what is good way to tow car?

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paulga

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I'm going to move to a town 286 miles away in one month. all my stuff in room can be packed and loaded into a 10' uhual, or a 4x8 cargo trailer. I also have a Civic Si.
I'm thinking of the following options,
(1) load my stuff to a trailer, and use my car to tow the trailer
(2) rent a 1 way trip 10' uhaul and an autotransport to carry my car
(3) rent a uhaul, first carry all my stuff to destination, then take a bus back, then return apartment key and drive my car to the new life on the next day.

according to the manual, the car is not designed to be towed or to tow a trailer. moneywise option (2) saves time and a little money than (3), but I am not in a hurry. Can I learn your options?
 
It's something like 1400lbs for towing. It states in the manual the max weight that you can tow. Do you have a hitch on your car currently?
 
No, I have not installed one. the manual says to avoid towing a trailer during break-in period, so option (1) is not good.
as for (2), I have never used an auto transport either. I think it's not easy to drive onto the device and bind the car to it without a helper?
 
Uhaul pulling your car behind with towing setup.

TRUCK_TOWING_CAR.jpg


IMG_8817.jpg
 
^^ That would be the easiest and cheapest way, altho I would probably want to do option 3 cause I love driving my Si
 
I don't know if you've priced your uhaul yet but it is usually way more expensive to drive a uhaul "one-way" than it is to use it and return it back to the exact location you rented it from. So it may work out in your favor to rent the truck, drive to your new place, then just drive the uhaul back when your done. You could probably pull that off in a day so you'd only be charged for one day of use and they would probably let you park your Si there too.
 
I'm not sure about return option,I've moved several times,uhaul has a per mile charge locally,so it would be high.try the smallest Penske,go one way,the car hauler is a 100 dollar option,DON'T use the dolly.in a regular car it's ok( ( I recently did a move for my gf parents from Ohio to here in ga using one with a Chevy cavalier).it took us hours to get it on the dolly because of the front end,we used cut up 2x4 s to finally get it on.it was an automatic so that made it easier to get it on.but it did scratch the bottom of the front end. Taking it off.ths si is for sure lower. It drove down like a dream for 725 miles,couldn't even tell it was in back.On the other hand we used the trailer and a full loaded Penske 26 footer to bring my accord from Ohio to Florida,and it was the worst experience ever.up the hills it was 35 mph tops! And added hours to the trip.when Ed moved here from Florida we used a car transport company since my company paid the move 100 percent.it was 400 dollars from fla to Atlanta.if we move again ill use them again for the si.imo uhaul is a rip off.everytime we got quotes they were way more.dont forget that returning to location is also double gas too...
 
Thanks a lot for pictures. These explain a lot.
I have not used a towing instrument before, so not sure if I could make it flawlessly for the first time.
It looks like the Uhaul center needs to inspect my car to determine if they can let me rent the tool. After that I have to load my car onto it. Problem is no one helps me. so I think option 3 works best for my need.



KennyGS said:
Uhaul pulling your car behind with towing setup.

TRUCK_TOWING_CAR.jpg


IMG_8817.jpg
Click to expand...
 
bdh63 said:
I don't know if you've priced your uhaul yet but it is usually way more expensive to drive a uhaul "one-way" than it is to use it and return it back to the exact location you rented it from. So it may work out in your favor to rent the truck, drive to your new place, then just drive the uhaul back when your done. You could probably pull that off in a day so you'd only be charged for one day of use and they would probably let you park your Si there too.
Click to expand...

I will check with them to see how many miles they will give me for a round trip. for local rental 19.95$ plus 0.79$ per mile, so that's (600*.79+19.95)*1.09 = 540 plus gas and fee.
for 7/30 1-way rental quote, 10' uhual is 522$, so after tax is 570 plus gas and fee, more expensive then local rental. But if the pick up date is pushed forward, say 7/3, then the quote is only 375$. Also strange is, if I switch pick-up and drop off locations, it only cost 268$ for one way trip on 7/30. I really need get a better understanding of the way their system does the quotes. maybe I can request a price match? how come it costs so different for one way trip from A to B than from B to A on the same day?
 
