Sudden TOAD shopping?

[suzeq]

Glad you are ok. Sorry about the car. We got ticketed every Good Friday for several years. Stopped traveling on Good Friday and the curse seems to have lifted. LOL

We looked & looked at options for toads. Finally settled on a Chevy Sonic but the astonishing thing was how advanced the safety features are AND they don’t upcharge for them. Now the Sonic is a little bitty thing so if you are replacing a Flex there are some SUV/Crossover Chevy’s. I was a Ford gal until I needed a TOAD so I was very surprised to find myself driving a Chevy and lovin it

Good luck

[onholdguy]

Chevy equinox had been great for us. We are on the 5th one over the years and have no problem flat towing. Love it

Sent from my XT1585 using iRV2 - RV Forum mobile app

[peterson]

Originally Posted by Scarab0088

This is easy...buy ANY front wheel drive car, crossover or SUV that YOU LIKE and tow it (or any other car you have or get) on a Dolly.

Why? 'Cuz the list of flat towable car's gets smaller and smaller each year, the car is protected from rock strikes and unrecorded miles on the lower driveline up-high on the dolly, and braking/break-away is easily part of the dolly. Plus you can change cars at-will and there's no mods to the car like cutting the front fascia, hacking the car's lighting circuits, and bolting hardware in the car's critical crush zone.

Glad everyone is uninjured from the crash.

Best luck

Absolutely agree - no mods, no rock strikes, no brake worries, no hacking light circuits, no extra hardware on TOAD, can use for any car in the future. It seems like the simplest and most versatile option.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by sho4go

"By the way, even though the other driver was at fault, his insurance company, Nationwide, is balking at payment for hospital/doctor bills (Son spent one night in hosp, his girlfriend spent several days in hospital, 2 in intensive) and we have yet to receive payment for the totaled toad...."

If you have witnesses to corroborate your son's version of the event, I'd say its time to enlist an attorney. I've been there, done that. You're dealing with a load already and the adjuster on the other side is hoping you'll give up and accept whatever they offer. So unless there is conflicting info re: who is at fault, and the other driver may be telling a whole different version of events, I would still enlist an attorney who will probably be happy to take the case on contingency.

Unfortunately the contingency would be that the attorney gets 1/3 to 1/2 of any settlement! File through your own insurance, get a new vehicle, they pay the bills, and then THEY go after the other insurance company. You are done with it, except that possibly your insurance company will hold back the deductible until the other insurance company pays.

On Attorneys. You've already paid to retain one, it's the State AG's office, and the State Insurance Commissioner's Office. Use them, we have three times. Great to work with, quick results, and no additional expense!

[AudiDudi]

Originally Posted by suzeq

We looked & looked at options for toads. Finally settled on a Chevy Sonic but the astonishing thing was how advanced the safety features are AND they don’t upcharge for them.

Good luck

The Sonic does make a good tow vehicle. The back seat is rather tight for larger adults, but it is doable.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by SmootZero

Your dolly sounds way better than ours! It is very heavy. It takes both of us to lift it and move it and we are just too old to do that plus my husband can’t lift much at all anymore due to bad heart. Sigh

AGREE! We done both routes in the past. Some things that people forget to mention about dolly's are:

• the three extra tires to wear out/age out (They DO carry a dolly spare don't they?!?) Oh, and where do your store the dolly spare tire?
• The extra dolly license plate and tabs in most states.
• The fact that unless it is physically hooked up to your vehicle many times it is not covered under your vehicle insurance, and most homeowners policies won't cover it as additional property "if it is normally required to have a separate vehicle registration", so if it gets stolen, it's all on you to replace it. (ask me how I know this)
• You need to carry around a mat or something to lay on while you are on the muddy ground attaching the safety chains, etc (where do you store the muddy mat?)
• something else to find a place to situate in your campsite, and at the house.
• Just like towing 4 down, you limit yourselves to the type of vehicles you can tow (generally speaking, no all wheel drive vehicles)
• Your entire rig is now longer, generally 2 to 3 feet in my personal experience with the Master Tow dolly we had.
• You're hauling around another 300 to 500 lbs of weight, over 4 down.

It's up to everyone to weigh the pros and cons of the issue. For us, we tried both, and went with 4 wheel down, no comparison.


On the OP's quandary, I like the suggestion on the Hyundai Elantra. We've had one Hyundai Elantra, one Hyundai Excel, and two Hyundai Sonata's. All were great cars, I drove the Excel for 1 year in Korea, the Elantra forever, and the two Sonata's (one manual, and one automatic, purchased new) are still being driven by our two daughters. Very few issues.


The overall issue here is that for the OP, no one was hurt, the rest is just stuff, and stuff can be replaced!

[JMonroe]

Last year we purchased a 2017 GMC Acadia. We've had no issues flat towing it, about 10k miles so far, and the Denali version has most, if not all, of the luxury conveniences you are used to.

We have two neighbors that each bought a new Chevy Traverse. One planned to use his tow dolly, but it would not fit. They each found out, after the fact, the new Traverse is not flat towable, in spite of what the salesman told at least one of them.

We have friends that flat tow a Ford Edge, others that flat tow either the Cherokee or the Grand Cherokee. Any of these can be equipped similar to the Flex as well.

Whatever you land on, do your own verifying research before purchase to be certain it can be used/towed as you want and are comfortable with.

[Air Conditioned Gypsy]

Originally Posted by sho4go

"By the way, even though the other driver was at fault, his insurance company, Nationwide, is balking at payment for hospital/doctor bills (Son spent one night in hosp, his girlfriend spent several days in hospital, 2 in intensive) and we have yet to receive payment for the totaled toad...."

