would you buy a car that's been towed behind an RV?

You see them all the time in the summer. Also in the fall going to Florida and in the spring coming back from Florida. RVs towing small cars behind them, such as this Miata:



Would you buy a used car that's been towed?

Pluses:
- if the car has high mileage, chances are that a lot of that mileage was while it was being towed. Just as an example, Montreal, Québec to Miami, Florida is about 3,400 miles (5,200 km.) round trip. A 14-year old car making an annual trip to Florida as a towed vehicle would have 72,800 km. on it just from being towed. So if it has 200,000 km. on it, only 127,200 km. of that would be with the engine running
- probably a lot of that mileage was put on the car in warmer climates

Cons:
- if the car has 200,000 km. on it, that is still 200,000 km. of wear on the diff, wheel bearings, etc.
- any others you can think of?

Here's a guy who describes his experiences building a tow bar for his Miata. Hasn't had any problems so far.

Towing a Miata

The example I'm using is a Miata, but this could apply to any car that the manufacturer says can be towed.

 

This Miata would most likely have a manual transmission, so being dinghy towed wouldn't be a problem at all. Cars with auto trans, you have to do some research......some OK, some not. Also depends on whether the RV owner followed the recommendations. A few questions would answer that.

 

It does put wear on the suspension and tires, road wear, constant worry the thing will blow a tire. I would just get a small aluminum enclosed car hauler for the thing.

 

Well yes but why haul a trailer for the car.......

If you are hauling it behind a RV for vacation stay at a camp site a few days want a puddle jumper car to zoom around in rather than pack up the RV everyday, sure, haul it behind. But putting a car in or even on a trailer for just that... the extra weight of not just the car but trailer, a 3rd insurance, can't just unhook the car, have to unhook it from inside the trailer, need a bit more room just to do so because of the trailer, now the camp site is packed with 3 units compared to 2, still have to worry about the trailer blowing a tire etc ... Why??

But yeah, IMO it's going to put wear and tear on the car almost more so being towed rather than driven......... but if you have that kind of $ for the set up above I'm sure long term wear and tear to the car being hauled is a concern. But back to the original question, I don't think I'd buy a car that has been towed most of it's life

 

Solution:

 

True, KK....... But then there is this solution with only one gas bill...................

 

Those RVs with a built-in car carrier are incredibly cool. But probably incredibly expensive.

 

I went to see a used RX-7 once. Seller had had the engine replaced at one point. He had towed it behind his RV but forgot to take it out of gear.

I think he was very, very embarrassed to have to admit that.

 

You want one like this Nissan pick-up



skip up to about 4:30

 

As usual the internet has mixed opinions on whether towing a car with all four wheels on the pavement (as in the pic in the OP) adds mileage to the car.

As far as I can tell from the internet chaff:

(a) if the car has a mechanical odometer then mileage is added to the car's odometer
(b) if the car has an electronic odometer then mileage is not added to the car's odometer if the ignition is off

(b.1) if the ignition is on (e.g. to unlock the steering lock) then mileage is added to the car's odometer
(b.2) if the ignition is on, but the dash fuse is pulled then millage is not added to the car's odometer​

No doubt there is a (c) condition, but I haven't encountered it. Yet.

 

Either way, flat-towing a vehicle adds REAL miles to the towed vehicle, whether or not the odo registers those miles. So, a car or truck that reads 30K miles, might have 50K miles or more. If the odo doesn't add those miles, you are never going to know for certain. Only way that I'd feel good about purchasing a towed vehicle is take that car or truck to a trusted mechanic, get it up on a lift and lay eyeballs on everything I can possibly do so.

Disadvantages to flat-towing is first off, you can NOT back up at all! Ain't gonna happen! Second is if you have a problem with the towed vehicle as you are driving (and do not have a reverse-facing camera with monitor), you may have a HUGE problem (see the red Nissan above). Advantages are you can unhook the towbar and wiring connector, and be ready to drive it.

I'd prefer trailering, as backing is not hard at all, and there is no undue wear on the towed car/truck. Disadvantages are (in some states) a required tag/title/insurance for the trailer, parking that trailer at a campground (some do not allow the trailer and RV to share the space), and having a third vehicle to maintain.

