Scion Xb as a Tow Vehicle

[carlkeigley]

I bought a 2012 Scion Xb. Seems to be a great car.
We've already run one set of tires off it.
I've been wanting to put a hitch on it, but was waiting
until it was out of warranty, which it is. We also bought
a 2010 Tacoma V6 so it has been doing all the towing.
My 2002 Astro AWD has been sitting a lot since we got the Xb.

It's on a Corolla setup if I remember correctly.
And I think the Corolla may have a 1,000# rating. Not sure.

It's rated for 28 mpg on the highway but I've reached up to 35.
Averaging around 32. I don't rabbit start or abruptly brake like most.

[carlkeigley]

I don't have a hitch on my Xb, but it begged me to take
a picture of it with my Snoozy. The thing is such a wanna be
ham.

[Glenn Baglo]

Carl,

You need to clean the lens on your picture taking thingy.

baglo

[carlkeigley]

[carlkeigley]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

Carl,

You need to clean the lens on your picture taking thingy.

baglo

I think it was just the time of day and the lighting.
But I'll clean it anyway. It's been a while since I've wiped it. lol.

[Glenn Baglo]

Any finger oil or other crud will cause flare, especially under those conditions.

[Mike Magee]

A boxy tug with a streamlined trailer... more commonly it's the other way around!

[MC1]

Guys, lots of great posts. Thnxs

We are still looking at vehicles but the Xb is still a strong contender.

Interesting........ Power to weight wise it has the same grunt as our Nissan Mini van which towed our Airstream for many years. No we have no plans to tow the Airstream with a Scion, just saying.

[Mikmay]

I had to send my 13 boler to my son in California from Windsor ont . A friend who was driving there in his scion offered to tow it there. He brought it there and told me it towed great with no problems at all . He did have a manual transmission

[MC1]

Looks like another forum member is using an XB to tow his Scamp.....

[Bezel]

Originally Posted by MC1

Looks like another forum member is using an XB to tow his Scamp.....

I'm doing this too. All of the conflicting advice is confusing!

[Byron Kinnaman]

You can tow outside the manufacturers limits, but there's a big risk involved. An accident your fault or not can be deemed your fault. Check with your insurance company, will they pay for an accident towing beyond the manufacture's limits. I doubt it. You might be able to get away with it, but then you might not. Is it worth the risk? Not to me.

[Mike Magee]

I question whether an insurance company could refuse to pay. The contract binds them. Does the contract state such an exception? If not, they have no escape. They can refuse to cover you afterward or raise your rate sky-high, of course.

If they have such an exclusion stated in the policy, all bets are off.

[floyd]

There is an XB in my family. Good car, it has held up well as a commuter and has been reliable, but it has small brakes which I have serviced several times and as someone else said it is a Toyota... so parts and labor are high when needed.
For towing, brake wear would be a concern, even with trailer brakes.

[Bezel]

I checked with my dealer as to why it is not recommended to tow with a Scion XB and explained what I've been doing, and was told that it's because the transmission doesn't have that kind of cooling capacity. Seems basically I'm taking my chances on longer, hot, hilly trips? I'm looking into getting one installed, otherwise may get something else. I use it mainly to stay overnight during art shows that I do. The Scion XB has more storage space than an SUV. Next step may be a van.

[Mike Magee]

A transmission cooler is not very expensive, and pretty easy to have installed.