A witness said the Touareg was struggling to tow the Ferrari and Mercedes
July 22, 2025 at 15:50
- A VW Touareg crashed while towing a Ferrari 488 and Mercedes-Benz GLA in Europe.
- The trailer detached after a tire blew and flipped into a grassy roadside embankment.
- Both vehicles stayed strapped in but were left hanging upside down after the crash.
If you’re attempting to tow a massive car trailer, a Ferrari 488 GTB, and a Mercedes-Benz GLA, you’d better make sure you set everything up correctly and do not exceed the permitted towing rating of the vehicle you’re driving. It seems the driver of a VW Touareg in Europe recently discovered this the hard way and will probably be left to have a very awkward conversation with their insurer.
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Details about this incident are limited, but it looks to have happened over the weekend, somewhere in Serbia. According to the Redditor who posted about it, he overtook the Touareg and the trailer shortly before the crash, noting that the SUV was “clearly struggling” and “barely pulling the load.” He added that the trailer was also swaying left to right.
A Tire Blowout and a Sudden Loss of Control
Shortly afterwards, disaster struck. According to authorities, one of the SUV’s tires blew, and it spun out of control. The trailer detached from the VW and flipped onto a grass embankment next to the road. Remarkably, the red Mercedes GLA and the yellow Ferrari being towed remain strapped in, but were left to dangle upside down.
While the Touareg is quite a capable tow vehicle and can pull as much as 3,500 kg (7,716 lbs), it’s almost certain that figure has been exceeded. Both the Ferrari 488 and first-gen Mercedes GLA weigh around 1,500 kg (about 3,300 lbs), and the trailer almost certainly exceeds 500 kg (1,102 lbs).
Some commentators have speculated that the weight on the trailer may not have been distributed correctly, and there are no signs that any safety chains have been used to ensure the trailer remained firmly attached to the Volkswagen.
Read: Driver Sues Ferrari After Alleged Brake Failure Caused 488 To Fall Into Pond
It’s difficult to determine the full extent of the damage done to the Mercedes and Ferrari, but both of their roofs have almost certainly been crushed. If so, they’ll probably be written off by their insurer – assuming they were insured to begin with, of course.
