To tow or not to tow

[DiscussionFam]

So we are narrowing our RV purchase to a 31 ft class C, we wanted a smaller RV (26) so we wouldn't have to tow but realized it wouldn't have the storage we need. We found out that our Honda CR-V is perfect for towing. We were getting ready to sell both our cars. Our question is how difficult or inconvenient is it to not have a tow vehicle with you. Are they absolutely necessary or only a convenience? And how difficult is it to tow a vehicle when neither one of us has experience driving an RV?

 

As a side note, we notice many full timers drive Class A are they inherently better than a class C? We are taking baby steps since we will only full time for 6 months to a year but not sure if Class A's are just a general preference or built better?

 

Thanks!

[AFchap]

How inconvenient not to have a car with you? It depends on what kind of areas you travel to & what you want to do there. I would find being w/o my own car extremely limiting.

 

How difficult to tow a car for inexperienced rv drivers? Not much more difficult that driving the rv w/o towing ... just forget about backing up with the car hooked up.

 

Class A vs Class C? Class A's generally have more room & more storage than most Class C's. And smaller also normally means less towing capacity.

[Mariner]

There's always a learning curve, but after a short period of time towing won't be much of a concern. What will be of concern if you'll be full timing is......space for living & storage. You didn't mention if the 31' Class C is new or not. You may want to consider a used Class A either gas or diesel. Just do some research to see what will fall into your price range. A good place to start is www.rvtrader.com or PPL motorhomes in Texas which is a consignment outfit. There's a lot of good buys out there with a little due diligence.

[Kirk W]

The disadvantage to not having a separate vehicle to drive & leave the RV parked is as personal as most choices. Just remember that if you have no vehicle to drive then you must unhook the utilities and put everything away each time you go anywhere that you must drive. It also means that you must park the big RV at every store you shop in and at each tourist site you visit. We traveled weekends and vacations with a small class A and no tow vehicle for about 5 years and did OK by having two bicycles, but found it to be very limiting. If you only plan to keep the RV for six months, then you may do fine without any tow vehicle, but what about after that 6 months is up? Won't you want a car then and will it not be very expensive to sell the car now and buy another in just six months?

 

The difficulty added by towing to the learning curve of driving any motorized RV is mostly psychological because of the size of the two vehicles and the combination. A vehicle that is on a tow-bar is not as wide as the RV and it is close coupled to where it will follow inside of the track of the RV so about the only significant change is the lack of ability to back the combination. Even then, with practice it only takes a couple of minutes to disconnect the car and back it out of the way separately from the RV and that need is rare. It really is less challenge to add the car than it is to get used to the size of the RV.

 

The class A is not "better" than a class C for some purposes. The cost is similar and the typical class A is designed for two people while the class C is more typically designed for a family. A class A has far more storage and usually more cargo weight capacity and are generally designed for longer term use than a class C, but no rule is absolute. The Lazy Daze class C is one that has an excellent reputation in the fulltime community.

 

What concerns me most is your comment that this will only be for six months to one year, as this is a great deal of expense and effort for a trip of a few months. Are you really planning to sell everything and travel for so short a period of time, or are you thinking to store your belongings and then travel to locate a new place to take up residence in a stick house? If it is the latter, then I really believe that it would be a mistake to sell everything and if you store things you may be able to manage with the limited storage space of a class C.

[justRich]

Having a tow vehicle is great. The downside is it can't be backed up. Most gas/fuel stations are large enough - just keep your eyes open.

It takes us three or four minutes to un-hook, so no big deal.

[PhotoMike]

Adding a tow vehicle is not a big deal and provides great flexibility when traveling. As for class A vs class C the best advice I heard when looking for my RV was to pick a size for living space and storage that will work best for you. Don't buy small planning to upgrade in the future. There are great deals in used RV as others have shared. The harder challenge is deciding what to bring and what to leave behind. After 9 months I am still evaluating what I have packed in the RV.

 

I any case choose one that works for you. Plan to tow a vehicle and enjoy the journey!

 

Mike

[bruce t]

Don't forget that a second vehicle is 'required' by some insurance companies if going fulltime.

 

regards

[Ray,IN]

Renting a car where you wish to stay a while is an option if you decide towing one is not for you, or if you just wish to try that for a few months/weeks.

Renting a car is even available when staying in Yellowstone.

You stated you might full-time for a year maximum, I doubt any insurance company will make such a requirement, although it may give you a multiple vehicle discount.

[The Quiet Assassin]

We chose not to tow. We had a small Class A which had good storage. 27 ft.

 

We insured through Progressive who insist that you have a second insured vehicle. We got around this by having a 225cc road legal trail bike which we carried across the rear on a hitch mount.

 

This suited us because for 8 to 10 months of the year we moved every 1 to 3 days. So we avoided the hassle of hooking up the toad and unhooking it.

 

Most of the USA and Canada we found was accessible at 27 ft. The exceptions are central San Fran Cisco and some older Spanish town centers.

