Sticker shock: Towing a Honda Fit

[Wakullabob]

Do not overlook a small trailer , it will have lights and brakes and it is a lot easier to back . For half the price !

[thataway4]

Don't forget that you have to have a place to store the dolly or trailer at your campsite. Many places that is not convent. We have always towed 4 down.

[Boho48]

I have a Blue Ox tow bar and Brake Buddy Classic for sale $500 for both parts. So there are deals out there

[onholdguy]

I have a towb mate that is wireless. I used it 2 times. New it is 500 dollars. I'll sell it for 250 plus shipping. No need to wire the car. Magnets on the roof and wireless to the coach

[Pdest]

Yes, I think that is high. I used a blue ox 5000# tow bar ($400), roadmaster baseplate ($400), and a diode wiring kit ($100). That’s it. Many states do not require towed braking. If so, they can be bought for about $400. $1300 total cost. And I got it all from etrailer.

[mdahlco]

Originally Posted by Mashmaster

I talked to the etrailer people and they suggested the following stuff for towing my 2009 Honda Fit behind my 2003 Winnebago Minnie. Before tax, the hardware is just under $2900..... I can get a tow dolly used for around $1000. What am I missing here? It seems there are cheaper alternative to the parts he recommended. I didn't think it would be this expensive to do this. I'm not sure the car is worth that much.

• Blue Ox Patriot 2 Portable Braking System
• Roadmaster EZ Base Plate Kit
• Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain, Non-Binding Tow Bar - Motorhome Mount - 2" Hitch - 8K
• Roadmaster Universal Hy-Power Diode Wiring Kit
• Roadmaster FuseMaster Fuse Bypass - 13" - 20-Amp Mini-Fuse
• Pollak 6-Pole, Round Pin, Trailer Wiring Socket - Vehicle End

I've done some pricing of the parts in the past. The tow bars run somewhere in the vicinity of $700 and the brake actuator is somewhere around $1100. You throw the rest of the parts and labor on top of that, your $2900 quote isnt that far off. I talked to Camping World a few days ago and they said that they would charge me between $5K and $6K. I currently have a tow dolly that I bought used for $1500 (with hydraulic brakes) that I use. My only complaint is that I have to stop often (every 1-2 hours) to tighten/check the straps that wrap around the front tires of my car to hold the car to the dolly. Stopping is a pain but much cheaper then the "4 down" tow package.

[rkennedy1966]

I totally agree w ThomB. The Blue Ox base plate in combination w The Ready Brute Plus Tow bar/ brake system is the way to go. Simple, very low maintenance system. The advantage of Blue Ox base plate is that it is hidden when you are using your car when not “hooked up”. Call Ready Brute Direct and talk to them.

[jcurtisis]

We tow our Honda Fit on the tow smart stand-up tow dolly with surge brakes- $2000. About 15-20 min to load and hook on the straps and chains. Works just fine for us.

[cshodges]

Yeah. We were going to flat tow our 2015 Ford Focus hatchback. The price of all that gear installed was over 4,000. Then the guy at the RV dealer asked us if we were going to go RV'ing full time or just for summer trips or what. So that's what you really need to ask yourself. How much will you be using it? We went ahead and got a trailer from CarTowDolly.com. It stores vertically in my garage out of the way when not in use. Doesn't take much space at campsites. Yes, it is a little time consuming to load or unload the car - especially on a hot day. However, we only do maybe one big trip a summer and a couple of smaller trips where we might want a car. A bunch of our RV use is nearby campsites just for weekend getaways where we don't need a car at all. And we don't even have that Focus anymore, so that would have been wasted money just a few years later.

If you are going to go RV'ing a lot, flat towing is easier. But think about what vehicle you want to put that rig on and have it be something you intend to keep for a long time as part of your RV setup. At least, that would be how I would do it.

[CharlesMoore]

The tow dolly vs flat tow is fraught with opinions! We use a tow dolly and it is a Demco Tow-It 2. The cost was much more than $1000. That said, we would not change back to flat tow. We have coordinated our loading so it take much less that the 20 minutes stated. In fact, if it takes us 10 minutes I would be shocked.


We had (have) a Blue Ox and do not enjoy having to buy an older or somewhat specific vehicle to be able to pull it. In fact, by the time we fiddled with the attachment it took about 10 minutes to check attachment and re-check it again.


