I have a 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid. It's 14 months old and has 14,000 miles on it. I LOVE IT!!
I've averaged 32.5 MPG overall with a high tank of 39.9 MPG and a low of 25.5 MPG. I've towed the Mariner over 6,000 miles and have had no problems whatsoever.
You do not have to pull any fuses or stop and run the engine every 200 miles. All you do is put the transmission in neutral and turn the key to the "off" position. As long as the transmission is in neutral the steering wheel is not locked, even though the key is in the "off" position. By having the key in the "off" position, there is no current draw and you can leave it set up that way for several days if you are doing any long distance traveling and staying in campgrounds with pull-thru sites.
If you use a supplemental braking system like the Brake Buddy, you do have to set the pressure quite low (about 10 to 15 lbs) since the power brakes are always activated when the Brake Buddy activates and a higher pressure will cause the wheels to lockup.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me a private message.
Doug Craw
2006 Jayco Greyhawk Model 27DS
Towing 2008 Mercury Mariner Hybrid with Brake Buddy
Unlike the Mariner, the Prius I tow must be towed on a dolly. The Prius fits easily on the Demco dolly which has surge brakes and you won't even know it is back there. Some don't like dollys; however, I have used ours for more than 10,000 miles and it has never been much of a problem.
Bob & Dagmar
Teddy (Shih Tzu)
1999 Monaco Diplomat 36
Cummins 5.9 (275) & Allison MD3060
2006 Toyota Prius Towed on Demco KK370SB Dolly
I guess I don't understand how it is possible for your toad to maintain power brakes when you have your key in the OFF position and the engine therefore is not running. The engine running would be necessary for the vacuum accumulator in your power brake system to maintain a vacuum for multiple application of its brakes. But maybe there is something different about a hybrid car that I don't understand.
I also have a Brake Buddy that I have used for 9 years and approximately 75,000 miles of towing. What you normally need to do it is right after you install the Brake Buddy in your toad, you push down on the brake pedal at least three times (or activate the TEST button on the Brake Buddy to do the same thing). This will dump the stored vacuum in the vacuum accumulator so that triggering of the toad's brakes by moderate braking of the RV does not lockup the toad's brakes. I tow a 2005 Malibu and I normally set my Brake Buddy pedal pressure to 70 lbs - that certainly is not a light pressure. However, if I don't dump the vacuum accumulator before towing away, the first moderate application of the RV's brakes will cause immediate lockup of the toad's four wheels - not something you want to happen more than once!
* This post was
edited 08/18/08 08:17pm by whemme *
2002 Born Free 26' RSB Motorcoach
2005 Chevrolet Malibu LS Toad
The Escape/Mariner has full time hydro boost brakes they use a hydraulic pump for power brakes even when the key is off. when you push the brake pedal several times you can hear the pump come on. I installed the us gear system wich is designed for this type of brakes.
I'm with you, Keith. I have the US Gear brake system on my LX470 (which isn't supposed to be towed... and it works beautifully with the car's hydro-boost brakes. Hookup is so simple, even the DW can do it!
2007 Travel Supreme Alante, 45 ft.
2006 Lexus LX470 Toad
Offline
and it works beautifully with the car's hydro-boost brakes. Hookup is so simple, even the DW can do it!
