Towing Honda CRV AWD

[oldjohnt]

The Owners Manual PLUS the Motorhome Dinghy Towing Guide BOTH say you can tow the 2010 Honda CRV AWD four down dinghy style and I am considering purchasing one, but looking for any personal experiences and advice prior to making a final decision.

 

Thanks in advance

 

John T

[DJohns]

I have a 2004 crv with 199000 miles. Follow the manual exactly or it will cost you a 4000.00 transmission. Ask me how I know.

 

Dan

[docj]

There are quite a few RVers who tow CRV's. We have a 2014 that has been towed >20k miles without issue. Dan is right that you do need to follow the directions but it isn't rocket science. What's really important is that the transmission enter Neutral from Drive and not from Reverse. Other than that it's an easy vehicle to tow.

[Kirk W]

I towed a 2001 CR-V, all wheel drive from 2001 to 2009, driving it 167,000 miles and towing it about 40,000 miles. Since it don't put miles on while towing I'm not certain of the towing distance. We then towed a 2009 CR-V for the next 3 years, towing about 20k miles and driving it 44k. In all of that time we never experienced any towing related issues and very few repairs of any kind.

 

Sadly, since 2015 the CR-V can no longer be towed.

[docj]

Since it don't put miles on while towing I'm not certain of the towing distance.

 

It took me a while to realize that since our toad follows behind the MH, it will be towed as many miles as the MH is driven in a year! The fact that the miles don't register on the toad's odometer is irrelevant.

[Kirk W]

 

It took me a while to realize that since our toad follows behind the MH, it will be towed as many miles as the MH is driven in a year! The fact that the miles don't register on the toad's odometer is irrelevant.

You will be pretty close, which is probably the way that most of us get our estimates. But there were short distances that were made with our motorhome without the tow car at times and we didn't record our mototrhome mileage regularly either so mine is only an estimate and I also round the distance off, but the numbers are pretty close.

[docj]

One thing about towing a CRV that I rarely see discussed is the fact that the owners manual (for the 2014 model) states that if the vehicle is towed the transmission fluid should be changed every 30,000 miles. The issue is that the manual doesn't specify if this is "30,000 miles on the odometer" or "30,000 miles of towing" or "any combination of odometer and towing equal to 30,000".

 

A couple of years ago I spent an hour on the phone with Honda USA only to discover that no one seemed to know the answer to this question. At the time we were putting ~10k miles/yr on the MH and the CRV was being driven another ~15-17k miles/yr. I decided that it would be prudent to change the transmission fluid each winter on the basis of the combined driven plus towed mileage. I decided that it was worth the $$ investment to protect the transmission.

[oldjohnt]

THANKS YALL I just sealed the deal and brought the CRV to our RV Park here in Florida. Next is the base plate and tow bar and wiring. I have good service records and Scan records and Carfax etc. but regardless the first thing here or when I return home is a complete tranny (transaxle) flush and refill probably with Synthetic but Honda recommended fluid and every 30K thereafter and follow the owners manual tow procedures to the letter.

 

John T

[Smitty77_7]

2007 CRV AWD with 92K miles, and another 60-65K being towed (~20K behind our Bounder, the rest behind our current coach).

 

Yes to trans fluid change every 30K, as well as the rear differential fluid every other change too.

 

Easy to hook up. We have the US Gear, which feeds hot power from the coach to keep the battery charged. On long days of travel, we usually stop to let the dog outside two or three times, and I go thru the gears again at that time. So very unusual to go say 4 hours without going thru the gears. Usually 2 - 2 1/2 hours.

 

Great toad!

 

Best,

Smitty