Motorhomes

Saturn Vue: a reason to buy one

August 5, 2008 ⋅  Email this to a friend ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Big motorhomes have their merits, but popping down to the shops when you run out of beer isn’t one of them. And if it’s pouring with rain, carrying a Vespa isn’t much of a solution either. Which is why many motorhome owners tow a ‘dinghy’ car such as the virtually ubiquitous Saturn Vue.

The question is, which cars are safe to use as dinghys, and which ones will smoke their fancy schmancy auto transmissions faster than it takes you to smoke a doobie? Unless you enjoy poring over owner’s manuals, you need the free 2008 Dinghy Roundup PDF from MotorHome Magazine. It not only tells you which vehicles are safe to ‘flat tow’, but also what precautions you need to take—such as getting a Neutral Tow Kit fitted by your dealer in the case of Ford, or letting the dinghy car engine idle for a few minutes every 500 miles in the case of Nissan and Infiniti models.

There are some surprises to be found: most RVers know that the humble Saturn Vue has long been configured for towing, but few know that the current Hummer H2 is perfectly towable too, all 3 tons of it. Honda, long popular with RVers, now has a CR-V officially sanctioned for towing, so you don’t need to worry about busting that Warranty any more.

Check out MotorHome’s Dinghy Towing Basics page for more advice and links on hooking up when you’re on the road.