Car Rental with Tow Bar: Where to Find It and What to Know

Try to book a car with a tow bar and you’ll quickly notice a pattern: everyone gives you a version of the same answer. “We don’t do that here.” “Try a different branch.” “It’s against our policy.” If you’re trying to move a boat, a caravan or a loaded trailer somewhere in Europe, here’s what’s actually true, which suppliers occasionally say yes, and what to book instead when they don’t.

Why almost nobody includes a tow bar as standard

Rental fleets are built to be interchangeable — the same Golf or Corsa has to work for a business trip one week and a family holiday the next, with no modifications in between. A tow hitch breaks that model. It puts extra load on the gearbox, brakes and rear suspension, and it hands the supplier a liability question they’d rather not deal with: was the towing authorised, was the trailer within the certified weight limit, did the driver actually know what they were doing?

That’s why almost every standard rental contract bans towing outright unless you get written permission first — whether or not the car happens to have a hitch bolted on.

Which companies actually say yes

The honest answer is: a handful, and it depends on the branch, not just the brand.

Avis keeps a small number of cars and vans with a tow bar in its Dutch fleet. You can book one online, through the Avis call centre, or at a branch in the Netherlands — it’s a genuine, standing offer, just a limited one. Europcar’s general terms prohibit towing unless the vehicle is designed for it, but cars fitted with a factory tow hook can pull a caravan or trailer up to 1,000 kg, and Europcar will fit a tow bar to utility vans on request for business use. Sixt, by contrast, states plainly in its own help centre that its rental vehicles cannot be used to tow any vehicle, trailer or object — no exceptions, no branch override. If you’ve been told “maybe try Sixt,” that’s not accurate anywhere.

In the US, Enterprise doesn’t allow a hitch or towing on standard rental cars either, but its separate Enterprise Truck Rental division rents 3/4-ton and 1-ton pickups with towing capability (receiver only, manufacturer-rated limits, extra fee).

Your best real shot in Europe is often outside the big four altogether. UK specialists like Indigo Car Hire and Easirent (bookable through Orbit Car Hire) keep vans, 4x4s and pickups with a tow bar already fitted as part of their fleet. Expect to be 25 or over with a licence held for at least two years, a one-way fee around £50 if you need it, and roughly £120 extra if you’re taking the vehicle across into mainland Europe (it covers breakdown cover and insurance for the trip). That’s on top of the usual car rental requirements around age, licence and payment card, so check both before you book.

Whichever route you pick, call the specific branch before paying. Fleet composition changes location by location, and none of these suppliers let you filter for “has a tow bar” through the normal online booking flow.

Compare prices while you’re at it — even for a standard car without a hitch, it’s worth checking a few rental options before committing to whichever branch says yes to towing, since availability (and price) can swing a lot between suppliers on the same dates.

The licence and weight rule people get wrong

Even if you find a tow bar, your own driving licence sets the real ceiling. A standard category B licence lets you tow a trailer up to 750 kg without anything extra. Above that, you can still legally tow with a plain B licence as long as the car’s weight plus the loaded trailer doesn’t add up to more than 3,500 kg combined. Cross that line and you need the B96 or BE category — training most tourists renting for a week or two simply don’t have, which is part of why suppliers stay cautious.

One detail specific to the Netherlands: if the trailer or its cargo covers the rental car’s number plate, you’re required to display a duplicate white plate carrying that same registration, which you arrange yourself before setting off.

Insurance doesn’t just come along for the ride

Standard CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) covers damage to the rental car itself, up to the excess. It generally does not cover the trailer, its contents, or damage to the rental car caused specifically by towing-related stress — that’s a common gap people only discover after something’s gone wrong. If you’re already unsure what your excess waiver actually covers on a European rental, it’s worth reading through what rental insurance in Europe does and doesn’t cover before you add a trailer into the mix. Either way, get towing cover confirmed in writing from the supplier — a verbal “should be fine” at the counter isn’t worth much if there’s a claim later.

Moving something for weeks, not days? Look past standard rental

If you’re relocating a boat or a caravan across the continent over several weeks rather than picking something up for a weekend, a standard weekly rental is the wrong tool regardless of whether it has a tow bar. People who do this regularly often use short-term lease buyback programmes from French manufacturers — Peugeot, Renault, Citroën — where you’re registered as the keeper of the car for the term of the lease. That status makes it realistic to arrange a tow bar fitting for the trip, something a one-week rental booking simply won’t accommodate. It takes more lead time to set up and isn’t cheap for short trips, but for a month-long relocation it solves a problem that calling around rental desks won’t.

If none of that works: commercial van hire

When a tow bar genuinely isn’t available anywhere reasonable, a van is usually the fastest fix. Europcar and similar suppliers will fit a tow bar to a utility van on request in a way they generally won’t for a passenger car, and the van’s own load bay may cover what you needed the trailer for in the first place. Search specifically for “van with tow bar” rather than a car — you’ll get more real options, and the supplier is less likely to treat the request as unusual.