Community Forums

Ray,IN · 02-20-2016, 06:17 PM

My wife hit a patch of black ice Thursday morning. She will recover her Jeep will not. What are your recommendations for a 4WD car to flat-tow? Another
Jeep GC

A large box truck hit her from behind after she spun into the oncoming lane and careened off another Jeep.

Tetonchief · 02-20-2016, 06:46 PM

Subaru

Moorio · 02-20-2016, 06:49 PM

Buy a powerball ticket immediatly. I hope everyone is okay

Ray,IN · 02-21-2016, 02:52 AM

From what I've found, Subaru 4x4 only approves the manual transmission for towing 4-down. Do you have more info for auto-transmissions?

DW is not out of the woods. Looks like recovery will take most of this year, so I'm not in a rush to buy a new car. Plenty of time to make a selection for a new car for her.

TomandGloria · 02-21-2016, 04:34 AM

Wow, we will keep her in our thoughts and prayers for a full and speedy recovery. You may be better off with another Jerp GC after looking at those pictures.

Sue46 · 02-21-2016, 05:16 AM

Honda HRV, stick shift. Look on the Remco site. I think they have a list don't know how up to date it is.

Dr4Film · 02-21-2016, 05:30 AM

OMG! I am happy that your wife will fully recover from this accident.

When living in upstate NY black ice was my most feared surface to drive on EVEN with a 4WD vehicle. The only tires that will help with black ice ones with chains on them.

Maybe look at a Hummer!

Dr4Film ----- Richard

LeeOts · 02-21-2016, 08:22 AM

Holy Black Ice, Batman! I'm glad to hear your wife will recover. If you hadn't told us, I wouldn't have been able to tell that used to be a Jeep.

Just before Christmas, my wife and I hit black ice near Sedona, AZ going about 25mph. We were fine but the Nissan Frontier sustained $7000 worth of damage but nothing like your Jeep. I'm sure the box truck and other Jeep did their share of the damage.

Did you ask the insurance company to make "like new?"

Good luck on your search.

**TonyDi** · 02-21-2016, 08:32 AM

Wow, I'm glad your wife is okay.

I have been happy with my Jeep GC as a toad. I like the comfort of it. I'm sure you feel the same way.

Good luck, Happy Trails!!!

BeltoneMagoo · 02-21-2016, 08:33 AM

Re: the Subaru's; None of the automatics is towable 4 down. Only manuals and I think(?) that may be different this year for some of them.
Best wishes and a speedy recovery for your wife.
God luck, good health and safe travels!

Forza Tom · 02-21-2016, 07:48 PM

Glad your wife is OK!

We like our Ford Edge AWD

TBray · 02-21-2016, 08:56 PM

I hope your wife recovers speedily and without complications.

We recently went on the hunt for a Toad. Living in Alabama where there aren't a lot of Snow Birds buying Toads I found that most dealers didn't have a clue about the tow-ability of their vehicles. But most seemed willing to get us information.

We have a Subaru Outback that we really love so we started there. The dealer said that none of the currently available AWD Subaru's are flat towable. A dolly also doesn't work, they require a trailer with all 4 wheels off the ground. There is something to be said for the Subaru's safety record though and they are great vehicles, we love ours.

Ford has several models that can be flat towed but most need to have the engine run every 400 miles or so. I think even the hybrids can be flat towed. Ford has a website that lists the towing requirements of all their vehicles that qualify.

Chevrolet has several vehicles that can be flat towed although after looking into them they also require running the engines and driving them to keep everything lubricated.

I talked to another RVer who was flat towing a Kia Soul which had a manual transmission. That looked promising until the two local Kia dealers said that towing a Soul voids the warranty.

One last candidate I found is the Smart Car. It has a roll cage and crumple zones so it is a lot safer then its tiny size suggests. It is pretty small so it doesn't tend to impart confidence, particularly here in the US. I also don't know whether the 2016 models are flat towable, but all previous years appear to be.

I was hoping that an electric vehicle would qualify but none have software in them to deal with flat towing.

True 4WD Pickups and SUVs, including Jeep, Ford, and GM, if they have a neutral setting on the transfer case can be flat towed. Although check with the dealer before buying anything.

We ended up with a Jeep Wrangler which seems to be well suited for flat towing. I weighed it and with a full tank of gas it was 4500 pounds which is under the max weight our Fleetwood will tow.

Tom

Romer1 · 02-21-2016, 08:59 PM

I'd find another 96 to 98 grand!!!!!

tim myers · 02-21-2016, 09:02 PM

Ray so sorry to hear of your wife's accident. Buckeye here saying some prayers for her recovery. Like others have said I would not have known that was a Jeep if you hadn't told me.