People tow small boats and jet skis with their cars. HN just never crosses paths with those people because they're both above and below the income range around here.

Yes, I’ve seen it. Comparatively very few people in the US tow with cars compared to the rest of the world. For two reasons:

1. Pickups are comparatively very popular in the US.

2. The US has more stringent regulations for towing than the rest of the world; a vehicle rated to tow 2000lbs in EU often is rated to tow nothing at all in the US. [0]

0: https://oppositelock.kinja.com/tow-me-down-1609112611

In my experience it's more like a lifted GMC Yukon XL that came with incandescent bulbs but has had them swapped out for something 10x brighter and angled perfectly to hit the rear view mirror in any car less than 50 ft off the ground. God, I hate SUVs.