Last edited:
bobshur said:
I'm not sure about return option,I've moved several times,uhaul has a per mile charge locally,so it would be high.try the smallest Penske,go one way,the car hauler is a 100 dollar option,DON'T use the dolly.in a regular car it's ok( ( I recently did a move for my gf parents from Ohio to here in ga using one with a Chevy cavalier).it took us hours to get it on the dolly because of the front end,we used cut up 2x4 s to finally get it on.it was an automatic so that made it easier to get it on.but it did scratch the bottom of the front end. Taking it off.ths si is for sure lower. It drove down like a dream for 725 miles,couldn't even tell it was in back.On the other hand we used the trailer and a full loaded Penske 26 footer to bring my accord from Ohio to Florida,and it was the worst experience ever.up the hills it was 35 mph tops! And added hours to the trip.when Ed moved here from Florida we used a car transport company since my company paid the move 100 percent.it was 400 dollars from fla to Atlanta.if we move again ill use them again for the si.imo uhaul is a rip off.everytime we got quotes they were way more.dont forget that returning to location is also double gas too...
Click to expand...


Thanks a lot for your detailed advice. You do moved long distances. like I thought, it's hard to make it perfect to tow a car using selfhelp.
As I checked, there's no Penske drop off in a 50 mile circle around my destination.probably I have to work with Uhaul to get a deal.
 
I'm surprised,I know in Youngstown Ohio were I'm originally from there are at least 10-12.they might have you,just make sure you read all the fine print,and ask questions... How much per mile,can you use your own insurance? How much are movers blankets,what is the latest drop off time.make sure you sweep it out,and clean out interior and go over every detail of the truck with the rep and mark every scratch,dent,chip,and have him check the oil in front of you.get every detail up front,these guys are selling you,they talk fast and have you sign all kinds of stuff,read it all.i can tell you horror stories about people getting ripped badly.personally I would move the stuff and come back for your ride in your situation,sounds like you just bought it.
 
paulga said:
I will check with them to see how many miles they will give me for a round trip. for local rental 19.95$ plus 0.79$ per mile, so that's (600*.79+19.95)*1.09 = 540 plus gas and fee.
for 7/30 1-way rental quote, 10' uhual is 522$, so after tax is 570 plus gas and fee, more expensive then local rental. But if the pick up date is pushed forward, say 7/3, then the quote is only 375$. Also strange is, if I switch pick-up and drop off locations, it only cost 268$ for one way trip on 7/30. I really need get a better understanding of the way their system does the quotes. maybe I can request a price match? how come it costs so different for one way trip from A to B than from B to A on the same day?
Click to expand...
It all depends on what day,demand for trucks,they don't want to bring one in for you,but they will know when one is there. I got a quote from Atlanta to Youngstown last year when I thought I was moving back on a Tuesday with drop off by Thursday 12 noon for 235.00! The same quote from Youngstown to Atlanta was 780.00. It is real complicated,if your flexible you can get a great deal you just have to really research,I'm a cheap as so I don't all the time,probably I don't have a lot of mods yet( I know better deals are to be had).save the most money fuel will be outrageous especially if it is gas,they get like 6 to the gallon,diesel would be much better.
 
Any chance a friend/relative/forum user is local? They could drive the uhaul or your car at the same time?
 
bobshur said:
It all depends on what day,demand for trucks,they don't want to bring one in for you,but they will know when one is there. I got a quote from Atlanta to Youngstown last year when I thought I was moving back on a Tuesday with drop off by Thursday 12 noon for 235.00! The same quote from Youngstown to Atlanta was 780.00. It is real complicated,if your flexible you can get a great deal you just have to really research,I'm a cheap as so I don't all the time,probably I don't have a lot of mods yet( I know better deals are to be had).save the most money fuel will be outrageous especially if it is gas,they get like 6 to the gallon,diesel would be much better.
Click to expand...


Oh that makes sense, price is set by supply and demand.. I wish I'll be lucky to rent one at the right time.
 
webby said:
Any chance a friend/relative/forum user is local? They could drive the uhaul or your car at the same time?
Click to expand...

No.. I'll be on my own.
btw, as I will be far from the dealership where I purchased my car, I'll probably do the oil change myself. I have done oil changes for a vw jetta, so I can pick up the mechanics on a honda quickly. Question is, should I wait for the engine oil life to drop to near 0% before doing the first oil change?
 
It will post a reminder in your imid display when you get to 15% oil life. Honda suggests doing the change then.
 
webby said:
It will post a reminder in your imid display when you get to 15% oil life. Honda suggests doing the change then.
Click to expand...

If the car is going to be parked in the lot most of the time, it will be a long time, say, half a year, for the engine oil life to come down.
Is there an "oil change interval", within which one oil change service should be done for at least once, even if the car stayed in the parking lot all the time?
 
If you haven't hit the percentage in 6 months, I'd change it out for new. You should check the manual,
but I do not believe they list a time interval.
 
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