Can My Car Be Flat Towed? How to Check Your Exact Year and Trim

By Jeff McDonough, Founder of TowPro Academy, 10+ years and 250,000+ miles of towing experience.

Short answer: Your car can be flat towed only if its maker says so for your exact model year, drivetrain and transmission. To check, write down exactly what you own, find the owner’s manual for that year, and look for a section called Recreational Towing, Dinghy Towing or Towing Behind a Motorhome. Then cross-check the maker’s towing guide for that model year and confirm with a dealer using your VIN. If the manual says no, or says nothing, don’t flat tow it. Use a tow dolly (if the manual allows it) or a car trailer instead.

There are plenty of “best cars to flat tow” lists, and some are well kept. But a list tells you about a model name, not about your car. The same nameplate can be a yes with one drivetrain and a no with another, and the answer can change from one model year to the next. This guide shows you how to check your own vehicle so you get an answer you can trust.

Step 1: Write down exactly what you have

Before you open any manual, pin down these details. Each one can change the answer:

• Model year (not the year you bought it).
• Model and trim, including words like Hybrid, Plug-in Hybrid, EV, 4×4 or AWD.
• Drivetrain: front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive or 4×4.
• Transmission: automatic or manual.
• Transfer case on 4x4s: single-speed or two-speed, and whether it has a Neutral position.
• Your VIN (on the driver’s side of the dash, visible through the windshield, and on your registration).

The window sticker or the dealer’s paperwork usually lists the drivetrain and transmission. NHTSA’s free VIN decoder shows information encoded in your VIN, which helps confirm the model year and basic build details. For the transfer case, ask a dealer to look up your VIN.

Step 2: Get the right owner’s manual

Use the manual for your model year, and for the country the car was sold in. If the glovebox copy is missing, most makers post manuals online: Chevrolet has a Manuals and Guides page, Ford has an owner manuals page, and Jeep publishes full owner’s manual PDFs, such as the 2026 Jeep Wrangler owner’s manual.

Why does the country matter? Even small details can differ. Ford’s US 2026 RV & Trailer Towing Guide gives a 70 mph maximum for its flat-towable hybrids and calls the required mode “Stay In Neutral” (Ford 2026 RV & Trailer Towing Guide, page 48). Ford Canada’s version of the same page gives 112 km/h and calls it “Neutral Tow” mode (Ford Canada 2026 four-wheel-down and tow-dolly pages). Use the manual that matches your car.

Step 3: Find the recreational towing section

Check the index for Recreational Towing, Dinghy Towing, Towing Behind a Motorhome, Towing the Vehicle on Four Wheels or just Towing. Watch out for Emergency Towing or Towing a Disabled Vehicle. Those sections cover a tow truck after a breakdown, not towing behind your RV for hundreds of miles. Don’t mix them up.

Many manuals start the section with a small chart. The 2026 Jeep Wrangler manual is a good example of how to read one. Its Recreational Towing chart for four-wheel-drive models lists three ways to tow:

• Flat Tow (no wheels off the ground): allowed, with “See Instructions.” Automatic transmission in PARK, manual transmission in gear, transfer case in Neutral, and tow in the forward direction only.
• Dolly Tow, front or rear wheels up: “NOT ALLOWED.”
• On Trailer: “OK.”

After the chart comes a step-by-step procedure for shifting the transfer case into Neutral, and another for shifting it back out (2026 Jeep Wrangler owner’s manual, Recreational Towing, page 218). That’s what a “yes” looks like: a clear allowance plus a procedure. If you find the allowance but no steps, you don’t have enough information yet. Call the dealer.

For a full walkthrough of two popular toads, see flat towing a Jeep Wrangler or Ford Bronco: what the owner’s manual says.

Once your manual says yes, the next step is to match a baseplate and tow bar.

Step 4: Cross-check the maker’s towing guide

Several makers publish a yearly towing guide with a flat-tow chart for every model. GM’s 2026 Chevrolet Trailering Guide has a “Dinghy (flat) towing capability” chart on page 47. Ford’s 2026 RV & Trailer Towing Guide has a “Four-Wheel-Down Availability” chart on page 48. Ford’s support page explains how to find your model year’s guide using your VIN.

These few examples, taken straight from those documents, show how much the details matter. They aren’t a complete list, and they only apply to the 2026 model year:

If the guide and your manual ever disagree, follow the manual and ask the dealer to explain the difference. GM’s guide itself says to review the Dinghy Towing section of the Owner’s Manual before flat towing, and Ford’s says individual vehicles have different restrictions and procedures.

For a closer look at the Honda CR-V and Chevy Equinox, see why the answer changes by year.

