Community Forums

John in Miami · 05-25-2021, 03:14 PM

So, we have a 2013 Newmar Canyon Star 3911, Handicap model.
We are limited by our disabled person as to which car we can tow.
Sometimes just think it is easier to go to a car rental agency (not more convenient, I will say) and get a rental while in an area.
A recent trip put the finances of that into doubt, as we paid almost $95 a day in Savannah, Ga for a car.
So, the question, as we try to evaluate the costs, for you gassers, what kind of a hit do you see in your AVERAGE gas milage when using a TOAD?
I know "Your Milage May Vary" etc, based on the car your using etc, just looking for some rough numbers.
We think a Malibu will end up being the TOAD for us.
FYI, planning a trip Miami to Seattle, down PCH, and home in August/September.
Thoughts? Estimates?
Thanks!

theroc · 05-25-2021, 03:47 PM

Yes, car rental rates have been horrendous lately (along with new and used car prices in general).

I've never owned a gasser but the DPs we've had, it seemed to me that pulling a toad in our case made minimal impact on MPG.

But even in a gasser and if you did suffer a MPG decrease, just think of how much more convenient it is to have a toad. I don't know ...I wouldn't want to run around trying to rent a car at every extended stop we made. Whatever amount of MPG decrease would have been worth it to us to have a toad along but not everyone might feel the same.

Let's see what others say.

John in Miami · 05-25-2021, 03:54 PM

Yeah, I get that. I am probably in the same mind set.
When people ask me about my gas mileage, I tell them you do not buy an RV expecting good mileage LOL
Thanks, I'll also think about that point you make.
The convenience is a huge factor.

AJMike · 05-25-2021, 04:03 PM

I ran through the same questions when we decided we sometimes wanted to have a car with us when we travel. I decided to buy a dolly because the car we have can not be flat towed, but that is not the question here. It is - is it worth towing rather than renting, and here is what we decided.

We make a lot of close-to-home trips and for some of those it is really helpful to have a car. For those we tow, and I have found that the cost of towing is about 1-2 mpg - the difference between say 19 and 17 mpg - and so the cost is minimal. For long trips, say from Arizona to the US East Coast, we will probably rent because the added cost of towing, in lower fuel economy, more expensive pull-through sites at RV parks and the added trouble in getting into and out of fuel stops is not worth it. For medium trips of say 1000 miles each way, the jury is still out and we will make a decision based on the conditions at the time.

I have just come to the conclusion that there is no simple answer. Towing itself is not the problem - the dolly and car are light, setup is easy, as is disassembly. But the problem for us has to do with the trouble of stopping for the night and finding a decent pull-through site and, mostly, the issue of getting into and back out of fuel stops with our Class C and a tow car. Yes, we can stop at truck stops, but those also have their related issues and it has been my experience that you can not generally use Google Earth to see how the pumps are setup because they are generally under roofs that often hide how the pumps are oriented - parallel to the store or perpendicular to it. One way is easy, the other is not, especially in heavy traffic.

AJMike · 05-25-2021, 04:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John in Miami

When people ask me about my gas mileage, I tell them you do not buy an RV expecting good mileage LOL

Sure, but that does not mean that it is not one more thing to consider in making a decision.

Our previous diesel Winnebago Fuse got between 17 and 20 mpg and it was definitely a consideration when we bought it. If you use your RV a lot, and we do, then the cost of fuel is one more thing to consider. And a lower fuel cost means that people on a budget, as we are, can do more and keep within reasonable costs.

**Lt Dan** · 05-25-2021, 04:17 PM

When we had our gas Itasca, I found it made about 1mpg difference between towing and not towing. Towing a 2dr Jeep averaged about 6mpg and the few times we went without towing it was about 7mpg.

wildtoad · 05-25-2021, 04:36 PM

Towing with our 31ft Newmar BayStar Spirt we see very appreciable difference between towing or Wrangler and not towing. Regardless, we used to travel and use rental cars until 1) we wanted to go where there were no rental agencies, no taxi’s , no Uber. 2) we broke down in a campground close to our home and the wife had driven her car. We went home while the tow company hauled the RV to the service center.

One should discount the mpg difference when compared to the convenience and safety factors.

Roy-c · 05-25-2021, 05:24 PM

towing a Caravan on a dolly with our 460 ci gas 33' class A there was about a 1mpg difference. Flat towing a Wrangler with the diesel we now have there is no appreciable difference. We take the toad everywhere we go. It comes in very handy most trips. Wouldn't be without it.

Isaac-1 · 05-25-2021, 07:30 PM

Keep in mind that going from 9 mpg to 8 mph is about 5 gallons of fuel every 320 miles, or to put that another way close to the fuel economy of driving a very fuel economic TOAD instead of dragging it around.

Arch Hoagland · 05-25-2021, 09:22 PM

On my gasser pulling a 4,000 pound toad it drops my average mpg about a half mile per gallon.

I normally get about 7 mpg and it will go up to about 7.5 mpg without the toad.

Newmar2856 · 05-25-2021, 10:29 PM

We probably see a .5 to 1 mpg difference towing our Ford Ranger. The convenience of having a towed outweighs the difference in mileage in my opinion.

We also like having the extra car in case we break down.

96Bounder1st · 05-25-2021, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John in Miami

So, we have a 2013 Newmar Canyon Star 3911, Handicap model.
We are limited by our disabled person as to which car we can tow.
Sometimes just think it is easier to go to a car rental agency (not more convenient, I will say) and get a rental while in an area.
A recent trip put the finances of that into doubt, as we paid almost $95 a day in Savannah, Ga for a car.
So, the question, as we try to evaluate the costs, for you gassers, what kind of a hit do you see in your AVERAGE gas milage when using a TOAD?
I know "Your Milage May Vary" etc, based on the car your using etc, just looking for some rough numbers.
We think a Malibu will end up being the TOAD for us.
FYI, planning a trip Miami to Seattle, down PCH, and home in August/September.
Thoughts? Estimates?
Thanks!

With my previous gas powered 36 ft MH towing my 2015 Chev Equinox it cost me an even mile to the gallon as I never adjusted the speed I drove.
That was my experience with a gas powered Class A MH.

Terry