UPDATE November 2009

In April 2001 we traded the Saturn in on a 2001 Toyota Sienna minivan.

The reasoning behind this was two fold:

1. The wife was having more and more trouble getting in & out of the Saturn due to her atheritus.

2. We upgraded our RV to a 40 ft bus conversion with 450 horse power engine and wanted more room and storage in our toad for full time use. The bus ignores the 3500 LB Toyota!

I had to install a Remco Lube Pump on the van but it was worth the expense and effort. Still using the same tow bar and interface.

 

 

The Saturn line has many advantages as tow vehicles but the following two are primary:

1. The transmission lubrication pump is driven by the output (drive axle) side of the transmission as opposed to the conventional location on the input (engine) side. What this means is that pulling the car lubricates the transmission and you do not have to install an expensive auxiliary lubrication pump.

2. The speedometer & odometer are electronic and it does not add mileage when towing thus eliminating an additional speedometer disconnect device.

 

Ours is equipped with a Roadmaster removable tow bar interface which allows us to take all visible interface components off when we are not expected to be towing, like in the winter. Roadmaster now has a new one out that virtually eliminates the only complaint I have with this setup. It drags on steep inclines because it extends below the frame on the car. This is another reason to remove it when we are not towing.

I am using a Roadmaster Falcon, motorhome mounted, tow bar and a 6 wire coiled electrical interface cable between the two.

I use 4 wires in the 6 wire cable for brake and turn signal lights on the car and the other 2 wires in conjunction with a Brake Buddy brake controller on the car.

See basic 6 wire connector wiring reference here.

See Brakebuddy Reference here.


One wire provides me with a remote indication when the Brake Buddy is activated and the other spare wire provides about 2 amperes of charge current to the Toad's battery.
The latter may not be necessary but I have discovered that towing for long periods in stop and go traffic with the Brake Buddy will place considerable drain on the Toad battery.
I will be more than happy to provide more details on this system to anyone who is interested.
The Saturn is also equipped with a standard 4 inch hitch receiver which we use to carry our bikes via a Reese bike carrier.

This is the third car that I have towed with this coach and the Saturn has proven to be the easiest to hook up and unhook yet and it tows like a dream.

November 2009

Well, Last winter we finally got rid of our Saturn. I was still a good Tow car but the wife was having major knee problems and had to hve total knee replacement. She simply could not manage a manual tranny anymore. It was also beginning to develop some wierd problems that I could not seem to identify.

We traded it for a 2009 Honda Fit Sport which is probably the easiest car to tow we have ever owned.