[nana25k]

Having a second vehicle on the policy doesn't mean you have to tow it. They just like having a second vehicle on the policy for the business

[sandsys]

Having a second vehicle on the policy doesn't mean you have to tow it. They just like having a second vehicle on the policy for the business

I think their idea is that they don't want you using the motorhome for a daily driver. It's more expensive to repair. I don't remember that we had to include the second vehicle on the policy even, just that we had to own one. My Segway didn't count.

 

Linda Sand

[kb0zke]

"Don't forget that a second vehicle is 'required' by some insurance companies if going fulltime." "We insured through Progressive who insist that you have a second insured vehicle."

 

Our MH is insured through Progressive. Our Jeep is insured through State Farm. As far as I know, Progressive doesn't know about the Jeep, nor have they told us that we have to have a towed.

[Solo18]

If you plan to spend longer times in each place, then you might want a tow vehicle. For example, if you plan to camp host or volunteer in a particular place and use that place as a home base for a month or so, you might want a tow vehicle because it would be convenient to be able to leave your RV hooked up.

 

However, if you are like me and stay only a few days in any one place, a tow vehicle can be more trouble than it is worth, at least in my humble opinion. I run most of my errands for groceries and such between campgrounds and have never had problems finding a grocery store I can get into and out of. Parking is also available at nearly all attractions. Once in a while, I will want to do something like drive into a city like San Francisco, so I will rent a car. I rented one at Yellowstone during one July because the parking lots in the national park were extremely full. Mostly I stay at state and national parks that are destinations in themselves. I can be unhooked and ready to leave in 5-10 minutes, as I tend to keep stuff outside at a minimum.

 

I've full timed for almost four years and driven 72,000 miles without a tow vehicle so far. And my insurance is through National, which has no requirement for me to tow.

[2gypsies]

I can't imagine traveling the country without a towed vehicle. It will get better fuel mileage than your RV, you'll be able to drive and park in more places to sitesee - even down gravel forest roads, you won't have to unhook everything when you want to go somewhere.

 

A vehicle is very easy to disconnect. It takes 5 minutes. No, you won't be backing up with it but in 16 years of full-timing we never got ourselves into a situation where we had to back out of it. It's not a big deal. If you get a back-in campsite, we typically drove to the site, unhooked the car, parked it in an empty campsite or along the road, if enough room, backed the motorhome into the site then pulled the car in front of the motorhome ready to take off and explore. It never posed a problem.

 

As far as a Class A being better than a C. It makes no difference. It's what you feel is right for you. Full-timers travel in all sizes and types of RVs. If you feel you can get everything you want into the Class C you're looking at then it's probably right for you. However, plan it out carefully before buying. Good luck!

[Kirk W]

I've full timed for almost four years and driven 72,000 miles without a tow vehicle so far. And my insurance is through National, which has no requirement for me to tow.

It is probably somewhat different traveling as a single than it will be for them with a family of four? In my opinion, we would have been lost without any driver back when we traveled with children.

 

We are considering a used 26 ft Class C for 2 adults/2kids.

[LindaH]

We bought the RV in my signature in December when we were snowbirding. We traded our truck and fifth wheel for it, so, of course, didn't have our car with us. We thought this would be a perfect opportunity to find out whether or not we really needed a car to tow.

 

It didn't take us long to realize that, yes, we needed a car! Although we rarely stay in RV parks, so didn't have to worry about unhooking from utilities, there's still stuff to do inside to prepare for travel...stowing loose items, pulling in the slides, preparing the dogs for travel (which entailed converting the dinette to a bed, putting the travel cage on top and seat belting it in).

 

Although the preparation to travel wasn't really a big deal, what we found was that many places we wanted to go, even in our 29' rig, didn't have the room for us...tight parking lots were always a problem. There were times when we simply couldn't do what we wanted to do because we couldn't find a place to park a larger rig while a car wouldn't have been a problem.

[mohamer]

We really like our toad. It is a 06 Jeep Liberty. We used to tow a Prius on a car dolly. The Jeep is towed with 4 wheels down, no dolly, it is easier to hook up when traveling and unhook when parked. The Jeep is also actually smaller than the Prius so parking is easier.

 

Another plus is the Jeep is, well, a Jeep, it does trails really well, that is fun. We went down to Big Bend, TX and had a blast!!

 

Could not do that with the Prius. But don't get me wrong, the Prius is a fine car, it just has its limits.... YMWV

 

John in Joplin

[bruce t]

I guess the issue comes down to 'seeing' things along the way as you travel. I could list numerous places we have been to where no sane person would take an RV.

We've met folks who say they have seen the USA and never left the interstate highway system.

 

We no longer travel in an RV but use our pick up instead. Even in our pickup we've encountered situations where size did matter.

 

Ask yourself what it is you are trying to see as you travel. Draw up a list of destinations. Then note how many of those place are 'easier' or even possible with an RV.

 

regards

[sandsys]

There were only 2 of us when we traveled full-time in a Class C without towing a car. Our C was only 24' long so it would fit in one parking space if we could place the back end over an open area behind the spot. I don't think we would have been able to do that in a 29" rig. We drove Historic Route 66 all the way from downtown Chicago, where we parked on the street by paying two meters, to Santa Monica stopping at museums and diners, etc., along the way. It was easy to stop at grocery stores and laundromats too since we were moving most days, anyway. Once we began saying longer in some places, we bought a bigger rig and started towing a car but that completely changed the way we traveled--we stopped being so spontaneous since the longer, combined rig required more planning. It really helps to know how you want to travel when it comes to deciding in what you should do it.

