Towing with a Honda?

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maproy99

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Re: Towing with a Honda?

Not to mention the fines the gov't can hit you with when that police officer sees you driving down the road. I really don't want to explain them, just look at some of the 1/2 ton truck owners trying to tow a 16,000 5th wheel 40ft camper. It's not question of can you legally do it or safely do it. It is a question of did the gov't see people doing it as unsafe.

If you choose to do it, be warned that civics weight around 2,000 pounds and 1,000 pounds behind this will make a very unsafe situation for an emergency stop. (SIMPLE PHYSICS!!!) You will have the traction that 2,000 pounds provides trying to stop 3,000 pounds. I would give you the equation to calculate it, but you can probably find it somewhere on the internet and I don't remember it exactly.
If your insurance covers it, and you decide to do it, I highly recommend you find a trailer with electric brakes (surge brakes will only help a little) and wire your civic for it. Sure it costs a bit more, but when it stops you from totaling your civic next year...........
 

tx1961whaler

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

Start with saying if the new Civic is not rated for towing, don't tow with it.
Now,
All these opinions from those with 0 experience towing with small FWD cars. ;) Here's 5 vehicles that I have towed my little 13 whaler 40 HP + other crap with:78 Civic, 82 Rabbit, 87 Ranger Supercab 2WD, 90 Isuzu p'up, 2011 Hyundai Elantra Touring.
Here's my opinion based on the towing capabilities of the vehicles from lowest to highest:
5. 78 Civic: Too small, brakes not good enough, 12" tires. Pulled boat fine on a ramp (manual transmission)
4. 90 Isuzu p'up: crappy on ramp, WAY too much tire spin. No weight in the back to prevent this. Used to have a roll of Astroturf to get me up the worst ramps.
3. 87 Ranger p'up: only slightly better than the Isuzu. Better on the road since it had a V6
2. 82 Rabbit: used to be able to put in on dirt banks with this thing. Had aftermarket disks on all 4 and fatter tires. Probably would pull the boat straight up a cliff. No tire spin, even on slimy SW ramps.
1. 2011 Hyundai Elantra touring: This is actually a rebadged Euro i20. Has a ~3K limit in Europe, but only with a braked trailer. Any trailer over 1K must have brakes over there, so there is where some of the limits are set differently. I pulled the boat up some nasty long steep ramps last summer during the drought with no issues. Humongous disks on all 4 and ceramics handled the hills in Ark. just fine.

Bottom line, in my humble real world experience, is that the "FWD spins at the ramp" story is pure nonsense. There is not enough tongue weight on these little boats to make any difference at all, but having the engine and transaxle over the drive wheels makes all the difference in the world.
 

Mischief Managed

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

I enjoy these threads.

Can anyone report on an actual instance where a person was was charged with or convicted of towing over the limits specified in an owner's manual?

Can anyone report on an actual instance where a person was was denied insurance coverage because of towing over the limits specified in an owner's manual?

I have yet yet to see either.

I know laws vary by state, and that CO may have a law that refers to towing over the manufacturer's rated capacity, but that seems to be an exception. Where I live, the maximum trailer weight by law is determined by the tires and brakes on the trailer, not the tow vehicle.

My insurance policy does not mention tow ratings at all. It does tell me that I'm not covered in the event of a nuclear war though. Read your policy.

If a car can safely tow in Europe, the same car can safely tow here. Physics work the same on both continents. The difference in tow ratings between here and there is driven by marketing, not science. They'd rather sell you a Pilot than a Civic, the Pilot has a higher margin and requires more maintenance. Dealerships don't make much money on Civics, they are high-volume, low-margin cars and don't bring much work into the maintenance department. With gas prices MUCH higher in Europe, people are not nearly as likely to buy a Pilot if a Civic can't tow, they'll just get a different small car that can.
 

tpenfield

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

I enjoy these threads.

Can anyone report on an actual instance where a person was was charged with or convicted of towing over the limits specified in an owner's manual?

Can anyone report on an actual instance where a person was was denied insurance coverage because of towing over the limits specified in an owner's manual?

I have yet yet to see either.

I know laws vary by state, and that CO may have a law that refers to towing over the manufacturer's rated capacity, but that seems to be an exception. Where I live, the maximum trailer weight by law is determined by the tires and brakes on the trailer, not the tow vehicle.

My insurance policy does not mention tow ratings at all. It does tell me that I'm not covered in the event of a nuclear war though. Read your policy.

If a car can safely tow in Europe, the same car can safely tow here. Physics work the same on both continents. The difference in tow ratings between here and there is driven by marketing, not science. They'd rather sell you a Pilot than a Civic, the Pilot has a higher margin and requires more maintenance. Dealerships don't make much money on Civics, they are high-volume, low-margin cars and don't bring much work into the maintenance department. With gas prices MUCH higher in Europe, people are not nearly as likely to buy a Pilot if a Civic can't tow, they'll just get a different small car that can.

