Looking to get a detachable towbar fitted to the vRS to use with a bike carrier mainly and an odd trailer trip.

Got a quote from a local agent:

We can offer several options for the Skoda, the two I would recommend are:

1, Brink/Thule bar, Ryder towing electrics 7 Pin (for trailer or bike rack) £385 + vat

13 pin (for Caravan with split charge) £425 + vat

2, Westfalia Bar with dedicated Skoda wiring 7 Pin £495 + vat

(these are O.E. to VAG group) 13 Pin £535 +vat

and had a look on the tinternet too.

What's a good price to pay from anyone who's had one fitted recently?

Cheers

ACSC

Just come back from France with my cycle rack on the Westfalia. My 7 pin wiring was done through a relay board and not Skoda wiring. The only disadvantage is that the parking sensors wail when in reverse- but how often are you in reverse. A neat and unobtrusive installation. by a local specialist firm in Chesterfield. Paid about £340 last year.

Are the prices quoted for a detachable tow bar and the bike carrier/rack?

Are the prices quoted for a detachable tow bar and the bike carrier/rack?

Just the towbar,

£300 or so to add on for the Thule rack

Cheers

ACSC

Just come back from France with my cycle rack on the Westfalia. My 7 pin wiring was done through a relay board and not Skoda wiring. The only disadvantage is that the parking sensors wail when in reverse- but how often are you in reverse. A neat and unobtrusive installation. by a local specialist firm in Chesterfield. Paid about £340 last year.

Any chance of the details?

Got mates in Inkersall so could manage a trip to the Spiretown if it saved me a few quid

Cheers

ACSC

I have been looking at the Thule/Brink detachable towbar and wiring kit. I would guesstimate the mechanic I use would probably only charge £60-£70 for fitting, and I was looking at the Thule 9503 3 bike carrier, so approximately 500 quid all in.

http://www.towitall.co.uk/

Just a happy customer. Enjoy your visit.

http://www.towitall.co.uk/

Just a happy customer. Enjoy your visit.

email sent

Cheers

ACSC

Strange, but in Belgium one can't combine a vrs and a tow bar...

Strange, but in Belgium one can't combine a vrs and a tow bar...

Why? :S

2, Westfalia Bar with dedicated Skoda wiring

13 Pin £535 +vat

What's a good price to pay from anyone who's had one fitted recently?

I just had that one fitted to my Scout: Westfalia detachable, 13 pin dedicated Skoda electrics with caravan split charging, including re-coding (to get the parking sensors, foglights, alarm, and bulb failure warnings to work with it). £480 + VAT. That was in Bristol.

Another quote from a local place:

To supply and fit a Westfalia detachable tow-bar to your vehicle with a single vehicle specific wiring harness would be £490.00inc vat. With the 13pin/twin v.s.wiring it would be £537.00inc vat.

The vehicle specific wiring harness is used to activate the network of modules already incorporated in your vehicles electrics. It does not affect any warranty you have on the vehicle. Recoding of these electrics is required after fitting. We have the software to do this and is included in the price.

The 13pin would be fitted if you wanted the double electrics as there is only room for 1 socket with the detachable bar. An adapter would be given if you have 2 x 7 pin plugs on your caravan.

So a saving equivalent to the VAT there compared to the first quote

ACSC

I just had one fitted to...asabove, a Westfalia with the 13 pin Skoda electric kit.

Towbar was £175 (Ebay - can't remember seller), electrics £137 (Ebay - towbarman) and £75 fitting at a local garage.

I went for the detachable Westfalia as the bumper doesn't require cutting to fit it...all of the others (apart from Skoda (Westfalia)) still needed a cut despite being removable.

HTH

I had a 7 pin set p fitted last month. It was using a relay, therefore the reversing sensors etc still work unlike a factory fit. It is a detatchable witter bar and cost me £330 at Autosounds in Newcastle. They did a vey neat job, the electric plug swings down from behind the bumper. When the tow bar is removed all you can see is the tiny loop for your safety wire.

I use it for a bike rack also - the one I went for is the Atera Strada 3 from roofbox.co.uk. I am very impressed with the way it slides to allow access to the boot of the car.

I just had that one fitted to my Scout: Westfalia detachable, 13 pin dedicated Skoda electrics with caravan split charging, including re-coding (to get the parking sensors, foglights, alarm, and bulb failure warnings to work with it). £480 + VAT. That was in Bristol.

Cheers for the info

I just had one fitted to...asabove, a Westfalia with the 13 pin Skoda electric kit.

Towbar was £175 (Ebay - can't remember seller), electrics £137 (Ebay - towbarman) and £75 fitting at a local garage.

I went for the detachable Westfalia as the bumper doesn't require cutting to fit it...all of the others (apart from Skoda (Westfalia)) still needed a cut despite being removable.

HTH

Sounds like you got a deal there then, did the garage do all the required recoding too?

Cheers

ACSC

I had a 7 pin set p fitted last month. It was using a relay, therefore the reversing sensors etc still work unlike a factory fit. It is a detatchable witter bar and cost me £330 at Autosounds in Newcastle. They did a vey neat job, the electric plug swings down from behind the bumper. When the tow bar is removed all you can see is the tiny loop for your safety wire.