If you have witnesses to corroborate your son's version of the event, I'd say its time to enlist an attorney. I've been there, done that. You're dealing with a load already and the adjuster on the other side is hoping you'll give up and accept whatever they offer. So unless there is conflicting info re: who is at fault, and the other driver may be telling a whole different version of events, I would still enlist an attorney who will probably be happy to take the case on contingency.

As it happens a police officer witnessed the accident, so no question about fault. We have an attorney, but I guess these things take time. We couldn't wait, so went ahead and replaced the toad shortly after the accident.

Sorry, OP, for semi-hijacking the thread.

[Larry201]

I have a 2014 Honda CR-V AWD EXL. 2014 is last year the CR-V can be towed with 4 down

[Pete Cedar]

Go to motorhome magazine web site and download their dingy towing guide. There is a lot of advertising but it also lists all the major auto mfgs and their towable vehicles. Lot's of good information.

[Hit_the_Rhod]

Originally Posted by JMonroe

We have two neighbors that each bought a new Chevy Traverse. One planned to use his tow dolly, but it would not fit. They each found out, after the fact, the new Traverse is not flat towable, in spite of what the salesman told at least one of them.

We have friends that flat tow a Ford Edge, others that flat tow either the Cherokee or the Grand Cherokee. Any of these can be equipped similar to the Flex as well.

Whatever you land on, do your own verifying research before purchase to be certain it can be used/towed as you want and are comfortable with.

Jay, let me expound a little in what you said above, because it's important.

We were looking at purchasing a new 2014 Subaru Outback, manual transmission, to tow 4 wheel down. Sales Woman said towable, Sales Manager said towable. Service Manager said towable. We couldn't find in anywhere in the owner's manual where it said it was towable, so I told them, we'll buy it, but I need a letter on Dealership letterhead, signed by an Officer of the Dealership that states that you know we are buying this car, planning on towing it 4 wheel down behind our RV and that you are stating that it is suitable for our intended purpose. . . . . They waffled, then came up with a service bulletin that stated that it was NOT towable 4 wheels down.

Bottom line, if you have a letter from the dealership admitting that they know your intended purpose and they certify that it meets your needs, that is enforceable, by law. They either have to repair it if there are any problems, or buy it back and reimburse you for all your costs . . . .

By the way, our 2000 Subaru Outback, our 2005 GMC Canyon, and our 2004 Honda Element all have very explicit, easy to follow instructions in the Owner's Manual on what you have to do to "Recreationally Tow" four down. Good luck in whatever you decide!

[trx430ex]

Originally Posted by Hit_the_Rhod

AGREE! We done both routes in the past. Some things that people forget to mention about dolly's are:

• the three extra tires to wear out/age out (They DO carry a dolly spare don't they?!?) Oh, and where do your store the dolly spare tire?
• The extra dolly license plate and tabs in most states.
• The fact that unless it is physically hooked up to your vehicle many times it is not covered under your vehicle insurance, and most homeowners policies won't cover it as additional property "if it is normally required to have a separate vehicle registration", so if it gets stolen, it's all on you to replace it. (ask me how I know this)
• You need to carry around a mat or something to lay on while you are on the muddy ground attaching the safety chains, etc (where do you store the muddy mat?)
• something else to find a place to situate in your campsite, and at the house.
• Just like towing 4 down, you limit yourselves to the type of vehicles you can tow (generally speaking, no all wheel drive vehicles)
• Your entire rig is now longer, generally 2 to 3 feet in my personal experience with the Master Tow dolly we had.
• You're hauling around another 300 to 500 lbs of weight, over 4 down.

It's up to everyone to weigh the pros and cons of the issue. For us, we tried both, and went with 4 wheel down, no comparison.


On the OP's quandary, I like the suggestion on the Hyundai Elantra. We've had one Hyundai Elantra, one Hyundai Excel, and two Hyundai Sonata's. All were great cars, I drove the Excel for 1 year in Korea, the Elantra forever, and the two Sonata's (one manual, and one automatic, purchased new) are still being driven by our two daughters. Very few issues.


The overall issue here is that for the OP, no one was hurt, the rest is just stuff, and stuff can be replaced!

I’ll just say thank you for the 4 down retort, skipped right over dolly to Ford E350 4 down.


That said, a draw back can be the toad becoming a shed,,, too.

[MWKingSD]

Not sure if it meets all your requirements, but I picked up a certified pre-owned 2013 Honda CRV, pretty well loaded including all-wheel drive at a very reasonable price. Nice car for utility use, lots of cargo space inside, good seats for 4 adults & doors that open a mile, surprisingly short turn radius, all in about 3300 pounds. Really not noticeable behind our rig except when pulling away from a dead stop.

If you go this route be careful about the year tho - not flat towable with the CVT that was introduced in 2015 (or was it 2014) - check the owners manual.

[znt1186]

Originally Posted by Isaac-1

My wife and I were in an accident in her car Wednesday night, got hit by a teenager in a Yukon that ran a light and nearly T-boned us, instead he hit just forward of the drivers front wheel. So it looks like we will be replacing her car in the next few days, and would like to possibly find something that would serve double duty as a TOAD.

Requirements are probably some sort of mid size SUV / Crossover, she had a Ford Flex, but is now considering something smaller as we rarely needed all that space. The 2014 Flex was fully loaded with options, air conditioned seats, adaptive cruise control, blind spot warning, collision avoidance (not that it helped in this case, blind intersection, ..) etc. and she would like something comparable in features. As you can imagine time to shop is not on our side here, so I was hopeful you could suggest a short list.

here is a photo of her car

thanks Ike

We tow an Edge. Not as big as the Flex and can have whatever bells and whistles you want, depending on trim.