Lexus 600H tow bar

[phil m]

Thinking of buying a 600H second hand of course but can't find anyone that can supply and fit a tow bar,  any ideas in the north west area or indeed has anybody seen a tow bar fitted to one of these.

Need it for my caravan.

[steveledzep]

Try these people.  They're near Chester.

 

https://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/

[Jake430]

Lexus state  the 600h is not suitable for towing 

[phil m]

Maybe that's just because they don't make a tow bar for them ?

 

[ambermarine]

Phil

There are valid reason as to why Lexus consider a vehicle fit for towing or in your case not,The main reason is the weight to power ratio of the car and its transmission.

The weight of the car is a big factor in the design of the power train and to get the optimum performance they factor in all sorts of inputs and outputs ,one being the gear ratios, this is critical in the feel of the driving experience and the road holding capabilities.

Now a big upset to that is a three quarter ton or more hanging on the arse end pushing and pulling that highly tuned drive train all over its thrust range and quickly messing it up.

So what Lexus are saying is we don 't encourage the towing of caravans because we did'nt design the car for that and we will probably void your warranty if you tow anything and lastly we do have Rx and Lx 4wds that are more than capable of doing that job.

Sorry Phil but after all its a Luxury sedan who's owners normally stay in a five star hotel.

[Britprius]

1 hour ago, phil m said:

Maybe that's just because they don't make a tow bar for them ?

 

If you look in the handbook it will tell you the tow limit of the car. If it say's zero it is illegal to use it for towing in the EU. If it gives a tow limit it is suitable for towing. I have a GS450H, and that has quite a high tow limit of 2,000 KG (4409.2 LBS).

John.

[ambermarine]

6 minutes ago, Britprius said:

If you look in the handbook it will tell you the tow limit of the car. If it say's zero it is illegal to use it for towing in the EU. If it gives a tow limit it is suitable for towing. I have a GS450H, and that has quite a high tow limit of 2,000 KG (44092 LBS).

John.

My My John thats one hell of a car you have there dragging a 20 ton caravan down the M5 Must get you some funny looks.

[Britprius]

Edited the post to read 4409.2 LBS not 44092 LBS thanks.

John

[Jake430]

Owners  maunal page 287. Lexus not designed for towing. I am not sure if they said the same about the 400. I got a tow bar made for the 400 and bought a tow bar from  Lexus for the 430.

Edited September 22, 2018 by Jake430

[phil m]

3 hours ago, ambermarine said:

Phil

There are valid reason as to why Lexus consider a vehicle fit for towing or in your case not,The main reason is the weight to power ratio of the car and its transmission.

The weight of the car is a big factor in the design of the power train and to get the optimum performance they factor in all sorts of inputs and outputs ,one being the gear ratios, this is critical in the feel of the driving experience and the road holding capabilities.

Now a big upset to that is a three quarter ton or more hanging on the arse end pushing and pulling that highly tuned drive train all over its thrust range and quickly messing it up.

So what Lexus are saying is we don 't encourage the towing of caravans because we did'nt design the car for that and we will probably void your warranty if you tow anything and lastly we do have Rx and Lx 4wds that are more than capable of doing that job.

Sorry Phil but after all its a Luxury sedan who's owners normally stay in a five star hotel.

Why apologise, I often stay in a 5 star hotel and can afford to buy a luxury sedan, I just also like the freedom of the occasional caravan holiday.

[ambermarine]

23 hours ago, Jake430 said:

Owners  maunal page 287. Lexus not designed for towing. I am not sure if they said the same about the 400. I got a tow bar made for the 400 and bought a tow bar from  Lexus for the 430.

The LS400 was made for towing and its towing capacity was 2000 kg which is nearly the weight of the car the car weighs 2245kgs ,now that towing capacity is for a braked unit and this drops significantly to 750kgs if the trailer is unbraked.

Again the LS430 was designed to tow and I believe around the same parameters.

[ambermarine]

21 hours ago, phil m said:

Why apologise, I often stay in a 5 star hotel and can afford to buy a luxury sedan, I just also like the freedom of the occasional caravan holiday.

I may have unintentionally insulted you Phil and that was my clumsy way of explaining why the Lexus designers made the LS600H a non towing vehicle. The model is aimed at the high end  Luxury market and the Designers would look at the potential use as a towing vehicle outside that market and its resultant sales.

Their consideration that the US being their biggest export market and the fact that caravans are not the holiday vehicle of choice there ,rather the RV and some of them can cost From a $100k to $1M.

Sorry for that.

[Cotswold Pete]

According to this link there are a fair few of the Lexus range with no spec for towing

Towing capacity

Looks like even hitching a trailer to go to the tip might not be allowed, if insurance is invalidated. 

My LS has tow bar fitttings, (I just do not have the hitch fitted), were on there when I bought it, and never used it, but at least I have the fittings to put a trailer plaet for when I put bikes on back.

Maybe the 400 was designed to everything from work-horse to luxury car. 

Seem to me if I ever buy a 460, i will need to keep the 400 as well!!

Personally towing caravans is anathema to me, as I think (possibly wrongly) the wear on brakes, suspension etc, is not a good thing in the long run.