Every vehicle has a maximum weight limit and, as you can imagine, it’s not a good idea to exceed that weight limit. Even vehicles without tow ratings still have weight limits. For example, a 2019 Honda Accord with the 2.0-liter turbo engine has a payload capacity of 850 pounds. Once you exceed that limit, it can cause damage to all sorts of systems within the vehicle, including the engine, suspension, brakes, and even the transmission. If you go too far overboard, you might even drag the undercarriage of the car along the ground, bottom out the vehicle more often, and damage the outside of the car in other ways.
For the engine, though, the big problem is engine strain. A car’s engine is designed to pull a certain amount of weight. It can and will pull more than that, but it causes an immense amount of strain on the components. That strain will eventually direct to component failure and engine wear. Plus, there are myriad negative benefits to overloading your car. Many insurance companies will void your car insurance for doing so. So, if you do it too often or to an extreme degree, you could wind up with a broken-down car and no car insurance. That’s a rough double whammy.
While it may not be as convenient, it’s a smarter idea to rent something capable of carrying the weight you want to carry. U-Haul trucks and other types of rental trucks will fit the bill just fine, as their engines are designed to haul a whole lot more than your sedan. Let the proper engine do the work.