I enjoy the freedom of the tow dolly; however, I just may go to a trailer to pull our Honda Civic. This would allow us to back up when we go into a blind hole of a service station. I see more and more of these rigs going down the road and it is appealing. This will not come without greater time requirements to load and secure the Civic on the trailer.


So what do you want to do? Each tow method has disadvantages and advantages. Right now we will stick with our ultra-strong and reliable Demco but with new ideas in the wind.

[GTobey]

Originally Posted by Goodspike

What is the brake situation with a dolly?

Also, what would a full trailer cost? Except for the added weight and cost I think that would be the preferred solution.

Had an ACME tow dolly for a 2002 Town & Country van. Towed to Alaska and back to VA. Then to Forest City, IA and back to VA. A few times to Ohio, and SC. Loved it, but hook up in the rain and mud was a mess, and you have to have tires for the dolly with you, as they wear out. It had surge brakes on the dolly which were helpful.

Be careful with the full trailer with total weight, including your vehicle, to not exceed the hitch capacity rating or total towing weight of the RV.

I upgraded to a Jeep Liberty, Blue Ox towbar and baseplate, and Patriot 2 braking system. It now is a cinch to hook up in just a few minutes. Much easier!

[Kayak73]

We towed our 2009 Honda Fit Sport about 100k miles behind three different RVs. I set it all up myself using Roadmaster baseplate and towbar. It was a delight to tow. I found that I went through tires about 40k miles per set which was the only drawback. We finally had a problem with the Fit which would cost more than it's value to repair and I dumped it. The only real known issue with them is the wiring harness is routed on the engine and you will eventually need to replace the entire wiring harness - about $2k depending on location. We had 120k miles on odometer and 100k towing so it rolled down the road well over 200k miles before that problem. If you are doing the work yourself look at the install manuals for RM and BO. I'm a big fan of RM. Our new tow is a Subaru Forester 6sp manual, 2018 model year. I set it up myself with RM baseplate and used the other things I had. Use a LED light bar with magnetic mounts on the Forester. Tows great, better than I thought it would and weighs in a bit more than the Fit.

[NeilV]

Most times I have a 250cc motorbike on a hitch carrier however when a car is really needed we will either rent a car at our destination and on those occasional trips that happen every few years or so where we need a car with us for an extended period of time we rent a tow dolly with surge brakes.

The last time in Georgia though the dolly was a pain since it was raining and the red Georgia Clay made it a really extremely messy and time consuming process.

[migali]

Tow dollies are a pain. It take longer to hook up but the problem is the trailer. I have been to a number of sites where you have to stow your trailer after unhooking it. I now bought a new 2020 Chevy RS after my old jeep gave up the ghost . I bought a RSA surge brake system and it is the best gear I have used in years. We have it connected to blue ox base plate but it can be connected to a number of different manufacturer's base plates. This surge brake is a proportional braking system. Even when going down mountain roads and using the exhaust breaking the toad slowss down without me touching the brake pedal. Their mechanical surge brake system is proportional and mechanical . There is a mechanical cable that is routed through the fire wall and that attaches to the brake pedal. I did not bother using the vehicle tail lightwiring. We ran a four conductor external/internal cable to the two tail lights so there is no draing of the vehicles battery. In each of the tail lights and added a single LED lamp for RT, LT, running lights and brake lights.


I am lazy or just getting older,I had a RSA distributor do all of the work, installing the base plate wiring and all cabling for a flat fee of $500.00. When it was all said and done I had about $2100 in all equipment. It was well worth the investment.



Those who have their tow dollies, if not connected, have to find their dolly, have to then drive their vehicle up a steep ramp, tie down each tire make all the connections and drive off. I hook up and am gone in about 15 minutes top.



You will find those who love their toad systems and those who hate everyone else. This is about your own preference and not others think , the vehicle you wish to use as toad and the most important thing finances.



2012 Winnie Journey M

[lewisedge]

Originally Posted by Mashmaster

I talked to the etrailer people and they suggested the following stuff for towing my 2009 Honda Fit behind my 2003 Winnebago Minnie. Before tax, the hardware is just under $2900..... I can get a tow dolly used for around $1000. What am I missing here? It seems there are cheaper alternative to the parts he recommended. I didn't think it would be this expensive to do this. I'm not sure the car is worth that much.

