I Want To Buy A Used Car

Q.We just bought a Motorhome and now we need to buy a small (used) car to tow along behind us for when we get to where we're going, so we don't have to go to the market or sightseeing in a 33 foot vehicle. I'm sure this raises a multitude of questions, but here are my initial ones. My plan is to buy a towbar rather than a dolly as I've been told that's the best approach. Is there a consensus on that, or should I reconsider a dolly? I have a limit of a 3700 pound towing capacity. No problem, there are plenty of small cars out there. The question is, how do I figure out which one(s) will tow without piling mileage on the towed vehicle's odometer, and which vehicles can't be towed at all? Is there any need to have braking in the towed vehicle? Is it a requirement in some states or is it just good sense, and if so, how is it best accomplished? Is there some good web site or book that you can recommend for me to find out all the stuff I need to know about this, or is this a learn as you go process?

A.If that's really all you'll use it for, the advice you've been getting is fine. However, I'd advise careful consideration of a lot of other uses before you proceed. Will it be exposed to bad weather? (Yes!) Will you drive it in bad weather? Will you use it for even the occasional long drive; if so, is it a suitable highway car? Will you want to carry friends on outings? How many? Will you need 4-wheel drive? Will you want to use the toad to carry cargo while it's being towed, which of course adds to its weight? If so, for a particular car, is that cargo visible? Is that cargo easily stolen? Etc. You bought a motorhome without considering what toad you'll pull or how you'll pull it. That was a mistake, but one you'll probably get away with. (Note that most motorhomes of the length you bought allow up to 5000 lbs of tow weight.) Don't make the next mistake: don't buy a car for towing without deciding what tow bar you'll use and knowing that it a) will be easy and inexpensive to install, b) will be easy to connect and disconnect, and c) will work well. While all of the major tow bar brands work very well with some cars, not all work well with all cars and some are difficult to install. Do your homework on both concurrently and make a coordinated decision. If the looks of the car, when not being towed, is important to you, note that some base plates of some brands are very obtrusive and thoroughly ugly while other tow bar brands have unobtrusive base plates for the same car. Many of the lighter weight cars require that you stop every 250 miles to run the engine to move oil around in the transmission. Do you really want to do that? Will you actually do that? The list of consideratins goes on and on. Neither the REMCO site nor Motorhome Magazine covers them all or covers them well. You'll need to dig in to the tow bar websites to even come close.

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