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Thoughts / recommendations for a small car with 350lb tongue weight capability, no towing.

ST Guy said:
Miatas are great cars. A friend of mine, who used to design, build and race sprint cars used to have one. Besides modifying the suspension, he also turbocharged it. It was stinking fast and quicker than a Dodge Viper.

Another friend has a stock Miata. It’s his daily driver.

And yet another friend has a supercharged Miata.

They are definitely not a “chicks” car.
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Also probably the best used car for the $$ and mpg right now. (Manual + RWD)
 
Holeshot said:
Not sure what PP you're in Ken. Wholesale 2024 Q5's (prestige package) w/ 25K or so, are running $35-37K. Those have real tow and hitch ratings that you'd never need to worry about. Food for thought.
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Thank you for this input. What do you mean by "wholesale"? The wilderness is 39k MSRP, the top trim Turbo Tiguan, which I just came back from checking them out, are 46k MSRP. The Q5 would certainly suffice, except for its size. I chuckle that my wife bought and absolutely loved a 2000 Volvo S80T6, which are quite large. She then got a 2009 Mini Clubman, loved it as well. That car is what started her fondness for smaller vehicles.
 
ST Guy said:
OP: Because the hitch was aftermarket and to repair your GTI required replacing sheet metal, would it be safe to assume that the hitch itself was bent up as well?
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Good thought, but I don't think so. The car was not hit. I kept the original hitch and it has full contact on both mounting plates on my garage floor.
 
Know you said “no towing” but this weighs 160lbs and can hold up to 200lbs. Your car can handle that.
 
So what sheet metal failed? And how did it fail?

Perhaps it wasn’t designed or installed properly?
 
We got our forester kiddo a Crosstrek Wilderness last year. She has a rack that works great. The reason she likes it is that it has 9.5 inches of clearance. It’s perfect for her off road needs and seems peppy enough even when loaded. Great traction too.
 
I also don’t understand why manufacturers don’t use a two point receiver for products that put a lot of weight on the back of a vehicle.

For instance, a receiver might be made with a single 2” receiver in the middle with two additional 1.25” receivers equally spaced on either side of the 2”. Centers about 12” to 18” apart. For regular towing, you’d use the central 2”. For non trailer, load carrying, you’d use the two 1.25”. Of course, what ever you plugged into it would be designed with two tongues that would slip into the two smaller receivers.

They would also have an additional product to sell.
 
And they could use a 1.5” receiver or some other non standard size so a regular tongue with a ball would’t be able to fit into the offset receivers and cause towing problems.
 
NATEWA said:
Know you said “no towing” but this weighs 160lbs and can hold up to 200lbs. Your car can handle that.
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The rack and bikes weigh 160 lbs. Others on the board can explain this better than me, but every time the car bounces up and down there is a cantilever effect, and that 160 lbs increases dramatically. It also flexes the body where the hitch is attached. I would imagine that when towing a trailer that cantilever effect is close to non-existent.

I spoke to the manufacturer of the Stealth Hitch that is now on the car; this attaches in the same manner but has two steel extension arms that are bolted forward of the actual hitch, with side-attached bolts through the car body. Hopefully that makes sense, and I had hoped that these two additional arms would limit the flexing. They had done FEA on their racks, and the results showed the great majority of stress occurs where the two top inner bolts attach to the body. He also stated the added "arms" don't really help much. Bah.

photos.app.goo.gl

GTI body damage · May 4 – 28 📸

Shared album · Tap to view!
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl
 
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I like Toyotas. Hybrids are an attractive option.
 
Again, buying a tow capable small vehicle is an important criteria as this will be my wife's daily driver as well as our weekend bike hauler.
 
Holeshot said:
...and amazing depreciation from new. Not against one, but wayyyyyy against a new one.
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Oh yeah I know they burn resale value like they are on fire. If I did a new one, it was going to be a lease. They have some pretty sweet lease deals going for them.

If he didn’t go brand new 2026, then a first year hit depreciated 2025 would be fine. But it has to be at least 2025. That’s when they got the refresh. The 24 and earlier versions are nothing special.
 
I might contact the hitch manufacturer. Designing it so it attaches to just sheet metal is a big fail in my book. Of course GTI said no towing so you may not have a leg to stand on.
 
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