• Blue Ox Patriot 2 Portable Braking System
• Roadmaster EZ Base Plate Kit
• Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain, Non-Binding Tow Bar - Motorhome Mount - 2" Hitch - 8K
• Roadmaster Universal Hy-Power Diode Wiring Kit
• Roadmaster FuseMaster Fuse Bypass - 13" - 20-Amp Mini-Fuse
• Pollak 6-Pole, Round Pin, Trailer Wiring Socket - Vehicle End

Other comments show that there are many fans of towing four-wheels-down. Without disrespecting those opinions, I have successfully been using a Demco Kar Kaddy SS tow dolly which I bought used about five years ago for $1,500. It has built-in surge disk brakes, so no brake controller is needed. The wheels are designed to follow a track behind my motorhome that allows me to turn tight corners without bumping curbs with my car.


The main advantage of a high-end tow dolly like the Kar Kaddy SS is that most any front-wheel-drive car can be towed safely without having to be modified in any way. I can load and lock-down my Ford Focus or my wife's Ford Fusion onto my tow dolly in about five minutes. Unloading takes me about the same amount of time.


There is, of course, the issue of storing the tow dolly on a campsite. We usually get around that by always reserving pull-through sites, which I prefer anyway. If we're just staying for one night and don't need to run errands, we leave the car on the dolly.


Admittedly, in the rare circumstance when back-in sites are the only one's available, disconnecting and stowing the tow dolly is a hassle. But I feel that the convenience of being able to tow most any front-wheel-drive car without expensive modifications offsets those rare instances.



For what it's worth, that's my opinion. Enjoy your RV adventures.

[mitchoe]

I bought a new Master Tow dolly with surge brakes and have been using it now for about three years. Granted it takes up room, but it is much less expensive, easy to load and unload, and I can tow just about any front wheel drive vehicle without having to install anything else. I currently tow a 2018 Kia Soul behind my Itasca 37 footer, tows like a dream.

[Harleyfltri]

Originally Posted by Mashmaster

I talked to the etrailer people and they suggested the following stuff for towing my 2009 Honda Fit behind my 2003 Winnebago Minnie. Before tax, the hardware is just under $2900..... I can get a tow dolly used for around $1000. What am I missing here? It seems there are cheaper alternative to the parts he recommended. I didn't think it would be this expensive to do this. I'm not sure the car is worth that much.

• Blue Ox Patriot 2 Portable Braking System
• Roadmaster EZ Base Plate Kit
• Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain, Non-Binding Tow Bar - Motorhome Mount - 2" Hitch - 8K
• Roadmaster Universal Hy-Power Diode Wiring Kit
• Roadmaster FuseMaster Fuse Bypass - 13" - 20-Amp Mini-Fuse
• Pollak 6-Pole, Round Pin, Trailer Wiring Socket - Vehicle End

I lucked out finding a used Roadmaster Sterling All Terrain 6k tow bar for $150.00, new $798.81 plus tax. The Brake Buddy Stealth, Roadmaster Direct Connect Base Plate kit and Hy-Power Diode Wiring kit came to $1459.08 with tax.

[JoeC]

You don't want a tow dolly. There is a reason that they are giving them away. Besides being a PITA, if your car can be flat towed, do it. Look around you. How many people are using these things today? That is your answer.

[JoeSteiner]

I tow a 2009 honda fit with my 2016 navion 24j. The honda fit only weighs 2450. Most states (except Idaho) don't require a brake for loads under 3000 lbs. I don't use a brake on my honda fit and I don't even notice it when I'm towing.

[DNC]

2cyber71, you have the same setup I do with the BlueOx tow bar and Jeep Liberty. Our braking system is different, I have a Roadmaster Even Brake instead of the Brake Buddy.

I bought the Blue Ox tow bar and the Even Brake at a garage sale for $200. I purchase the base plate new online for about $400. I bought a part for the Even Brake for about $30 and the wiring harness for the Jeep Liberty; I think the wiring harness was about $60. So, I spent about $700 for everything I need to tow the Liberty and it all works great.

So, if Mashmaster is not opposed to buying used, he may be able to save some money by looking for used stuff online.