Tow Vehicle from Car Rental Place - Any Experiences?

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

We're thinking of doing a two week trip, taking the whole family to the Arkansas Pro, then going to visit Chris' friends and family in Texas, and hitting the College Station Tour on the way home.

I recall some rental places use to take the hitches off their trucks or SUV because they didn't want you towing anything. Has anyone done this before or are aware of which companies are OK with this?

Thanks,
Eric P.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Feb 24, 2014 3:57 pm

Eric Peterson wrote:

We're thinking of doing a two week trip, taking the whole family to the Arkansas Pro, then going to visit Chris' friends and family in Texas, and hitting the College Station Tour on the way home.

I recall some rental places use to take the hitches off their trucks or SUV because they didn't want you towing anything. Has anyone done this before or are aware of which companies are OK with this?

Thanks,
Eric P.

I rented a F250 crew cab truck from Triangle Rent a Car a few years back. Towed my car up to VIR and back. You will need commercial auto insurance however. They might rent to you I don't know.

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Mon Feb 24, 2014 10:30 pm

Some info here on rental tow vehicles. Iffy most places without a business.

http://apexspeed.com/forums/showthread. ... tal+towing

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

Dick, that was a great link - very helpful! Thanks a bunch! In short, looks like renting a tow vehicle is really not an option for an individual. On to Plan B.

JerryMaloney · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:05 pm

I rented a Suburban from Enterprise a few years ago to pick up a project Chevelle I had bought. I drove by the rental places first to see what still had a hitch under it. I also had some service work done at Hendrick Chevrolet a few weeks ago and they ran out of loaner cars so they sent me to the Enterprise at Cary AutoMall. They gave me a Nissan Frontier with a full tow package on it. I would just do a quick recon before booking and relying on it.

Of course I never told anyone that I had planned to tow with the rental vehicle, so I don't know what issues could have arisen from an incident. All I knew was it would work for a quick tow.

Jason Mauldin · **Posted:** Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:35 pm

Tell them you are taking a trip to a mountain bike race and you need a vehicle that can hold a hitch mounted bicycle rack.

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:36 pm

I'm almost positive Triangle will rent you a truck and "allow" towing. Hell, they rent trailers, too, so they have to.

That said, I'll bet they do NOT have electric brake controllers in them. I'd bet the same is true of U-Haul as I think all their trailers have surge brakes, not electric. Could be wrong on that.

So given that, renting probably is a non-starter unless you rented an entire U-Haul rig, trailer and all. Which is probably unattractive for a variety of reasons.

--Donnie

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

Good tip Donnie. I'm pretty sure the trailer I'll be using has surge brakes so It's worth checking out Triangle.

I rented an Expedition from them in 2001 for a Ft Myers trip and towed down there.

Eric Peterson · **Joined:** Mon Sep 01, 2003 10:24 am **Posts:** 494

They also rent hitches for $5/day so it's likely they allow towing. A quad cab pick-up is a bit of $1,000 for a 2 week rental. That's about half of what other rental companies were charging. And, mileage is unlimited.

I totally forgot about Triangle. Thanks for the good lead Donnie. Travel west of the Mississippi requires calling their main number. Will check that out tomorrow.

I won't mention that I rented a car from them and did a lapping day in it at VIR about 14 years ago :-)

shawnwhipple · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 6:28 pm **Posts:** 603

Quote:

I won't mention that I rented a car from them and did a lapping day in it at VIR about 14 years ago :-)

Don't worry you are on "The List"

Donnie Barnes · **Posted:** Thu Feb 27, 2014 12:03 am

No way I'd bother telling them where I'm going with it. I may or may not have been involved in several rentals from Triangle that went into NYC, even though at the time the rental agreement specifically said you weren't allowed to take it to NYC or Mexico.

I'm not sure why it matters. You're insurance is covering you, so what they don't know won't hurt them.

--Donnie

steve remchak · **Posted:** Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:33 am

I once rented a T-Bird from Avis for the weekend. Roundtrip from FL to PA was 2400 miles at least. They looked at me rather suspiciously when I returned it Monday morning. :lol:

George Bright · **Posted:** Fri Feb 28, 2014 10:26 pm

I rented a car on the island of Oahu and they looked at me hard when I turned the unlimited mileage car with over 900 miles on it in 2 weeks. They asked me if I had driven to the mainland. The condo the company rented was at the end of the roads on one side of the island and it was about 45 mi to Honolulu.

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