My 2000 Toyota Echo has installed a Reese Towpower/Trailer hitch which I currently use to carry a couple of bikes during the weekends.
I want to tow an small trailler(4’x5’) with a total weight of 250-300 pounds for 7-10 miles within the city (Boston).
Car max capacity is 775pounds (passangers+luggage).
(Toyota said no towing with this car)
i’d appreciatte your comments.
Thanks.
I don’t see any harm in towing something that light for such a short distance.
The main reason for Toyota’s recommendation is liability. They do not want to say “tow it” and then get sued if something happens.
Look at U-Haul. They will flat not rent a trailer to anyone who owns a Ford Explorer; all because of that bogus Explorer/Bridgestone tire rollover fiasco from a few years ago.
However, they WILL rent a trailer to someone driving a Mercury Mountaineer. The Mountaineer actually IS a Ford Explorer; it just has a different set of name badges attached to it much like the Taurus/Sable cars.
I agree with OK…it’s probably fine. That’s a very small and very light trailer. It probably can’t haul that much anyways.
You will put undue stress on your vehicle however an Echo can last a lot longer than what you’ll likely keep it or rust will get at it first. I would make sure to use the severe interval for transmission fluid changes if this is automatic. You may push the component to the edge towing as its simply not designed for it.
Agree, you can tow something that light for a short distance without ill effect. If the car has a stick shift, you may want to stay in 3rd gear in the city. As Andrew says, follow the severe maintenance schedule. My brother-in law once towed a small streamlined house trailer all over Europe in a Mitsubishi Colt with a 1.6 L engine. He could not use 4th gear, however. The trip was very slow.
Are you all trying to make my head explode? If the maker of the car says it isn’t designed for towing, don’t do it. Get a roof rack instead.
Is this a one-time thing? Total loaded trailer weight is 300 pounds or is that what you are loading on the trailer? That is only 30# tongue weight.
What kind of trailer do you have that is so light and what are you hauling that is so light? Something bulky that won’t fit inside? My local Lowes or Home Depot rents trucks for cheap. Maybe you have to buy something.
While I agree that a 300 pound total load for 10 miles in Boston probably won’t harm the car. I side with the recommendation to rent a pickup. Maneuvering through traffic around Boston, especially if part of that mileage is I-93, is hard enough without a 300 pound tail wagging the car. That could be enough to send you out of control. And should something happen you could also have a liability issue. Wagging a 300 pound tail 8 feet behind the rear axle is not the same as having it positioned inside the car.
Not sure where the heck you get this Toyota said can’t tow BS, you CAN TOW with an Echo!!, Curt makes hitches for an Echo and there are plenty of sites online that state you can tow with a Toyota Echo!!..up to 1540lbs from the back of a 2-door!!! 
Maker never said that…
According to the owners manual:
“Toyota does not recommend towing a trailer with your Echo. It is not designed for
trailer towing”
Also, this is a 14 year old discussion.
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Yeah they did. I’ll refer you to page 149 of the 2000 Toyota Echo Owner’s Manual.
“Toyota does not recommend towing a trailer with your Echo. It is not designed for
trailer towing.”
This is for the U.S. spec model. Echos sold elsewhere in less litigious countries have a 700 kg limit for trailer towing. However, this is primarily a North American-based forum.
Thanks for coming to my TED talk
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14? So??..could be 21 years, same age as the vehicle… The point is a trailer hitch is made for the vehicle for towing purposes. I tow with my Mini Cooper, I tow with my Kawasaki ATV and I tow with my Craftsman tractor. As was said, certain corporations only state that for liable, to cover their butt end, as was mentioned U-Haul for example. Oh there would be some fools out there attempting to tow a huge landscape trailer with an Echo. I personally put my limit at about 500lbs. Bottom line, you can tow with an Echo.
There’s a difference between ‘can’ and ‘should’. And there’s a difference between what I might try, and what I’ll recommend to a stranger in unknown conditions, with unknown driving skills, and against the recommendation of the owners manual.
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+1
Additionally, when you consider that a Toyota Echo would have to be at least 16 years old, and could be as old as 21 years, the idea of testing the limits of that tiny, underpowered OLD car’s towing capability is… not wise.
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It’s not just the litigation issue. It’s the difference between US and Euro trailers. Euro trailers shift the wheel forward, taking more weight off the tongue, but making it more unstable at high speeds. US trailers shift the wheels backward, enhancing stability but increasing the tongue weight. That 700kg trailer in Europe is putting less weight down on the back of the car than the same-weight trailer here.
UK:
USA:
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One other difference - lots of small European vehicles are diesels, better for towing.
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I thought that might’ve been the case as well. But I checked and per Wikipedia the first gen Toyota Platz/Echo/Yaris (same car different names for different markets), did not have a diesel engine option for the first gen models . The 2003 Euro-spec Yaris model which was a renamed Vitz (different car, same name), did have a diesel option but it wasn’t available prior to that.
I know several people who own trail-hitches for vehicles and NEVER EVER use them for towing. They are used for Bike Racks. This is very very common. Hitch manufacturers also make class-III hitches for vehicles that are designed for Class-I. Same reason.
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All a matter of using common sense. You can tow with it, within reason. I’m sure the person in Boston has long gotten rid of the Echo, I’d gladly drive over there and say SEE???. Again, like I said within reason. I keep my limit at 500 pounds, whether it’s a cargo carrier or a 4x4 trailer. Correct, the hitch is a Class 1 type…on another note
" As for towing, this is another interesting thing with Toyota. In Australia, the '01 Echo is rated to tow 1500 lbs. In Europe, it’s rated to tow 2000 lbs. In Canada and the US, it has no towing rating and they don’t recommend you tow with it despite the fact that it comes pre-drilled from the factory for a tow hitch should you want to install one"