Towing With 450H

nelmo · May 1, 2013

A search on here brought up one old thread suggesting:

a. caravans are the Devil's roadblock

b. a towbar for a 450h was stupidly expensive (£1,300!!)

c. anyone planning to tow with an 450h is a brick short of an outhouse.

Ignoring a and c for now, is b true? And is there anyone out there towing with one?

(my budget is £18k for an '08 model).

noby76 · May 1, 2013

silly question Nelmo, but why would you want to spend £18K on a GS450H and use it for towing? can the GS450h tow a caravan with the right equipments fitted to it? Yes but the car was not built for that. if you would be using a car to tow say 50% of the time then skip the GS all together and spend you hard earned £18K on something which was built to be rugged and intended for towing from the get go and has all the gears and equipments on it like below.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304266449861/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/17000/model/landcruiser/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/200/postcode/lu63hp?logcode=p

another option is to still get the GS450H then invest around £800 on something like this to use for your occasional towing trips. it will be cheaper than the £1300 towbar, cheaper than a new CVT gearbox on the GS450 and its built just like the Land cruiser, 4 wheel drive , rough and rugged.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304256443869/sort/default/usedcars/model/legacy/make/subaru/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/200/page/1/postcode/lu63hp?logcode=p

nelmo · May 1, 2013

I'm surprised you have so little faith in your manufacturer . Lots of people tow with Mondeo's, Passats etc - much lower quality and weight than a GS. More specifically, others tow with RX400h's - is there any significant mechanical difference between an RX and a GS hybrid?

I've thought about getting a specific tow car but an old hack like that is a false economy IMO - at that age and mileage, things will go wrong and they could be major, expensive things(gearboxes, turbos etc). Then there's the second lot of insurance, road tax etc.

noby76 · May 1, 2013

oh yes i do have a lot of faith in Lexus for sure and i know a car with over 300bhp like the gs can certainly tow a caravan with its torque. what i meant was if the car will be used primarily or say 60 - 80% of the time towing then might as well opt for something which was actually designed for that from the get go. like the Land cruiser and if you looked closely you would notice it does share some parts with the Lexus RX models. yes you right i also do believe in false economy but that happens when one buys a lemon from the start. if you look well you can spot some old cars with high mileages on them which will never breakdown for another 5-10years and all they will need is the usual servicing and tyre and brake changes like any modern car. and it does start to add up when you factor in the second lot on insurance and road taxes aswell. but there is always a way round it you can always add the second car to your insurance on the day you towing and take it off after you have completed your journey e.g if say you only tow during summer for camping etc then you can add the second car to your insurance for the months of June, July where you will be making your trip and take it off your policy once the trip is over. same as road tax aswell you can always sorn a car when not in use. so there are ways round it. but all said and done, the decision is yours to make if its just for the ocassional tow then pay Lexus the £1300 for the tow bar and enjoy the GS450h and don't think about it :)

nelmo · May 1, 2013

No, I'm only a recreational caravanner, so max of 1500 miles a year towing...I'm sure I could get a towbar for less away from a dealer. I was hoping to find someone else who towed with one...

noby76 · May 1, 2013

ahh then thats no problem nelmo get that GS and enjoy.. i want one but cant afford it yet.

mick4545 · May 17, 2013

I don't know if its the same for the 450h, but the LS 600h manual states "Towing is not recomended" or something like that. Thats with a 5L V8.

skp · May 6, 2014

I know it's an old post but thought I would share my experience of towing with a GS450h.

First task is getting the tow bar fitted. This should be reasonably straightforward but dealers don't fit them often so they find it difficult to price. It's a big job in the GS450h involving the removal of the rear bumper and the addition of extra steel work to strengthen the rear end. It took the dealer 8 hours to do my car. We got three quotes from main dealers for the tow bar, ranging from £850 to £3100. We took the £850 offer but I would be surprised if that was repeated given their experience with ours.

Once fitted the tow bar is very well engineered and stable. It is removable and comes with a cloth bag. It also locks into place. It is easy to fit and remove.

As a tow car the Lexus is fantastic. We tow a caravan weighing 1470 kgs loaded and it runs beautifully. Acceleration is smooth and barely hindered by the caravan. We get 22mpg towing. Not great but not bad either. We average 32mpg without it. Stability is good, the reverse camera makes hitching easy and so far, so good.