Any rental trucks with 4 seats that could also tow a car? (moving truck, Uhaul)

[cooldw57]

I'm moving from Bakersfield, California to Ithaca, New York this summer for grad school. I need to move a ton of luggage and belongings (no way could they fit in my car), my car (Honda Element), and 3 friends of mine all together.

The ideal way to handle this is to rent a small moving truck (don't have too much stuff, just lots of luggages, no furnitures etc, a 10' truck is more than enough) from Budget/UHaul/Penske, with a car towing kit. But the problem is none of the trucks I find fit 4 people, and I think it's illegal to sit inside of car being towed by state laws.

Is there a solution for this? Another way that might work is to rent a truck/suv/mini Van from car rental companies like Avis/Enterprise/Hertz, they fit 4 people pretty comfortably and they are capable of towing my Honda Element, and I could spread the luggages across my element and the rental suv/truck/mini van. But I think most of the car rental companies prohibits me from towing a car with their rental suv/truck/mini van, is that true?

[tortoisegirl]

How about getting a trailer hitch for your vehicle, and towing a small trailer? You could either rent the trailer (U-haul, as much as I hate them), or buy one and sell it at the other end. As long as you don't mind putting the miles on your car, you will probably get better mileage with your Element pulling a trailer (assuming you don't load it to max) then a small moving truck or even a cargo van. Also should be comfortable for you and your friends.

[cooldw57]

Originally Posted by tortoisegirl

How about getting a trailer hitch for your vehicle, and towing a small trailer? You could either rent the trailer (U-haul, as much as I hate them), or buy one and sell it at the other end. As long as you don't mind putting the miles on your car, you will probably get better mileage with your Element pulling a trailer (assuming you don't load it to max) then a small moving truck or even a cargo van. Also should be comfortable for you and your friends.

Thanks for your fast response, I actually gave it some thoughts too before I made this post. I think the main problem is Element's towing capability, a 5 x 8 trailer with just a little extra weight from the cargo is a lot for a 4 banger especially when I need to haul that through the Rocky mountain.

[Dark of the Moon]

I think it's pretty difficult to find a 4-seater truck at all these days. Although some come with bench seats that technically seat three, most of the time you get two bucket seats and that's it.

If you're not moving furniture, perhaps you could ship the boxes and excess luggage via UPS, USPS or (as mentioned by another poster) Greyhound, and then you and your friends can just ride in your Honda. It'll probably end up being cheaper than paying for the rental truck + gas.

[micrguy]

Don't know if they still do, but I rented a Penske truck about 10 years ago that had just what you are looking for. The back seat was just big enough to throw a cooler and two pet cages back there.

You might also look into companies that ship cars for you and rent a small rental truck. When I towed my car you needed to have at least one of the mid-range rental trucks in order to do it. Plus towing a car behind a rental truck is not fun, you can not back up at all. So whenever you stop you have to make sure that you can pull forward to get back on the road.

[Katie1]

A friends son helped his aunt move..ticket from Greyhound to come to Hagerstown MD from Texas cost a whopping $49..... My advice sell the car & go greyhound!

[jrice]

When we moved to Vegas we used a service(forgot the name) that basically rented out space on a semi truck(you pay per foot), and they give you a timeframe of when it will be delivered, ours took 1 week-was picked up on Mon in NY and delivered in Vegas the following Tuesday. It cost us $1200 including insurance. You could also load your car in there if you felt like flying out and if timed right you would have your car and belongings within a day or 2

[Sandhills Guru]

Try Enterprise, we have rented a dodge pick up from them from time to time that is a four door. It would be a short box pick-up but still have plenty of room to haul some things. Have you given renting a SUV any consideration?