Feetsdr

Ok, we have a Curt hitch I installed for a bike rack on this RX350. I looked under the rear bumper on the drivers side and there's a 4 pin connector with a cover over it. I guess that's for the trailer lighting? Even though we didn't get the trailer package when we bought the car? They just have 1 wiring harness to accomodate all the options? Could someone recommend what do I need to go from that to the typical trailer connector? And I have a square opening on the hitch. What do I need to be able to pull a trailer? a ball? what size is 'typical' for what I could / would pull with an RX350. And a ball mount? The uhaul site lists all kinds of lengths and drops for the mount, along with the ball diameter. Is there a standard / most common to get? And what do you think of harbor freight for these items? I like that place and their prices are likely better than uhaul. This will likely see 1x a year type of use over the life of the RX350.

Thanks again. I meant to mention - I looked at uhaul / renting a trailer. Her RX350 has a Curt hitch (love them... we bought a draw tite hitch for this one (after a Curt for her 2009 RX) and the draw tite didn't fit! Yes, we chose right for the model, etc. Got them to take it back and got a curt that fit like a charm). The only thing we use the hitch for is a bike rack.. I joked I'd get her a set of truck nuts but she declined. But we've never towed before so don't want to learn about how it affects handling / performance on a 11 hour trip / worry about the trailer being balanced (right? that's an issue - front to back, etc.)? we're here in suburban northeast / ny. And several places don't have mini vans for rental at all, let alone at a good price. Kids going back to school and likely less people have trailers of their own in this area so they can charge more. Thought about renting the minivan here, return it at school (indiana) and then rent a small car for ride home. But that's actually more money - they have enough minivans in Indiana? thanks for all that info.

Thanks for the comments (and I LOVE your picture!!!) Yeah, it's a moot point now - we have to rent the minivan for this trip considering the amount to move. But we've had this discussion for trips to both kids schools which are 11 - 13 hours away each. Doesn't happen often though! I'm hoping to get a reassurance that we're not paying 'too much'. Through costco a couple weeks ago when we first thought about this, we could have gotten a minivan for $350 for the 4 days we need it, thought that was high and skipped making a non-binding reservation. Now we know we need it and it's $550 : ( Yeah, we own it, have an 8? year extended warranty on it, expect to keep it a long time (200K?! how long does it take to get that many miles for you and what are you spending each year near the end?). Even if you don't care about how many miles, at some low price, most people would say - yeah, I'll rent. Let's see. We're going to pay $550 for the rental and saves us from putting 1,500 miles on the car, so we're spending 36c a mile. 'seems' high. again, a moot point since we need the minivan. but on another trip when we could fit things in the SUV, I'd like to know what number would be the breakpoint. And this could be a whole separate thing. I drive a dinged up honda civic 2010. It's my wife that wanted the bigger / nicer Lexus... after 200K, does it still look good? Are you buying for the appearance / features (leather, sunroof, etc.) or the quality to get to 200K? Think the Toyotas would go as far (if you are getting it for the quality, Toyota is cheaper right?)

Taking our kid back to college next week. This is kinda academic at this point - it's looking like he's got more than will fit in our RX350, and we'll need to rent anyway, but wondering: For an 11 hour drive one way (1500 miles total round trip) how much would you pay / what's it worth (per mile?) to not put the miles on the car vs. renting a car? Insurance is the same whether it sits in the driveway or it's on the road Depreciation? you're putting another 1,500 on the car Things that do matter? Tire wear ($800 / 40K miles?) 2c a mile oil ($100 / 10K miles?) 3c a mile General maintenance - you are 1,500 closer to changing air filter, top fluids, etc? costs? what else would you factor in? Gas really isn't an issue (you're going to burn the same amount of gas either way? Yeah, you could get precise after the fact when you know what MPG you got on the rental). What else?