Your dealer is giving you the word from Toyota. Except for a few small front-drive manual transmission cars, Toyota does not approve recreational towing.
This is a matter of policy, not technology. No car is designed to be towed, it is designed to be driven. In automatic transmissions, towing moves parts that are normally pressure lubricated, without that lubrication. At best, this accelerates wear, at worst you can scatter the transmission all over the road or ignite the transmission fluid.
Towing approval and warranty issues are closely linked. If a manufacturer thinks the only problem is accelerated wear, but this won't happen during the warranty, the car might be approved for recreational towing. If a manufacturer has been dragged into court, made to pay for transmissions that broke long after the warranty period, and set aside warranty bonds for hundreds of thousands of cars that might have problems after the warranty period, and pay off the lawyers that brought the suit, then that manufacturer will stop approving recreational towing for the cars it makes.
That's just business. Nothing to do with engineering or technology.
tatest wrote: Your dealer is giving you the word from Toyota. Except for a few small front-drive manual transmission cars, Toyota does not approve recreational towing.
This is a matter of policy, not technology. No car is designed to be towed, it is designed to be driven. In automatic transmissions, towing moves parts that are normally pressure lubricated, without that lubrication. At best, this accelerates wear, at worst you can scatter the transmission all over the road or ignite the transmission fluid.
Towing approval and warranty issues are closely linked. If a manufacturer thinks the only problem is accelerated wear, but this won't happen during the warranty, the car might be approved for recreational towing. If a manufacturer has been dragged into court, made to pay for transmissions that broke long after the warranty period, and set aside warranty bonds for hundreds of thousands of cars that might have problems after the warranty period, and pay off the lawyers that brought the suit, then that manufacturer will stop approving recreational towing for the cars it makes.
That's just business. Nothing to do with engineering or technology.
I think when the vehicle is AWD, as the OP's Sienna might be, it is more engineering that business. Don't even think the Sienna AWD can be tow dollied. Now FWD would be a different story.
Is your van FWD or AWD? If its AWD I believe it needs to be on a flatbed trailer or all 4 wheels on a dolly. If its FWD, I think you can put it on a dolly, but neither can be flat towed. But I would check your owners manual to be sure.
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