Why drivetrain, transmission and model year matter

When a car rolls on all four wheels with the engine off, parts of its drivetrain can turn too. Whether that’s safe depends on how the drivetrain is built. That’s why approvals follow the hardware, not the badge:

• Transfer case. On many 4x4s, a two-speed transfer case with a Neutral position is what makes flat towing possible. Jeep’s manual explains that the Neutral position “disengages both the front and rear driveshafts from the powertrain.” GM’s and Ford’s charts mark several 4×4 models as needing a two-speed transfer case.
• Transmission. Ford’s chart lists automatic and manual transmissions separately. Some approved vehicles need engine-run steps along the way. For its flat-towable hybrids, Ford says to start the engine at the beginning of each day and every six hours or less, shift into Drive and then Reverse with your foot on the brake, then shift back to Neutral.
• Electronics. Some procedures include fuse or battery steps. Chevrolet’s dinghy towing support page describes a procedure for select vehicles that has you disconnect the negative battery terminal, because some safety features can activate even when the vehicle is off.
• Model year. Makers update powertrains, and they revise their guides. Ford’s 2026 flat-tow page carries a revision date. GM’s guide notes that information may have been updated since publication. Last year’s answer is not this year’s answer until you check.

What “not approved” looks like

Treat any of these as a no for flat towing:

• The maker’s chart says “No” or “Not Allowed” for your exact row.
• The manual says the vehicle must be towed with all four wheels off the ground, or only on a flatbed or car trailer.
• The manual only covers dolly towing or emergency towing.
• The manual doesn’t mention recreational or dinghy towing at all. Silence is not permission.
• You can find a “yes” only on a forum, a social media group or a seller’s listing.

What about aftermarket kits? Ford’s guide notes that some aftermarket camper centers offer kits that may let vehicles with automatic transmissions be flat towed, and then adds a warning: “Check your new vehicle Warranty Guide, as this could void the warranty of your vehicle.” Jeep’s manual says damage from improper towing is not covered under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty. If you’re considering a modification, get the warranty answer from the maker in writing first.

Step 5: Confirm with your VIN

Call or visit a dealer for your brand’s service department, or the maker’s customer line, and give them your VIN. Ask:

1. “Is this exact vehicle approved for recreational towing with all four wheels down?”
2. “Which transmission and, if it’s a 4×4, which transfer case does it have?”
3. “Can you print or email me the recreational towing page for this VIN?”
4. “Are there any updates, service bulletins or software changes that affect towing on this vehicle?”

Keep the printout with your towing checklist in the rig. If you’re shopping for a car to tow, do this before you buy. It’s much easier than finding out afterward.

If the answer is no

You still have options. A tow dolly lifts the front wheels, but only works if the manual allows front-wheels-up towing. Ford’s 2026 dolly chart, for example, lists the front-wheel-drive Escape as a yes for dolly towing (it’s a no for flat towing) and says its AWD and 4WD vehicles can’t be towed with two wheels lifted. A car trailer carries the whole car, so it works for most vehicles that fit the weight and size limits. Our Flat Tow vs Tow Dolly vs Car Trailer guide compares all three behind a motorhome, and Tow Dolly vs Car Trailer goes deeper on those two.

Whatever you choose, the dolly or trailer adds weight. Run the numbers against your motorhome’s ratings with Towing Capacity Explained before you buy anything.

Once you have a yes, the next step is setting it up and hooking up the same way every time. Our step-by-step guide to flat towing behind a motorhome covers that.

FAQ

Is there a list of every car that can be flat towed?

Some makers, including GM and Ford, publish yearly charts for their own models. Third-party lists can be a good place to start shopping, but they can’t account for your exact drivetrain, transmission or any revisions. The manual for your vehicle has the final say.

Can all-wheel-drive cars be flat towed?

Some can and some can’t. In GM’s 2026 chart, the Trailblazer AWD is a yes and the Equinox AWD is a no. Drivetrain type alone doesn’t answer the question. Check your own manual.

If last year’s model could be flat towed, can mine?

Not necessarily. Makers change transmissions, transfer cases and procedures, and they revise their towing guides. Check the manual and guide for your model year.

Can I modify a car that isn’t approved so it can be flat towed?

Aftermarket kits exist for some vehicles, but Ford’s own towing guide warns they could void your warranty. Get the maker’s warranty position in writing before you modify anything, or use a dolly (if allowed) or a car trailer.

What if my manual doesn’t mention recreational towing at all?

Treat it as a no until the maker tells you otherwise. Call a dealer or the maker’s customer line with your VIN and ask for the towing information in writing.

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