Tow a car or not?

[MRUSA14]

If I can't tow, I won't go.

[CWJK55]

If your in one place for a few days having a towed car allows you to travel around the area without having to tear up camp every time you want to go somewhere.

[Easyrider]

I don't know what kind of motorhome you have other than it being 28' long, which isn't all that much larger than a full size pick up. Plus I assume you are size limited on the kind of car you can tow since you don't have a very large RV. You've already done some trips and got along fine without the toad. And you probably have a cell phone so even if you were to break down help is just a phone call away. So I'd say go without the toad, in your case I don't really think it's much of an advantage to have one and it may be over the tow capacity of your RV anyway.

[Atom Ant]

A trailer would be a pain it the keester in my mind, and I would leave the car at home.

We recently went to CA and debated leaving ours at home (4 down tow) because we were meeting friends who had a car. We took it anyway because I wanted something to drive in the desert if we broke down and not a lot of phone service out there. In the end we used it quite a bit for exploring, but our rig is 43' and hard to maneuver around.

While kind of depending on the toad as a back up emergency plan, it donned on me, don't hook up your car with an empty tank. Had we needed it across Utah or Nevada, I would have been real upset with myself if I hooked it up with an 1/8 tank of gas. It was real easy to neglect the toad gas tank when every fueling stop we went to was diesel only.

[tcg]

I'm relatively new to this but we bought a 28' class c. It's really easy to get most places but I didn't want to have to take it into small towns for a grocery run or sightseeing.

I also bought a class c because I didn't want to drive a big a.

Our compromise was a really nice 200cc scooter that can go on the highway. It's mounted on a carrier in the rear hitch.

We can unload or load it in less then 10 minutes. Sometimes it comes off as soon as we park sometimes it stays on the whole time we're out.

I've been a biker all my life so riding in the rain with the right gear is no problem. We got a scooter because it's an automatic transmission that my wife can drive.

It has a huge trunk under the seat that can hold two full face helmets or a big load of groceries.

I may rethink that at some point but right now it works well.

[MSHappyCampers]

Personally, I would never take a long trip without a toad!

[LynnD]

I can't imagine making a trip of that length and distance without a toad either. Shopping, sightseeing, laundry if you don't have a washer onboard....I would hate to have to pack up and take the MH wherever we want or need to go.

[wildtoad]

At 28 ft can park most places fairly easy. Check where you are going to stop along the way, and if needed find car rental place. Many will now come pick you up and drop you back. It can be done. We have made the switch to towing, and it is less hassle then I expected, better than my first suggestion.

[MutinyGuy]

Originally Posted by demon1018

We are planning on driving from fl to california in november. We have never done anything like this! Was thinking if we should bring a car. I have a car trailer. We have a 2004 vw jetta 5 speed or a 2007 saab 9-3 that we can bring. Do we even need to bring a car? will pulling the trailer rather than tow barring the car just suck even more gas ? We drove the motorhome thru the mountains in north carolina without the trailer or towing anything and really never needed one. Our motor home is 28 foot and maneuvers pretty easily..but not sure about driving that far.. never been so dont know what to expect. i like the idea of having something else to drive in case the motorhome breaks

Bring a car....end of story!

[demon1018]

sorry its a 1995 Winnebago brave. the wheel base is pretty short as well so it maneuvers pretty easily in tight spots. We have been taking it out to the grocery store or other stores on the weekends and its been easy to park.. fits easily in 2 inline parking spots but it wouldn't with the trailer. I have towed my VW bus to a car show across the state and it pulled it very well! actually nicer with the trailer brakes working. We were thinking of a scooter... would be fun anyway!

[ahicks]

Without toad would not fit our normal travel style at all. If we were simply using the MH to run from point A to point B, it might another story.

[Atom Ant]

I could agree with everyone that says take a toad, if towing 4-down. However I would really have to think about the worth of it if I had to trailer the car behind a 28' MH. I would probably leave it at home and use the MH. I would make it work.

[wolfcreek]

yep, toad, won't leave home without,,,,unless I forget it.....

[StevL]

Rental Cars

We are new to this rv thing, figured we would rent where we go for a couple years to see if we even like this method of travel.

We now have 4 separate weeks under our belt, the rental thing is a pain in the rear. Every time we rent it seems like the rental company is in the opposite direction of our travel. We have wasted hours returning cars in our four short weeks.

We are now getting our toad ready for the road. That rental idea didn't last long

Steve