What say ye,
It's time to replace the ole 2000 Jetta TDI and I need another daily driver that can tow a small boat. Looks like my best option is the 2012+ Ford Focus. It has bigger brakes, same torque, and more horsepower than my Jetta and is also rated to tow outside of the US. In my mind towing my 1400# boat wouldn't be an issue but if you ask on some of the other forums people are ready to crucify you for such blasphemy.
What do you think?
I don't know what to think. In America people seem to think you need a Super Duty F250 to tow a garden tractor. In Europe, people seem to think that you can tow anything with wheels with the smallest car that will physically move it forward. I imagine the truth is somewhere in between.
The big issue as I see it is liability. I'd bet that the Poocus would do a fine job towing your boat. But if you are towing it, and something happens, who is left holding the bag? In a non-tow-rated car, that's you, unfortunately.
At the end of the day, not only is it a liability, if you exceed the GVWR of a vehicle, you are using it improperly and can be fined by various law enforcement agencies.
Seems like a silly risk to take, why not get a vehicle that is rated to tow?
Its not whether it is an issue or not; it is whether you are breaking the law or not. Its extremely rare that I ever suggest people break the law, the law is "usually" in place for a reason.
Not arguing with the above, at all, however, I had a hitch on our 2012 Focus and it did fine. In Europe the same car is rated at 1100 without electric brakes and 1500 (or so) with brakes. Your boat might be a stretch. I would worry about that craptastic automatic it has if that is what you are looking at.
I would go with the laws of the country you live and drive in personally. From a liability perspective european tow ratings, like many other things, are meaningless here.
Buying a vehicle that's rated to tow would require stepping up to something larger or older like a Corolla or an older Focus. I need to weigh it but my boat is likely closer to 1,200 #'s without the gear. That would exceed the GVWR by about 200#s, not including passengers and gear. What I don't get is the GVWR of the corolla is 200#s less than the Focus, yet can tow 1,500 #s.
Dang lawsuit happy US...this is why we can't have nice things.
So basically... you want a relatively small, fuel efficient vehicle that is rated to tow 2000lbs (boat + trailer weight + people in the car).
What are the lower limits you are willing to except on size and mpg? A hyundai elantra, corolla, matrix, volvo c30 and civic from around the 2006-2009 eras are all rated to tow 1500lbs. These are the only cars that will get remotely close mpg to a tdi jetta and be the same size.
Your aversion to the corolla is odd... its not like a high mileage 2003 tdi jetta is a sports machine of its own, and the corolla is a perfectly fine appliance which is sounds like you need. Why the hate? The perfect combination (reliable, small, good mpg, and proper towing capacity) is available to you lol.
I believe European traffic laws for towing are different as well, and the higher ratings may reflect that.
The new Focus is about the same size as an old Taurus, wheelbase- and weight-wise, has much better brakes, and makes more power too. People towed boats with Tauruses just fine.
HiTempguy wrote: So basically... you want a relatively small, fuel efficient vehicle that is rated to tow 2000lbs (boat + trailer weight + people in the car). What are the lower limits you are willing to except on size and mpg? A hyundai elantra, corolla, matrix, volvo c30 and civic from around the 2006-2009 eras are all rated to tow 1500lbs. These are the only cars that will get remotely close mpg to a tdi jetta and be the same size. Your aversion to the corolla is odd... its not like a high mileage 2003 tdi jetta is a sports machine of its own, and the corolla is a perfectly fine appliance which is sounds like you need. Why the hate? The perfect combination (reliable, small, good mpg, and proper towing capacity) is available to you lol.
No aversion to the Corolla, my wife has one (2005) and it's beautiful. I love working on that thing. I just would prefer a smaller hatchback and the Matrix is just hideous. I'll have to look into the Elantra. If only the TDI was a more reliable vehicle...it would be perfect!
Knurled wrote: I believe European traffic laws for towing are different as well, and the higher ratings may reflect that. The new Focus is about the same size as an old Taurus, wheelbase- and weight-wise, has much better brakes, and makes more power too. People towed boats with Tauruses just fine.
The 3.8 Essex powered Taurus made 215 ft lbs of torque though, quite a bit more than any non-diesel non-performance compact of today.
I'd hazard a guess that if the euro ratings are that low (they're generally around the curb weight of the car for a braked trailer), there's some weak link in the car's driveline or cooling system they don't want to stress.
You probably don't have to worry about breaking any laws unless all the weight of that trailer is on the tongue. Weight limits that include trailer weight are called GCWR (gross combined weight rating) and I doubt very much that one of those is even posted for the Focus. As long as the weight of the car including the tongue weight of the trailer is within the GVWR you will still be legal.
That said, warranty coverage would probably be denied and you would want to get it in writing that your insurance will cover you.
I've pulled a couple of small trailers behind my xB, R56 Cooper, and now my Mirage without the world ending, but the heaviest load was my Katana, probably 800# including trailer. Your 1200# would probably be out of my comfort zone for any distance at all.
oldopelguy wrote: As long as the weight of the car including the tongue weight of the trailer is within the GVWR you will still be legal.
You are sort of correct. Each axle also has a maximum weight permitted. Tongue weight should be anywhere from 10-15%. Doing the maths leads you to an answer.
So there is a theoretical limit, one that involves the trailer being loaded properly. Sure, you could get all the weight in the trailer and very little tongue weight (relative percentage), but then you'd probably wag the car off the road going any faster than 25mph 
oldopelguy wrote: You probably don't have to worry about breaking any laws unless all the weight of that trailer is on the tongue. Weight limits that include trailer weight are called GCWR (gross combined weight rating) and I doubt very much that one of those is even posted for the Focus. As long as the weight of the car including the tongue weight of the trailer is within the GVWR you will still be legal. That said, warranty coverage would probably be denied and you would want to get it in writing that your insurance will cover you. I've pulled a couple of small trailers behind my xB, R56 Cooper, and now my Mirage without the world ending, but the heaviest load was my Katana, probably 800# including trailer. Your 1200# would probably be out of my comfort zone for any distance at all.
Best news I heard all day. I already started looking at Corollas just because of the liability issue. The tongue weight isn't much at all. I would guess 120 #s? 95% the time we use the boat the ramp is only 4 miles away. 4% of the time we don't go farther than 20 miles and 1% of the time is a trip to the keys where I keep the boat and cooler as empty as possible. In the future I'll probably get someone else to tow for those trips because the TDI struggled when fully loaded with 4 people (~27 mpg). Not worried about warranty coverage as I'm looking for something used and out of warranty anyway.
How does one bring this up to the insurance companies?
HiTempguy wrote:oldopelguy wrote: As long as the weight of the car including the tongue weight of the trailer is within the GVWR you will still be legal.You are sort of correct. Each axle also has a maximum weight permitted. Tongue weight should be anywhere from 10-15%. Doing the maths leads you to an answer. So there is a theoretical limit, one that involves the trailer being loaded properly. Sure, you could get all the weight in the trailer and very little tongue weight (relative percentage), but then you'd probably wag the car off the road going any faster than 25mph
Right now I'm probably around 10% tongue weight. I'm going to get this thing weighed and figure out exactly how much I'm working with.
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