 

Linda Sand

[Jimalberta]

Class A is bgger thus more storage . We would not be without a towed.

[SpaceNorman]

I can't imagine being without the toad. The coach is great to live in - as well as travel from place to place - however, once the coach has "landed" all the local travel that we do for sightseeing, shopping, etc. - simply wouldn't be possible without the toad. The sun, moon and stars need to line up nicely in order to stop/shop when driving the coach! I liken it to a 747 ... you don't jump in and take off without having a damn good idea of where you're going to land the beast!

 

​

[Barbaraok]

Solo18, you don't list what the size of your rig is. But I can tell you that at 37+ ft. there aren't parking places for our coach everywhere we travel. We travel from A to B (usually 250 miles at most) and then we spend the next week or two seeing every thing we can in a 75-100 mile radius with our toad. We see any place we park as the place we sleep, recharge our batteries and then out we go to explore. Never could find the great little diners for breakfast if we were taking our coach. We geocache and lots of great back grounds/forest service roads where geocaches are located would be impossible for Class A. And never, ever could we get into the parking lots of a lot of Arts Centers that we visit for shows, etc.

 

DiscussionFam, I think you can see that most people, whether they have a Class C or a Class A, find that having a pull behind just makes things so much easier. Yes, a lot of fulltimers go with a Class A because of the available of (usually) more storage. We loved our 29' Class C that we had before we retired - but there was just no way it had enough storage space for us for fulltiming. But people do fulltime in all sorts of rigs - - you have to figure out what works well for you. Go to an RV show and spend time (not a walk through) in each and go through the motion of taking a shower (slip your shoes of and GET IN and 'wash' your hair), sit on the toilet and see where your knees are, figure out where you will store your groceries, pots/pans, dishes, cook a meal, etc. Take your time in each different unit.

 

Barb

[WILDEBILL308]

Solo18, you don't list what the size of your rig is. But I can tell you that at 37+ ft. there aren't parking places for our coach everywhere we travel. We travel from A to B (usually 250 miles at most) and then we spend the next week or two seeing every thing we can in a 75-100 mile radius with our toad. We see any place we park as the place we sleep, recharge our batteries and then out we go to explore. Never could find the great little diners for breakfast if we were taking our coach. We geocache and lots of great back grounds/forest service roads where geocaches are located would be impossible for Class A. And never, ever could we get into the parking lots of a lot of Arts Centers that we visit for shows, etc.

 

DiscussionFam, I think you can see that most people, whether they have a Class C or a Class A, find that having a pull behind just makes things so much easier. Yes, a lot of fulltimers go with a Class A because of the available of (usually) more storage. We loved our 29' Class C that we had before we retired - but there was just no way it had enough storage space for us for fulltiming. But people do fulltime in all sorts of rigs - - you have to figure out what works well for you. Go to an RV show and spend time (not a walk through) in each and go through the motion of taking a shower (slip your shoes of and GET IN and 'wash' your hair), sit on the toilet and see where your knees are, figure out where you will store your groceries, pots/pans, dishes, cook a meal, etc. Take your time in each different unit.

 

Barb

That is exhalent advise. Just walking through won't let you feel what living in a coach is going to be like. Sit down and see if you feel comfortable can you see the tv. Is there room in the kitchen to cook and do prep work. One outer thing find out if you can get around with the slides in.

I would NEVER travel with out a toad. I love to hearer people who claim that they aren't handicapped not having a toad. I went North East this last summer 90% of the places we were at you couldn't get to in a RV un less it was a van. I felt sorry for the ones with rentals driving around looking for a place to park.

Bill

[WILDEBILL308]

So we are narrowing our RV purchase to a 31 ft class C, we wanted a smaller RV (26) so we wouldn't have to tow but realized it wouldn't have the storage we need. We found out that our Honda CR-V is perfect for towing. We were getting ready to sell both our cars. Our question is how difficult or inconvenient is it to not have a tow vehicle with you. Are they absolutely necessary or only a convenience? And how difficult is it to tow a vehicle when neither one of us has experience driving an RV?

 

As a side note, we notice many full timers drive Class A are they inherently better than a class C? We are taking baby steps since we will only full time for 6 months to a year but not sure if Class A's are just a general preference or built better?

 

Thanks!

Keep the CR-V and set it up to be towed 4 down. It follows along like a little puppy you won't know it is back there. I would recommend a class A around 36 foot because it has more room and more storage.

Bill

[sandsys]

"people do fulltime in all sorts of rigs - - you have to figure out what works well for you." Barbara O'K

 

 

That's the MOST important thing. Most of the people on this list could NOT have full-timed in our 24' motorhome not towing a car but it worked well for us.

 

Linda Sand

 

ps. When trying out a potential RV sitting in any chair likely will feel wonderful for a couple of minutes. Please, sit long enough to discover if it really works for you.