I use it for a bike rack also - the one I went for is the Atera Strada 3 from roofbox.co.uk. I am very impressed with the way it slides to allow access to the boot of the car.

You got any pics at all?

Cheers

ACSC

The Westfalia detachable does require a cut. A template comes with the instructions. But is is an 'invisible' instalation , meaning that the cut is very small and can't be seen unless you look underneath. A red blanking plug takes up most of the cut and the 7 pin socket hinges up behing the valance ,when not being used.

@pagey1255: don't know. The greenline version can't be equipped with it either. In Holland, one can, and from what I hear and read, in the UK too. Strange, I thought this was Europe, and regulations would be the same about everywhere. Seems not to be the case. When looking for an new car last year, I went for the Golf Bluemotion. The dealer immediately warned me that a tow bar was 'technically impossible'. So I went for the O2 greenline. When I specifically asked the dealer if a tow bar was possible, he himself was surprised to see that it wasn't (I was one of the first ones to order a 1.6 cr tdi), so I had to go for the 'normal' cr tdi. For once, Belgium is not as free as are other countries...

The Westfalia detachable does require a cut. A template comes with the instructions. But is is an 'invisible' instalation , meaning that the cut is very small and can't be seen unless you look underneath. A red blanking plug takes up most of the cut and the 7 pin socket hinges up behing the valance ,when not being used.

Interesting - on my Scout there was no bumper cut for the Westfalia detachable. I suppose the Scout bumper is a slightly difference shape.

When the towbar is removed and the socket swivelled up you cannot see anything at all. Even if you get down on your hands and knees you can't really see anything. I have to fit the towbar by feel alone!

I just had that one fitted to my Scout: Westfalia detachable, 13 pin dedicated Skoda electrics with caravan split charging, including re-coding (to get the parking sensors, foglights, alarm, and bulb failure warnings to work with it). £480 + VAT. That was in Bristol.

WHO DID YOU USE IN BRISTOL

Doll:

Is this your towbar?

The kit comes with a single electric, but if you check the sellers other items they have a twin electric kit and bypas for another 40ish quid!

WHO DID YOU USE IN BRISTOL

I used Britannia Towbars (http://www.britanniabristol.co.uk/). I went with them as they were the only place I could find that had the equipment to do the coding of the car electronics in house. All the other quotes said I'd have to get the Skoda dealer to do it. Since I'd read about problems with coding I wanted a one-stop-shop so I had one place to blame if it went wrong.

As it happened, after I picked it up the coding was only half done (the car fog lights turned off when the trailer was connected, but the parking sensors didn't).

I took it back and they re-coded it while I waited. They were very, very apologetic about it.

Despite that little problem, I would recommend them. They were very friendly and helpful. I re-wired my caravan to fit a 13 pin plug and they gave me advice on that, told me I could phone them if I had any problems with the caravan wiring, and even gave me a handful of spare fuses (as if I made a mistake with the wiring I'd blow the fuses in the car that they'd just installed). I'd use them again.

I've also used LNB Towbars in the past (http://www.lnbtowbars.co.uk/) for my previous car. He did a good job on a fixed towbar for my VW Passat. I didn't use him this time because he was slightly more expensive for the dedicated wiring installation, and I'd have had to get it coded at the dealer. But I'd recommend him for a bypass-wiring installation.

Doll:

Is this your towbar?

The kit comes with a single electric, but if you check the sellers other items they have a twin electric kit and bypas for another 40ish quid!

Hi matey,

Yes that's the one and the guy I bought it from.

Nice thing about that towbar is the lack of a visible cut - which is what you want from a detachable towbar.

The bypass relay kit would be fine as long as you do not have rear parking sensors.

I bought the proper kit, which switches them off in reverse and also connects the bulbs to the CANBUS lighting circuit.

I used Britannia Towbars (http://www.britanniabristol.co.uk/). I went with them as they were the only place I could find that had the equipment to do the coding of the car electronics in house. All the other quotes said I'd have to get the Skoda dealer to do it. Since I'd read about problems with coding I wanted a one-stop-shop so I had one place to blame if it went wrong.

As it happened, after I picked it up the coding was only half done (the car fog lights turned off when the trailer was connected, but the parking sensors didn't).

I took it back and they re-coded it while I waited. They were very, very apologetic about it.

Despite that little problem, I would recommend them. They were very friendly and helpful. I re-wired my caravan to fit a 13 pin plug and they gave me advice on that, told me I could phone them if I had any problems with the caravan wiring, and even gave me a handful of spare fuses (as if I made a mistake with the wiring I'd blow the fuses in the car that they'd just installed). I'd use them again.

I've also used LNB Towbars in the past (http://www.lnbtowbars.co.uk/) for my previous car. He did a good job on a fixed towbar for my VW Passat. I didn't use him this time because he was slightly more expensive for the dedicated wiring installation, and I'd have had to get it coded at the dealer. But I'd recommend him for a bypass-wiring installation.

HOW MUTCH did they charge you and what towbar did you have fitted. iused lmb towbars on my last octavia ,