Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian B-P
By coincidence, a flyer came from a "performance" parts store (now mostly truck equipment - JB's Power Centre) today, with some hitches. What looks like the Curt E16 is only C$376, but the Q20 is C$800. The Q20 may well be worth the price difference, but it's not cheap.
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The Curt E16 was the cheapest hitch at the extreme end in the Etrailer list I did up for comparison purposes. In that list the E16 came in at $250 vs the Q20 at $515 (both USD). Without shipping or brokerage fees that would be around $330 vs $680 Canadian. The difference isn't as great but it's up there - proving the Q20 is certainly not cheap - but that is comparing it to the most extremely cheap hitch and the only one off the eTrailer list with a bar hitch design.
Again, I think the closer comparison to the Curt Q20 is the Reese Titan or Patriot 3200. Here is what these come to based on eTrailer pricing converted to a rough Canadian$ conversion:
R16 Reese Titan = $920 cndn
Patriot 3200 = $830 cndn
Curt Q20 = $680 cndn
Of course prices may vary from retailer to retailer and for a Canadian purchase the above Etrailer prices would incur shipping and possibly brokerage fees over and above. However, the JB's flyer price of $800 cndn is still cheaper than the other two comparables above before additional shipping cost is figured in.
The E16 is probably more comparable to the Pro Series Reese hitch. Etrailer pricing is $330 cndn vs $560 cndn (before shipping costs). Your JB's flyer price is $376 for the E16 - proving it might be the best value in this cheapest of the cheap segment.
When comparing if these hitches are cheap or expensive it is probably best to compare them to a similar class. The Curt Q16 Etrailer price works out to about $520 cndn. I would compare it to the 16K Reese which comes in at about $700 converted to cndn. Even the Pro-Series Reese is more expensive at the $560 cndn mentioned above.
If comparing Reese to Curt - the above suggests that Reese is consistently more expensive than Curt. Some might even argue that the Curt Q16 should be compared to the ones I am comparing the Q20 to and that the Q20 should be compared to other higher priced 20k hitches. But without even going there it should be obvious that both the Q20 and Q16 provide exceptional value within their class. Unless of course one is ordering a new 5.0 TA and in need of a hitch. IF ETI is providing the 16K Reese (not the Pro-Series) as the option list would seem to suggest. That $425 cndn price tag is a tremendous bargain considering this would otherwise cost $700'ish or maybe more.