New Car Purchase - Need opinion on capability

[afsigma21]

I am in the final process of buying a new 2009 Hyundai Sante Fe Limited AWD.

This is actually a company car for my wife, we get an allowance, but own the car. All in all it isnt a bad deal. Just to fend you guys off ;) The #1 reason we are buying this is for a few features, Warranty, Cost with options compared to competition, size. I can get this car with a 100k bumper to bumper extended warranty and still be less expensive than any comparible car.

That being said, here is what I want an opinion on.

The Limited comes with a 3.3L v6 and is rated to Tow 3500#. it does have thier tow package, Tranny cooler, heavy duty radiator and fans. I currently keep my camper in storage about 1 mile from the campground we normally use it at. With a weight disty hitch setup, am I safe to tow my 5500# camper 1 mile to the campsite and back?

[ihatemybike]

Overloading for 1 mile! You'll for surely die a blazing death that will be turned into song and spoken word history for generations to come.

I wouldn't want to go fast with it, but for one mile you should be OK. Just keep it slow and in low.

[Rileysowner]

I would say you could, but if you have a warranty claim, I wouldn't mention it. I assume the trailer has brakes.

[thevalleyboy]

the other concern might be what the coppers might have to say - but that might not be an issue either....

[mdmead]

I wouldn't worry about it for a 1-2 mile tow!

[LiftedAWDAstro]

I wouldn't worry about it either. The guy who pulls out in front of you an causes you to wreck might though...especially if you hit him and he sues you for being overloaded.

[Kidhauler]

I am sorry to be the voice of dissent. But lets look at the question. You want to grossly overload your car put your family in it and hit the open road??? Hell no do not do it!!! You are way way beyond what the tires and suspenion can handle not to mention that the trailer weight is more than the tow car. Even with trailer brakes you will not be able to stop worth a damn. Most trailer brakes work on a timer so the longer you hold the brakes on the more you get so when you really need them in a panic stop situation you will have minimum braking. The trailer will simply push your nice new little hyundi right off the road or into what ever is infront of you. REMEMBER GOING IS A OPTION STOPPING IS NOT!!!

In order to tow my 4500lbs trailer with my van which is rated to tow 5500lbs I upgraded the front brakes and added airbag suspension to tow it properly and have it ride nice and stable. Also I use a good weight distributing hitch to top it all off. I also have a top of the line inertia based brake controller that sensed how fast you are slowing down and adds more or less brake to the trailer based on this so the whole unit stops as one and the trailer will not push the van.

tow ratings are there for a reason. It is all you can tow. Rememer when LiftedAWD lent his van out and his brother in law towed a forklift with it "just a short way" and it cracked his frame around the hitch. If you only have to tow it a short distance a few times a year rent a pick up truck it will be worth it in the long run.

[Smiliesafari]

Can you get away with it? Probably. Most of the time. But the real question is, legally? If there is an accident of any kind and regardless of who is at fault your insurance company can deny you coverage. And then there is law enforcement, law suits, lawyers, medical, and whatever else comes up as a result. And if there is a death, now we're talking about "Vehicular Homicide" and that means someone is going to prison. Sorry Man, but that's the society we live in. I wouldn't wish any of that on anyone.

[afsigma21]

I think we went a little overboard on the risks, but maybe I needed to give more information.

The storage place is only about 400 yards of road before the driveway to the campground, and we are talking out in the country in Kentucky near lake Cumberland. Most times I dont even see a car on that short stretch and I am never over like 15 mph. I dont think there is really any risk of an accident.

I was really most conserned about breaking or bending a suspension peice or the hitch.

It is really an unlikely scenario, I just wanted some opinions. I have 2 other cars that can tow the camper. it is just one of those situations that I wanted to know what my flexibility was.

Great input, thansk everyone.

[mdmead]

While some valid points have been made regarding safety/legality/etc., life is full of risks and everyone will choose what is comfortable for them. (And yes, I'd tow it for a mile or two!)

Regarding capability, I think your only real concern is going to be tongue weight. Just how heavy is it vs what the vehicle is rated at. I doubt exceeding the rating a bit for such a short distance will cause a problem as the manufacturer will have set the rating for average usage (meaning a trailer being dragged thousands of miles, bouncing up and down, etc.) and would take into account the possibility of warranty claims for vehicles towing at the max rating.

A final concern might be the transmission if you have to tug it or back it up a steep hill. (This wouldn't be a concern if you were buying a small vehicle with a low range transfer case.)

[Fire Cakes]

Remember when LiftedAWD lent his van out and his brother in law towed a forklift with it "just a short way" and it cracked his frame around the hitch.

This was not Dean, dunno who it could have been. None of his brother in laws had even driven the van.

[Kidhauler]

Sorry I thought it was dean that had that happen to him. I remember the that the owner of the van was not happy when he heard what they did and saw the frame damage.

[afsigma21]

SOOO, we did not even end up buying this car, but a similar one.

While on the way to the Hyundai dealer to do the paperwork and pick up the Sante Fe, my wife says "Lets just stop at the Mazda dealer across the street before we go to the Hyundai dealership"

We actually liked the Mazda CX9 better from the start, but they are significantly more when equally equipped. They of course did not have anything on the lot in our price range because everything they had either had too few or too many options, to be a comparable car. They had one that was close, but it had a $2900 rear seat entertainment DVD etc package, that was something we were nevfer really interested in. We asked them to check other dealers for something closer to what we wanted so we could compare.

I also told them that "We are buying a car today, I already have a deal across the stret at the Hyundai dealership and we were on our way there when we stopped here"

To make a ong story short, second to last day of the month, they came WAY down on a car on their lot with more options than we wanted. We got a $39000 sticker car for $29000. I felt like I was insulting them I offered so low. Only a couple grand more than the Sante Fe but its a much nicer car. We drove it home that day. I also bought a 100k bumper to bumper warranty for next to nothing, so we feel pretty good.

Pics coming soon.

Moral of the story, buy on the last day of the month and be ready to buy on the spot for the right price.

[astrozam]

So, just how pissed was the Hyundai guy when you backed outta the deal? I'm guessing he didn't take that too well.

I'm with Matt on the towing issue, in this case I doubt it will be a problem for the vehicle.

[afsigma21]

Well, I had to tell a little white lie and tell him we did not think the Sante Fe was big enough. Which is kinda true, the CX9 is larger and one of the reasons we liked it more.

I asked him if they had minivans for us to look at (Which I knew he didnt) to try to make him feel better. he was a nice guy. I felt bad.