How To Tow Prius

Towing a Prius isn’t that hard. You can tow a Toyota Prius but not on all 4 of its wheels because it is a front-wheel-drive(FWD) vehicle.

As a result of this, the best way to tow it is either with the aid of a tow dolly, which will lift its front wheels off the ground, or with the use of a flatbed truck or trailer such that all its wheels will be off the ground.

However, when towing a Toyota Prius, its gear lever should be in the ‘gear’ position and that is also part of the reason why its front wheels should be off the ground too. Therefore, when towing a Toyota Prius, as long as its bumper is not being dragged on the road, you’ll be just fine.

Similarly, you are not expected to tow a Toyota Prius behind an RV or motorhome. Generally, if it becomes unavoidably necessary to flat-tow a Toyota Prius for a short distance, the speed must be kept below about 16 mph. 

Is it difficult to tow a Prius?

No, it is not difficult to tow a Toyota Prius. However, if you do not want to risk needless damage to its transmission system, you should make sure to do it properly.

One, the vehicle is an FWD, and that means that flat towing will require the use of a tow dolly(to lift its front wheels off the ground) or with the aid of the flatbed of a truck such that none of its wheels will roll on the ground.

Towing the vehicle like this will not subject its transmission system to any harm. In addition, you should choose your tow truck carefully by ensuring that you get a tow truck whose towing capacity is enough to cope with the weight of the car behind it.

Therefore, it is safe to say that towing a Toyota Prius is not difficult as long as you do it with due adherence to the guidelines and recommendations for safe towing. To ensure that you do it properly, it is strongly recommended that you refer to the user manual at all times before you undertake anything.

Is it safe to tow a Prius?

As much as possible, yes, it is safe to flat-tow a Toyota Prius, but only with the aid of a tow dolly or on the bed of a tow truck, which will prevent any of its wheels from rolling on the ground.

If you fail to guard against this, you run the risk of damaging its drivetrain or the transmission system. Therefore, yes, it is safe to tow a Toyota Prius as long as you obey all the recommendations of the manufacturers for its safe towing.

How do you tow a Prius?

To start with, you are not advised to tow a Toyota Prius with all its wheels on the road or even with its front wheels on the ground too. The car is a front-wheel-drive type, which means that whenever you tow it on all fours, you may damage either its transmission system or the drivetrain.

Consequent upon this, if you want to tow a Toyota Prius, make sure to use a tow dolly that will lift its front wheels off the ground and by so doing, protect its transmission system which would otherwise be damaged in the process of towing.

After due consideration of all these factors, the manufacturers recommend that you either use a tow dolly or the bed of a tow truck or trailer. If you flat tow Toyota Prius in any of these two ways, it is assumed that you are not likely to come into any risks to either the vehicle or its vital components as well.

In addition, you can damage the transmission system of a car with a manual transmission if you tow it with the gear lever in the ‘Park’ position. For this reason, you should tow the vehicle while it is in the ‘Neutral’ position only.

On the contrary, vehicles with automatic transmissions do not disengage whenever they are towed in the ‘Neutral’ position, and thus, towing them in this position will make the transmission systems move in the wrong direction, which can lead to their damage.

The safe towing of Toyota Prius involves towing it with the gear lever in the ‘gear’ position and that is pretty much why its front wheels must be off the ground while towing the vehicle.

How much can you tow with a Prius?

You can tow properly with a Toyota Prius much as you can tow with any other vehicle too, but there are conditions to put into consideration if you want to prevent any damage to both the towing and the towed vehicle.

For instance, refer to the user manual and make sure that you are towing weights not more than the capacity of the car. Furthermore, while towing, do not drive at speeds more than that which is recommended, and you should also ascertain that the vehicles are attached properly together too.

Toyota Prius is capable of safely towing a small trailer or any other vehicle whose weight does not exceed its towing capacity provided you do not drive for more than the recommended towing speed. To this effect, Toyota Prius is said to be able to tow weights up to about 725 kilograms or 1,598 lbs.

This is the towing capacity of the 2015 model of the vehicle and down to its present-day models too. This simply means that Toyota Prius is capable of towing even a small lightweight caravan or camper.

How do you put a Prius in neutral when towed?

Putting a Toyota Prius in the ‘Neutral’ position is easy as long as you know how to go about the entire process. To put this vehicle in the ‘Neutral’ position when towing, you should simply push the shift gear lever into the ‘N’ position.

However, in the Prius Emmet, you are recommended to first push this lever to the ‘Neutral’ position before holding it in that position and waiting for not more than a second or two to enable the transmission to shift to the ‘Neutral’ position.

Alternatively, you can hook up jumper cables to a 12 Volts battery before pressing the power button twice with your foot off the brake pedal. Thereafter, you should press the brake pedal before shifting the gear to the ‘N’ position for a couple of seconds only.

Are all Prius towable?

Yes, most, if not all, models of Toyota Prius are flat towable, but not with their 4 wheels on the ground or even with only their front wheels on the ground.

This is because most of these Toyota models are FWD vehicles, which means that if you allow their front wheels to roll on the ground while towing, it is almost pretty certain that you will cause severe damage to some of its components, which you do not want.

However, to avoid any such needless damage, always refer to the user manual for appropriate guidance on what you should or shouldn’t do to the vehicle.

FAQs

(1). What is the toying capacity of a Toyota Prius?

Although Toyota Prius is comparatively a smaller vehicle, it still commands an appreciable towing capacity. The vehicle is said to be able to tow a small trailer or caravan of weight not exceeding about 725 kilograms or 1, 598 lbs.

However, you must ascertain the weight of the vehicle you wish to tow with it as well as its towing capacity from the user manual before you undertake to tow with it.

Also, make sure that you hitch the two vehicles properly before anything and drive within permitted speed limits for towing at all times. If you do this, the vehicle will give you the satisfaction you want in all towing duties.

(2). Can you tow with a Prius hybrid?

Yes, you can safely tow with most, if not all, Toyota hybrid cars. Due to the need to create a greater appeal in all Toyota cars, the most present generation of Toyota hybrid can tow small trailers and caravans that do not exceed its towing capacity.

Similarly, both the Fusion and C-Max vehicles are available in non-plug models which are generally referred to as the hybrid versions. These cars represent the only electric or hybrid models which can be towed with all their 4 wheels on the ground without necessarily voiding the factory warranty.

Conclusion – How To Tow Prius

Towing is easy as long as you go about it properly in consultation with the manufacturer’s recommendations as outlined in the user manual. Specifically, for all 4-wheel drive cars, they should not be towed on all four wheels, lest you damage their vital parts.

In this case, you are advised to tow them mainly on the bed of a trailer or truck. For FWD vehicles, it is recommended that you tow them on a tow dolly so that the front wheels will be raised off the ground to avoid any damage to their transmission systems or drive trains.