Yes, this is an interesting topic in that regard (i.e. insurance). I checked with my resident insurance expert (the Admiral, a 20 year insurance veteran) and she said . . . "if you tow with a vehicle that is not rated for towing, your insurance liability will cover you. Just 'cuz you are dumb does mean that you won't have insurance coverage". (Of course, if you have an accident, you will probably get cancelled shortly thereafter).

This is in Massachusetts, so you may want to check your state, but the same principles probably apply.

I am confident that the vehicle itself could tow the load mentioned by the OP.
 
Joined
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Re: Towing with a Honda?

I think that by now, the OP has probably towed that PWC back and forth a couple of times!
 

RogersJetboat454

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

Nothing but a 1 ton diesel powered dually will do... :D
I just had to throw that in there...

Yes, this is an interesting topic in that regard (i.e. insurance). I checked with my resident insurance expert (the Admiral, a 20 year insurance veteran) and she said . . . "if you tow with a vehicle that is not rated for towing, your insurance liability will cover you. Just 'cuz you are dumb does mean that you won't have insurance coverage". (Of course, if you have an accident, you will probably get cancelled shortly thereafter).

The question I have in regards to that is; yes insurance will cover you, if your dumb. But what if you've already called the insurance company and asked, and they told you not to do it, and you do it anyway and an incident happens? Would the insurance company have recourse to deny your claim since you weren't so dumb after you made the initial call to them?

This is strictly a question for my edification. Not a point of how to get around your ins. co. denying your claim.

IMHO if the car wasn't certified in the U.S. to tow anything, then it shouldn't be towing anything. What happens in Europe is a moot point. If something were to happen that caused a major injury or loss of life above and beyond what a typical insurance liability policy would cover, the plaintiffs lawyer would have a field day in court when they discover that the vehicle in question was not certified to tow anything by DOT standards.
 

cyclops2

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

So towing with a overweight rig will get the same legal lawsuit as towing with a vehicle that is not recommended to tow anything.

Wonder how all those car companies selling compacts around the world, would answer in court about... no towing in the USA.....full towing in the rest of the world.

Really sounds like " Stupid Americans can be forced to pay more than the rest of the world will pay, for anything. "
 

Mischief Managed

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

IMHO if the car wasn't certified in the U.S. to tow anything, then it shouldn't be towing anything. What happens in Europe is a moot point. If something were to happen that caused a major injury or loss of life above and beyond what a typical insurance liability policy would cover, the plaintiffs lawyer would have a field day in court when they discover that the vehicle in question was not certified to tow anything by DOT standards.


Please explain the US towing certification process and DOT standards of towing for US cars. I have never heard of either of these until now.
 

Philster

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3,342
Re: Towing with a Honda?

The insurance business has changed greatly in the past few years. Years ago, you would most likely be covered; nowadays, you have to check your policy.

The industry has become incredibly competitive, with 'bare minimum' insurance policies taking off. There are a number of these companies hammering the airwaves about how credit scores and college educations shouldn't affect your rates. They offer, and I quote, 'The minimum legal coverage' to get you on the road.

These companies do offer the minimum coverage, and they absorb what appears to be increased risk, but their actuaries are busy at work to counter that risk while offering minimum legal coverage. "How do they do this", you ask? Duh, with policy exemptions and language that allows them to get the hel-l out of covering you if you do one of the typical dumb things that dumbarses do, such as modfying your vehicle, towing the family barn out to the lake behind a three-wheeled truck and all sorts of dumb things that minimum-policy-coverage-from-oddball-insurance-company type folks do.

So, check your policy. If you have one of them "we cover our idiots, because our idiots pay high premiums" type of policy, then tow away. If you have one of them ''we don't cover our dumb cheapskates who opted for minimum legal coverage policies that excuse the insurer from covering you for driving on bald tires or dirty windows", then have a few hundred thousand bucks around.

My sister sells bare minimum insurance to cheapskates and folks who flat-out can't afford insurance. I assure you, at the bottom of the sea and in salvage yards are totaled boats, trucks and cars that the ''insured'' owner collected nothing on. The loan must be paid or go into default, or if the vehicle is owned outright, the owner simply loses their possession to the sea or scrap yard (the scrap yard might pay 500 for your heap that could have been worth 15,000. The sea pays nothing).

Sometimes, liens are placed against homes to cover medical fees of others.
 

ezmobee

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Re: Towing with a Honda?

I think this thread has run it's course and the OP hasn't been back. Closed.
 
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