Washington State Law

[GeorgeR]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

George, good post... but I have to point out one thing: You used the European tow rating for the Hyundai, and the American tow rating for the VW. The VW Jetta/Golf actually has a higher tow rating than the Hyundai Elantra (about 3,300 pounds, depending on the engine/trans combo).

I took the towing numbers from US Edmunds site “Top 10 Vehicles for Towing 2004” list from Edmunds where Hyundai Elantra and Subaru Outback made 9th and 10th places. Edmunds questioned these numbers as well as you see below in red.
http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/102426/article.html
“……..
9. Hyundai Elantra: No, this is not a typo. The Elantra offers 3,086 pounds of towing capacity when trailer brakes are used (without the brakes, it tops out at 1,000 pounds). That's not much by truck standards, but for a budget-priced compact sedan, it's exceptional. Note that this is 1,000 pounds more than full-size sedans like the Cadillac DeVille and Mercury Grand Marquis are rated to carry.
10.Subaru Outback: The Outback is all new for 2005 and with a 3,000-pound towing capacity, Subaru's all-terrain family wagon offers some fairly serious grunt for a midsize car. Its standard all-wheel-drive system should also come in handy when looking for the most remote campsite”.

Currently I don't have access to my VW manual so 1000lb maximum trailer weight came from my memory, the retiree’s one.

[mcbrew]

George, that Hyundai Elantra info has been circulating for a while, but it is the Euro spec. I am not 100% sure, but I remember an owner chiming in and saying that the US manual stated 750 pounds or something close to that.

[GeorgeR]

Originally Posted by mcbrew

George, that Hyundai Elantra info has been circulating for a while, but it is the Euro spec. I am not 100% sure, but I remember an owner chiming in and saying that the US manual stated 750 pounds or something close to that.

Thank you for this clarification. So it was a typo after all in the Edmunds’ Best Ten list.
George.