I just bought a small sailboat and trailer, which I would like to tow behind my 05 Pilot. The owners manual says the Pilot will tow 4500 lbs, my boat and trailer are barely 500. Now the dealer is telling me I can't tow anything more than 100 lbs without $1000 worth of transmission and other upgrades.

Has anyone heard of any nonsense like this?

Does anyone know if my warranty would be voided for towing 500 lbs?

Does anyone have extensive towing experience with a Pilot?

By the way, I'm new! Awesome forum everyone!

Thanks,
Rosspanics

 

You are way under the towing limit and nowhere near the weight that would require any auxilary coolers (e.g., transmission, etc.). If the boat and trailer combo only weighs in around 500lbs., I'd guess the tongue weight is very light as well, maybe 100lbs.

You don't need anything else installed on the Pilot to tow what you've got. Your warranty will not be void. Now if you were attempting to tow 5000lbs with a vehicle that has a limit of 4500, you're asking for trouble.

You're fine. Tow away and welcome to HAN.

 

if you cant tow it with that then get rid of it i work at a honda dealer no it will not void the warrenty

 

your dealers retarded. i tow shit around with my moms accord because its got a trailer hitch. i've towed my car to autocross events with it before. if a 94 accord 4 banger automatic can pull a 2600lb car plus a 300lb dolly then im damn sure a brand new pilot is at least 5 times more capable of towing even heavier things around, let alone a 500lb sail boat.

hell, i remember the original commercials for the pilot when it came out, towing a trailer full of 4 wheelers around through a desert or some nonsense. if towing your sail boat blows the transmission, sue for false advertising.

 

My friend towed a 6K trailer, with a loaded trunk and a plastic storage on the roof and it was fine, just he had to replace the shocks because the rear of the car was extra low and close to the ground.

Toyota needs to make their cars tow 10K.