Towing a boat

Curious about towing capability also. The "lifestyle hitch" seems designed only to hold things like bike racks and cargo carriers, and in the United States the Seltos isn't rated to tow. But because the Seltos is rated to tow in other markets, I'd imagine the hitch is mounted in a way that could support the load if the hitch is sturdy enough. I would imagine that in use as a "lifestyle hitch" that it wouldn't come with a wiring harness though I don't know that for sure.

Towing in the US might void the powertrain warranty, and inching up a steep boat ramp would be really hard on the clutch. Any towing I am thinking of doing would be more along the lines of a 4x8 foot open bed trailer to haul gardening supplies and stuff to take to the transfer station, so a much less demanding use than yours.

Yeah. I’d be a little curious. In Canada it is definitely a “do not tow” warning vehicle.

Also have note that in different markets there are also different powertrains and chassis systems. I don’t know how much of a difference that makes.

The manual and spec say "Towing/trailering NOT recommended". Plus, 2,000 lbs is way too much for that transmission. Read the operator manual carefully. There's some tricky wording. According to "Kia", towing is not recommended.

ALAP said:

The manual and spec say "Towing/trailering NOT recommended". Plus, 2,000 lbs is way too much for that transmission. Read the operator manual carefully. There's some tricky wording. According to "Kia", towing is not recommended.

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See, that’s the thing; manufacturers are over cautious on everything! I don’t bother with 95% of what the “operators manual “ says.
I will be towing a boat no matter what Kia says, ofcourse I’ll use reasonable logic when towing, but I’ve towed many boats, trailers with little cars, SUV’s,mini vans over the last 40 years and NEVER had tranny issues so I’m not expecting any with a turbo seltos and if I do, it’s going back for warranty repairs. If it can’t haul a little 1500lb item behind it, then it shouldn’t be made to begin with!

Bearhunter said:

See, that’s the thing; manufacturers are over cautious on everything! I don’t bother with 95% of what the “operators manual “ says.
I will be towing a boat no matter what Kia says, ofcourse I’ll use reasonable logic when towing, but I’ve towed many boats, trailers with little cars, SUV’s,mini vans over the last 40 years and NEVER had tranny issues so I’m not expecting any with a turbo seltos and if I do, it’s going back for warranty repairs. If it can’t haul a little 1500lb item behind it, then it shouldn’t be made to begin with!

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It's not the engine, it's the transmission and partly the brakes.

IVT and DCT are not made for towing in these vehicles, which is why they don't recommend it. You can burn out the clutch packs on the DCT and god knows what happens to the band in the IVT towing that much weight. I can pretty much guarantee you if you throw a 2" hitch on the Seltos and have a transmission/engine/brake issue they will not cover it due to "Abuse". You can fight it of course but that costs money to pursuit.