires at one time, the loss of 1 or 2 mile per gallon. I don't really concern myself with resale as any vehicle I'm finished with generally needs towed out of my drive-way with 200+K.

At 200K it's done for? What do you do to them? Race only? Demo derby?
Zero maintenance? No reason for it not to go WAY more than that - at least double!

[melissab]

Had to find an online conversion calculator, LOL.

397,677 mi

Originally Posted by MC1

There was a Rav4 on the news the other day. It was driven a lot and had 640,000klm's on it. It had been serviced regularly by Toyota but had not suffered any serious problems. A good vehicle for sure.

[rgrugg]

The quick & dirty way to convert kilometers to miles is to multiply by 0.6.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

This is Pittsburgh. While we have usual winter ice and moderate snow we have car eating pot holes. And at the mere mention of possible snow or ice in the forecast, the road crews are out pouring vehicle destroying chemicals on the roadways so people can continue to drive 70 miles per hour in a snow storm. So while you may be able to keep a vehicle in BC for 25 years, you can't here unless you take it off the road in the winter time. Almost every vehicle you find here with more than 200K has the seats falling through the floorboards.
It must be nice in BC or do you keep your vehicles in your living room come winter?

[BCDave]

Originally Posted by Bill in Pittsburgh

This is Pittsburgh. While we have usual winter ice and moderate snow we have car eating pot holes. And at the mere mention of possible snow or ice in the forecast, the road crews are out pouring vehicle destroying chemicals on the roadways so people can continue to drive 70 miles per hour in a snow storm. So while you may be able to keep a vehicle in BC for 25 years, you can't here unless you take it off the road in the winter time. Almost every vehicle you find here with more than 200K has the seats falling through the floorboards.
It must be nice in BC or do you keep your vehicles in your living room come winter?

Vehicles do not stay indoors here at all. My 1989 Suzuki Sidekick was recently retired from 'active duty" when I retired. It had (American speedometer as it was imported from the US many years ago) 391,000 MILES on it. At one point, the floorboards were rusted so bad that I got splashed in the face when I went through puddles. (A bunch of fiberglass work fixed that). Still didn't burn a drop of oil, still got close to 40 mpg, still went skiing (on heavily salted mountain highways) Still crawled up the (San Fransisco -like) hills around here in winter snow before the salt trucks got out there to compete with Mother Nature?") That little 1600 engine, 5 speed and selectable transfer case made it the absolutely BEST commuter I ever had - in spite of the rust issues!

Oil changes every 5,000 (always synthetic) and a commute totaling 75 miles each way 5 days a week meant oil changes came up often. Both diffs, trans and t'fer case got synthetic oils (flush & fill) once a year. Brake flush every year, too.

I retired it when I retired as I no longer commute a zillion miles a week, so I no longer need to get 40 mpg as my main priority and can actually drive something with air cond, and a bit of luxury.

[Bill in Pittsburgh]

You must be special