How to tow an NV?

[Daydreamin520]

For future reference, in case I ever get stuck somewhere.

 

How should an NV be towed? (high roof SV V6 2500) 

Should I refuse if they show up with a truck that only puts one set of wheels up off the ground?

 

Seems like I've read somewhere someone getting damage from a tow.

(or was it a tire change?)

 

Thanks.

[radin2son]

Check with you insurance agent to see what your coverage is and request/demand a flat bed to tow it when you need a tow. Too many people, especially those on the "tow" phone, still don't know what an NV is.

 

Same for a tire change. They need to know this is a large truck.

 

One other thing, your tow coverage may not cover dirt roads. Some barely cover being on the shoulder. Not problem getting towed, just very expensive.

[radin2son]

I checked my NV insurance policy regarding towing and roadside assistance. The phrase is "Reasonable and necessary each disablement." When I first read this I called my agent to ask what this actually meant. His response was whatever it takes to get it to place where the problem can be fixed. To put in geographically, a break down in Cochise Stronghold may require a 100+ mile tow on a flat bed to Tucson if there is no one in Benson able to deal with it.

 

Another issue may be how you insure your NV. If you have it on a car/ house policy it may be different than the way a SMB is insured. Initially, my agent insured our NV on our car/house policy thinking our NV was an aftermarket conversion. No problem, except only the van and $10K of the camper conversion was insured. (As long as you keep your conversion below this "computer generated" amount you will have enough insurance.) Since our van was purchased as a camper van from Nissan, we could go with a class B RV policy.

 

Liberty Mutual has offered an interesting policy for our VW. They will tow it to the nearest VW dealership. Wonder if they know that could be hundreds of miles?

[RICK]

Don't know about your coverage, but the nv is covered for towing for the duration of the warranty 5 years 100, 000 miles.

 

Rick.

[radin2son]

36K warranty ended 4K ago.

 

Never looked at the details of the roadside service since my NV insurance covered this as well. Had I needed to, I suppose I could have picked which one worked best. (Since insurance policies vary state to state, you really have to look at the wording of coverage. In California, some were having trouble insuring 4x4 SMB conversions. This seemed to vary by company.)

 

The good news is the dependability of the NV, so we may not have to use it.

Edited March 6, 2015 by radin2son

[RICK]

Took a screenshot of the towing coverage. It's actually 5 years 60, 000 miles. And roadside assistance is 3 year 36, 000 miles.

Edited March 6, 2015 by RICK

[RICK]

There's a continuation of the towing coverage. Unfortunally it will not accept another screenshot. Not sure why.

 

Just go to your warranty pdf from the nissan site and read the next page.

 

I'll try later to post it.

 

Rick

[radin2son]

See, I never read it closely. I simply lumped roadside assistance and towing into 3yrs/36K.

 

This is a much better deal, or at least clearer than my insurance policy, since this plan will tow it to the nearest NV dealer. So, now we know it will be a 100+ mile tow from Cochise Stronghold to Jim Click Nissan in Tucson. The only difficult part will be the 5+ mile walk to get to a spot with cell phone service.

 

Thanks for the clarification. This is very reassuring with so few dealerships out west.

[Daydreamin520]

says "to the first retail buyer" on that warranty.  So, with only 29k on my 2013 NV, as a second owner... no go for me?

[radin2son]

I initially read it the same way, but it goes on to say the roadside/towing service year/mileage starts with the first owner and transfers to subsequent owners. You get the remaining years/mileage.

 

You will have to find the original date of purchase or go by the build date on the driver side door frame to get a rough idea of what warranty remains and how long the tow service lasts.

[Tatunka]

NISSAN recommends that your vehicle be towed

 

with the driving (rear) wheels off the ground or

 

place the vehicle on a flat bed truck as illustrated.

 

(per the owners manual)

[radin2son]

Although it may be fine to tow a 3 to 4.5 ton loaded, 20' NV with the rear wheels off the ground, I wouldn't. I would wait for a flat bed. Within Tucson, there seem to be enough tow companies with flat beds, so the wait wouldn't be that long. The problem may be which companies have the contract.

 

Outside of western urban areas, not including the coast, NV dealers are few and the distances to be towed are huge. In southeastern Utah, the tow choice would be Salt Lake City or Grand Junction, CO. I would be surprised if Flagstaff has a NV dealer. Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Phoenix are too far away.

 

Several other NV owners, not necessarily in the west, have mentioned being a long ways from a dealer. The key word in the tow service description is "transport" as in flat bed as far as I'm concerned.

 

This may not be that important to local business NV users, but it is for conversion and passenger vans used for travel and towing. The good news is that the NV tow policy gets you to the nearest certified dealer, and even better news is the fact that no one has posted they needed to use this for a mechanical issue.

Edited March 8, 2015 by radin2son