Ultimately, it's "buyer beware" on any vehicle.

 

You might think overkill but a used truck would cost a lot less than a new 1 ton duelly .

You would hardly know there was a trailer behind it !

 

As one or two of you know, we live in Florida close to a 4-lane west coast busy RV highway. In my 22 years here I've never seen an RV pulling a car on it's wheels, on a dolly. or on a flatbed trailer. I have no idea what's in those many enclosed trailers behind the multi-zillion dollar motor coaches.

Okay now that I have your attention, I lied. There's not a day goes by that when we are on that highway or many other N-S roads we don't see all of those towing situations and more.
But let's be realistic, we weren't all born with a silver spoon in their mouths. Mom couldn't even afford one of those old Dairy Queen plastic spoons with the curl on top to poke in my whinny mouth!

Now for the facts.
Back in 1978 we bought our first and only class A motorhome. I knew I was gonna need something to drag behind because our real purpose of camping was to see the sites around the campgrounds.
We survived the first summer without a car. We mostly camped locally near a lake for swimming and fishing. For the summer vacation we went to a place we were familiar with Wisconsin Dells from central illinois. Back then RV parks were within walking distance to town, the new water parks, and cheap restaurants. In fact the one we stayed at had a large go-cart track, mini golf, and other things besides the pool. Walking to town and other places was no problem for us two young active kids and our kids. Farther away parking lots were RV friendly.
I'd sold my 5th wheel RV and Ford super cab to a coworker. Part of the deal was getting his little used 1980 V-6 Malibu salesman's special. Just a basic car with a 3-speed. Perfect tow behind vehicle. (I hate calling them a toad.) I pulled the Malibu until late 1987 when I traded for a 1987 Ford Escort. Each took time to get the lights hooked up and my tow bar safe. Remember those cars had the shock things that go in in case of accident. Stopping too quickly would do that and ruin things. Shade tree mechanics logic helped.

Sure both cars got more miles than they showed. It seemed to be a selling point when showing the small reciever "L" brackets under the front for the tow bar. I removed the brackets after the deal was did..done! Both sold quickly, I never had a minute's trouble while towing, and in minutes I was unhooked at camp and ready to back the RV in a spot.
With a tow dolly or trailer you need a safe place out of the way to unhook, rehook, and park both the dolly or trailer and car. I'd just park the car in front or next to the motorhome just like I used to park my car or truck next to the pull behind RV.

Back then we had no back up cameras. But the motorhome large rear window had a stick on plastic thing that magnified whatever was beind. While looking back out the window I could see no car, looking thru that plastic thingie I saw even the front bumper.

Yes I've seen a few mishaps. Several tried to back up or maybe turned to tight causing the towed vehicle front wheels to turn fully and lock up. This made the vehicle hard to pull and the wheels jsut skid along. Usually the driver would feel this or a hundred other campers would yell.

Only the wealthy can afford those large homes on wheels and fancy enclosed trailers for their $75,000 convertibles which they never drive off on to country roads. Also many of those guys had to do all the work unhooking, setting up, parking, etc as their wife never leaves the RV all weekend.
You can almost tell by the rig who's a camper and who's just passing through to another Wal-Mart.

These are my observations from towing a car from 1980 thru 1994. Your opinions may vary!
I wouldn't hesitate buying a towed vehicle. But keep in mind, if they didn't put a car bra or some sort of protection at the front of the car it may have a sand blasted appearance or a lot of small rock chips.

 

I drove a big rig for a famous company that made yeller things. When they went out of the trucking business hauling from plant to plant the drivers had two choices, go back to operating a machine or whatever came open, or retire! Lucky I didn't need to think about it. I barely qulified to retire.
They sold the trucks, trailers, etc. I could have bought my own company truck for a good price. Of course, with their own mechanics and a full shop, all trucks were kept like new.
My plan was to use it to tow a large 5th wheel around the world after retiring. Adopting our grandson and realizing I couldn't drive all the way around the world, I canceled that pipe dream. Still it was a god idea!