5 New SUVs With The Worst Towing Capacity

SUVs are a versatile group of vehicles, meant to meet all of your off-roading, adventuring, and family trip needs. SUVs often have four-wheel drive and high ground clearance for rougher terrain as well as an abundance of cargo space to ensure you have everything you need for your weekend adventure. One of the other popular uses of an SUV is towing — some SUVs can tow up to 10,000 pounds. While car brands will often tout the towing capacities of their SUVs, not every model or trim will meet your specific needs.

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If you are choosing an SUV for its towing capabilities, you need to keep an SUV’s tow rating in mind as well as the weight of whatever it is you want to bring with you, whether it’s a loaded trailer or an ATV. Since it’s not safe to go beyond your SUV’s tow rating, you will want to find a vehicle that has the towing capabilities and other features that meet your needs.

The SUVs in this list have some of the lowest tow capacities of any SUV that came out this year — even with the towing package included. These SUVs aren’t bad cars, per se, and they have many impressive and useful qualities for other uses. But if you are looking to tow something on the heavier side, these SUVs are likely not the right choice.

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The Toyota RAV4 is what Read calls a suburban dad-mobile. In a recent review, we admitted that the RAV4 is more at home browsing for parking at an outlet mall rather than off-roading despite the marketing surrounding it. There’s nothing really wrong with the RAV4’s performance, per say, but there’s also nothing too stand-out. While it’s a bit cramped and lacking in spirit, the Toyota RAV4 makes up for it by being cost-effective compared to the competition.

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Unfortunately, its towing capabilities are also unimpressive. The Adventure trim makes it possible to tow 3,500 pounds, which seems more like an errand rather than an adventure. But without the Adventure package, the RAV4 is missing the torque-vectoring AWD system it needs to even reach that amount and drops to 1,500 pounds. A weekend camping trip is still possible with the RAV4 but maybe make sure it’s not too far off the beaten path.

The 2024 Ford Escape is another SUV that’s good but not great. It does what it’s meant to do but not really anything more and not with any enthusiasm. Luckily it’s decently spacious because it won’t be towing a whole lot. You’ll need to go with the Escape ST-Line Select trim to reach its maximum towing capacity of 3,500. This trim comes with a 2.0 liter EcoBoost 4-cylinder that produces 250 horsepower and 280 lb-ft of torque if you also get the Class II Trailer Tow package for another $495. This trim also includes all wheel drive, trailer sway control, a receiver hitch and wiring harness, and more.

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Ford claims that it can easily tow a small boat or trailer. You can take their quiz to find out if the Ford Escape can handle what you need towed — if you select higher weights, you’ll likely need to look at Ford F-150s instead.

The Subaru Forester continues to change each year — we checked out the 2025 Subaru Forester recently and there were some tweaks to its design and features. But the overall feeling is that it’s not time to drop the 2024 just yet if you don’t have to. The 2024 Subaru Forester is powered by a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine that produces just 182 horsepower and takes eight seconds to reach 60 miles per hour. It’s nothing too exhilarating though it has additional features to make off-roading satisfying.

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The towing is another story, however. The Wilderness trim can tow up to 3,000 pounds but the base model tops out at 1,500 pounds. Some Forester fans, however, have reported being able to tow weights that go beyond the official max. On RedditForester drivers explained that the capacity in the US is lesser than in other countries due to towing standards being different in each country. Wrote one Forester enthusiast: “My 2007 Forester is rated for 2,400lbs here and 4,400lbs in Europe.”

Read reviewed the 2024 Kia Sportage and concluded it was “quite unremarkable.” The inside is handsome and also pretty spacious. The top speed is a forgettable 115 miles per hour. The towing is another sore spot for this SUV — it can only tow up to 2,500 pounds when equipped with trailer brakes, a tow hitch with harness, and retractable and fixed tow bars. Without them, the maximum drops down to 1,653 pounds. Still, this is enough to tow a lot of useful vehicles like an ATV, jet ski, motorcycle, and even a teardrop trailer.

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It may not be anywhere near that of the SUVs with the heaviest towing capacities (which can reach well over 8,000 pounds), but it’s still a pretty capable weight if you are looking for a can-do SUV for a fun day out at the beach or on the trails.

The 2024 Ford Bronco is the SUV with the lowest towing capacity of 2024. The standard configuration for the 2024 Ford Bronco Sport, which has a 1.5L three-cylinder engine producing 181 HP, can tow just 2,000 pounds. If you upgrade to the 2.0L turbo four-cylinder engine, you’ll be able to tow a maximum of 2,200 pounds. This is quite below that of the other SUVs on this list — which are already pretty low.

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The Ford Bronco makes up for its abysmal towing capabilities with an abundance of tech at every trim level. Some of these trims will elevate your off-roading experience with bigger tires and extra suspension features, like the Wildtrak and Raptor (although it starts to get quite pricey). While the Ford Bronco may not be towing a trailer to a campsite, it’s a fun SUV to bring with you on any adventure where you want to explore the road less traveled.