Confused about Saturn Ion Automatic Trans Dingy Tow

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Sailorkane

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Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Posts
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Location
Tampa, Florida
Just  bought our motorhome and trying to figure out the right toad to buy.  Want something cheap just to run around when we get there.  Looking at early Saturns. Must be automatic transmission (wife can't drive manual).  All the guides say Saturn, both manual and automatic, are flat towable.  However, the 2004 Saturn Ion owners manual says only manual transmission is flat towable:

Dinghy Towing (Five-Speed Automatic
Transaxle and VTi Variable Transaxle)
Your vehicle was not designed to be towed with all four
wheels on the ground. Your vehicle may be towed
from the front with two of its wheels on the ground, or
with car carrier equipment. See “Dolly Towing” later
in this section.

Am I reading something wrong?
 
The manual is the manual, and that's the advice you should follow... not sure what "guides" you were referring to before.  That text you quotee above is giving you permission to tow the Saturn Ion either on a tow dolly (front 2 wheels up off the ground, on the dolly), or on a car carrier (entire car up on a separate trailer).

You may find that older Saturn models, such as the L-series and S-series (I think I have that right) from the 1990's may match what you read about auto-tranny Saturns being towable 4-down.
 
Thanks.  I think you are right, the "L" series appears dingy-towable.  However, I also looked at the 2006 Ion owners manual:

Dinghy Towing (All Transaxles)
Notice: Dolly towing or dinghy towing your vehicle
may cause damage because of reduced ground
clearance. Always tow your vehicle using the dolly
towing or dinghy towing procedure listed in this
section or put your vehicle on a flatbed truck.
To tow your vehicle from the front with all four wheels
on the ground, do the following:
1. Set the parking brake.
2. Turn the ignition key to ACC to unlock the
steering wheel.
3. Shift your transaxle to NEUTRAL.
4. Release the parking brake.
To prevent battery rundown on long trips, remove the
IP BATT 2 fuse (#41) from the engine compartment
fuse block.

So was there that big a change from 2004 to 2006?  Or was there an error in one of these manuals?  PS:  The '05 is the same as the '06.  Only the 04 says don't dingy tow it.
 
Error in the manual... probably not.  Although I'm not sure what might be different for 2004.  When I was shopping for an older Saturn as a motorhome toad (I ended up sticking with my tow dolly), I joined a Saturn forum to ask a few questions and they were pretty helpful.  It's possible someone here might know the answer if they happen to be familiar with that model.
 
I don't know of any brand of vehicle that can be said to be "all towable". Not even Jeeps. Too many variables for that to be true across more than a very limited line-up of models.  Don't know where you read that "all Saturns are towable", but that is provably incorrect. You should probably be doubtful of any other advice from that source as well, since it seems to be given to making sweeping statements that may be dangerously incorrect.

Always verify that an individual year & model can be towed 4-down (dinghy style), preferably via the owner manual. Almost every brand and model has some variant that is not towable, even if the more common versions are.

Motorhome Magazine publishes a list of towable vehicles each year, You can view previous years editions at http://www.motorhome.com/download-dinghy-guides/
 
We are also new to RV life and have been looking for a car to flat tow.  We went to our former Saturn dealer who is very knowledgeable.  He said you can flat tow a Saturn up to the year 2007, automatic as long as it is not a coupe.  We just bought a 2007 Saturn Ion and the manual said
it can be towed.  We have a 1994  Class A Vectra.
 
Probably the easiest source to use is the Remco web site.  http://www.remcoindustries.com/Towing/  Input the specifics of the vehicle in question, i.e. year, make, model, motor, body, transmission, and they will say if it is 4 Wheels Down (4WD) towable as is, or if it needs a tranny pump to become 4WD towable or if is simply not towable at all or if it needs a dolly.  It also provides links on their site to the parts necessary to tow, i.e. tranny pumps, base plates, toad brakes, light bars or kits, etc.

You do not need to purchase there, but it is a great reference.
 
Hey, just a follow up.  I know its been a while, but we had decided to use a tow dolly for a while.  Tried it on a long trip up north and finally decided it was a pain.  I never could get the straps on the tires without sitting down next to the wheels.  Even with a rug under me, it was an ugly process.  And the straps would loosen and have to be tightened.  Final straw was a blunder on my part when loading the car on the tow dolly one evening.  My foot slipped on the accelerator pedal and the car jumped the stop at the front of the tow dolly and went over it onto the ground, now straddling the tow dolly.  Royal pain to get it off.
So we decided to spend the $ and effort to make it flat towable.  Installed a Roadmaster baseplate (far better than the blue ox, which required too much cutting of frame and trim), reconditioned our Roadmaster falcon 2 tow bar that came with our motorhome from PO (some grease and new end fittings).  Installed a diode system for the lights of the car and Roadmaster invisibrake system.  Now we can easily flat tow in seconds, without crawling on the ground.  Easily disconnect when we land somewhere.  If we stop for a day, just keep the crossbar on the front of the Saturn.  If for longer, remove it and the install on the Saturn are almost invisible.  We're real happy.
 
Now you understand why the majority of people you see on the road tow 4-down...it's all about convenience.
 
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