While model did you buy?
If it's XLE and up, you'll have no problems towing that car with a light trailer - 2000 lbs or less.

 

Yes I got an XLE.

Great to know I can do it!

Do you suggest a dolly or any other trailer? Also what is the limit on the weight of the car being towed?

Thanks!

 

Do you suggest a dolly or any other trailer?

Have used UHaul tow dolly, but not with HL. You could check out rental for dolly. Ask about one way trip with UHaul drop off in area you'll be going to. If your compact car is FWD, front wheels will be on dolly.

Don't forget, besides dolly & wt. of towed car...anything inside it or HL adds to GCWR. You probably can guesstimate wt. of odds/ends. Way u describe, I'd have no issue myself doing same if need be. Good luck!

 

Is it more than 20 or so miles?

 

Yes, definitely more than 20 miles. I am looking at 600 miles or more.

 

Highlander specs says it has towing capacity of 5000 pounds; so it should be able to handle a 2500 - 3000 pound car?

The 2015 Highlander XLE AWD's “maximum trailer weight rating” is indeed 5,000 lbs. per SAE Standard J2807. However, this specification is not absolute, as there are several associated “ifs”, “ands”, or “buts”.

Specifically, owners manual page 209 includes this important note:

TWR (Trailer Weight Rating) is calculated assuming base vehicle with one driver, one front passenger, towing package (if available), hitch and hitch systems (if required).

In other words, if you want to "legally" tow a 5,000 lb. trailer, then there can't be many people or much stuff in the car.

Toyota's specifications for the Highlander XLE AWD verify this note. The GCWR is 9,900 lbs., and the curb weight is 4464 lbs. Assuming a 5,000 lb. trailer and a 50 lb. trailer hitch, that leaves 9,900 - 4,464 - 5,000 - 50 = 386 lbs. for the driver and a passenger and/or cargo. If you want to carry more passengers and/or cargo, then the trailer's weight must be correspondingly reduced.

There are also several important operational limitations. For example, Toyota says to not use the compact spare when towing (you'd need to consider buying and carrying a full-size spare), and the maximum trailer weight rating for an unbraked trailer is 1,000 lbs.

Uhaul's single-axle tow dolly weight 750 lbs and is unbraked. Following Toyota's guidance, this won't do for towing a 2,500 – 3,000 lb. car.

Uhaul's double-axle auto transport trailer is fitted with hydraulic surge brakes and weighs 2,210 lbs. Following Toyota's guidance, you should be able to transport a car weighting up to 2,790 lbs. with this trailer after the Highlander is broken in and if it's very lightly loaded. However, if you load up the Highlander with a bunch of people and/or stuff, then this combination wouldn't work.

I also recommend a thorough read of OM pages 206-223.

Finally, while I'm comfortable using my 3/4-ton pickup to tow a car on a transport trailer, it's not something I'd do with the Highlander.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

Is it just me, or does it seem absolutely insane to tow another car behind the HL?

 

There is nothing insane about it. It all depends how heavy your car is.
Is it insane to tow a 4000lb boat with HL? Nope. How about a trailer of the same weight? Not at all. So how is the car any different?

 

FWIW..I failed to mention, dolly I used to tow small car didn't have surge brakes. I did pay attention when slowing down/stopping & could feel tow load pushing on my truck. Anyhow...

S. mentioned, tnx & Crewzer gave details on wts etc. tnx. I realize now better to go with transport trailer w/brakes, towing with HL. Obviously paying attention to max. load wts. But yeah, I'd still do it if need be.

 

Another option is to rent a truck and trailer from UHaul:

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

...it also seems wrong to pull something heavier than the vehicle doing the pulling.

It's not at all uncommon. For example, my MY2000 light-duty 3/4-ton pickup's original curb weight was ~6,000 lbs, and its "tow rating" is 8,900 lbs. at sea level. But, it's got a fairly long wheelbase, which helps with stability, and it's factory-fitted with lots of HD towing goodies.

The turbo-diesel version of my truck came with a 13,400 lb. tow rating.

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

Yeah and to expand on that, some of the new turbo diesel dually's with 30k ratings surely don't weight 30k.

As for only seeing pickups towing boats...huh? I see SUV's towing them all the time, I've done it with my HL, as have others.

 

As for only seeing pickups towing boats...huh? I see SUV's towing them all the time, I've done it with my HL, as have others.

For sure. I live in 4WD Truck & SUV country. Recently passed 2 HLs towing small travel trailers. Many big suv's towing big boats, TT etc. Off topic, but... Even seen 2 trucks & both towing travel trailer with boat hitched to back of trailer. Rare, but legal in NV. with CDL. Real eye grabber is...12ft alumn. boat/motor on trailer that gets winched up into 8ft bed & partly extends up over top of truck cab.:surprise: