Now having reached the grand old age of forty something, I've decided it's high time I drag a ton of caravan around the UK and do the

camping thing for a bit.

I've read much on here about the costs and complication of fitting a towbar to the yeti - so many choices and so much cost.

Anyhow, for an update this is what I found out :-

Skoda dealer - Robert Eardley (near where I work) for twin electrics and detachable swan neck towbar - "Are you sitting down sir?" = £750

Skoda dealer - Rainworth in Mansfield. A rather more reasonable £465 for more or less the same thing.

Skoda dealers engage a third party to actually fit the towbars - Witter etc.... I thought I'd go directly to the witter site and get a quote from them.

Now, Witter do, as well as a fixed flange type towbar - a detachable swan neck AND a detachable FLANGE type towbar. The good thing with

both the detachables is that they require only a small cutout in the bumper that is apparently 'Invisible' from normal angles. Good eh?

Cost via Witter for the Detachable Flange towbar with Twin electrics was a puzzling £589 (Given the Rainworth quote). Note that

the Detachable Swan neck is £12 cheaper than the Flange type.

This price was with fitting to be carried out at a fitting centre 300yds from my house in Nuneaton - TOWEQUIPE.

I thought I'd ring them to find out a few bits and pieces about electrics etc and have them quote for the Witter bar at the same time.

Their charge - all in was a very reasonable £363.12 This is over £200 cheaper for exactly the same Towbar fitted in exactly the

way by exactly the same people. Crazy.

I won't be getting vehicle specific harnessing but this doesn't bother me one bit. I have no park sensors or fancy stability programmes

as far as I'm aware and aren't bothered if my car knows its got a van or trailer attached or not.

Whaddya think?

I just had a detachable Westphalia and the proper wiring loom fitted for £450 all in at North West towbars in Stockport exactly the same as the dealer quoted £750 for. I wanted the wiring loom so that no one could turn round and tell me that I had invalidated the warranty with a "cut into the loom" type job. They gave lots of cost options as well - cheap ones without a loom and a fixed towbar to the full package that I had. I really can recommend them. Skoda use a Westphalia towbar; there is even a cut out under the boot floor to put it in! I had the towing option specced for my car - it gives stability programmes for towing apparently. I'm not an expert but I thought that caravans were one of the few things where this feature is actually useful; I don't know if it can be programmed in after fitting the bar. Hope this helps!

Towbex ( a few miles West from me) quoted me £470.00 inc Vat http://www.towbex.co.uk/

But I only will use the towbar for carrying cycles, and I can source a carrier that doesn't need the towbar.................so I'm not bothering

Anyhow, for an update this is what I found out :-

Skoda dealer - Robert Eardley (near where I work) for twin electrics and detachable swan neck towbar - "Are you sitting down sir?" = £750

That's quite reasonable, Hobbins Salford quoted . . . . .

wait for it . . . . . .

£1,036

And, get this, to help us out, they'd reduced their labour charge from £75/hour to £60/hour!

There are quite a few things to recommend the "Official" Westfalia towbar installation with the proper electrical hook-up:

This unit was specifically designed for the Yeti and has Skoda's and TüV's approval of the structural modifications to the vehicle. You will be sure this is OK, but other not specifically approved may be OK or not?

The towbar replaces a structural component in front of the rear bumper.

The hook and ball is removeable and the single 13 pin wiring connector swings under the bumper and a plastic lid is fitted to the hole in the bumper, making the installation invisible when the hook is not installed.

The installing and removal of the hook is simple and safe.

The electrical interface informs you on the multidisplay if there are any of the connected trailer lamps etc., which are not functioning properly. How often do you see trailers with missing or non-functioning lights????

The 13 pin connector has all the things you need for a camping trailer.

The converter to a 7 pin hook-up for simple trailers is a very easy plug-in.

I have posted many times before to inform that my fixed tow bar with twin plugs cost £ 287 inclusive from Indespension, branches all over the country.

I have posted many times before to inform that my fixed tow bar with twin plugs cost £ 287 inclusive from Indespension, branches all over the country.

That is all fine and well but not everyone wants a permanently fixed tow bar with two external sockets for both 7 and 13 pins and no software upgrade to the car's system... With towbars I have realised from reading this forum that you get what you pay for. Yes the Westfalia is varying in price from £600 to over a grand now, but below £600 you won't get all the boxes ticked full stop. And that is everyone's right and the choice they make. But people need to realise that a £250 towbar is not the same thing as a £750 one... You are not buying the same thing.

That is all fine and well but not everyone wants a permanently fixed tow bar with two external sockets for both 7 and 13 pins and no software upgrade to the car's system... With towbars I have realised from reading this forum that you get what you pay for. Yes the Westfalia is varying in price from £600 to over a grand now, but below £600 you won't get all the boxes ticked full stop. And that is everyone's right and the choice they make. But people need to realise that a £250 towbar is not the same thing as a £750 one... You are not buying the same thing.

This is Exactly right.

Indispension quoted me £209 for a fixed bar. I questioned the quote and they came back with a quote of £408 for bar and harness. At first they did not understand why I requested the harness.

Chester Tow Bar Centre understood the requirements better and quoted accordingly - but it was not clear if the quote included a rear panel for a detachable bar or for re-programming. I should say I asked for a fixed bar but CTBC did not know, at that time, if a fixed bar would affect the reversing sensors.

Through my reading of all these topics by the sounds the options are:

1. External fixed towbar
2. Single fixed external 7 pin socket
3. Additional fixed 13pin socket
4. Detachable tow bar
5. Fold away single 13 pin socket with a 7pin adaptor over it if required
6. Cut-out in bumper with panel
7. Harness
8. Software upgrade

So:

Option 1 and 2 = £210

Option 1 to 3 = £280

Option 4 and 5 = £450

Option 4 to 6 = £500

Option 4 to 7 = £700

Option 4 to 8 = £750

And those are all just guesses on my part in terms of cost. But should easily explain what you get for your money and why a £240 towbar does not impress me or make me cry for having a £750 one fitted to my Yeti. Horses for courses, Golf vs Bentley, Tesco vs Fortnum & Mason.

Through my reading of all these topics by the sounds the options are:

1. External fixed towbar
2. Single fixed external 7 pin socket
3. Additional fixed 13pin socket
4. Detachable tow bar
5. Fold away single 13 pin socket with a 7pin adaptor over it if required
6. Cut-out in bumper with panel
7. Harness
8. Software upgrade

So:

Option 1 and 2 = £210

Option 1 to 3 = £280

Option 4 and 5 = £450

Option 4 to 6 = £500

Option 4 to 7 = £700

Option 4 to 8 = £750

And those are all just guesses on my part in terms of cost. But should easily explain what you get for your money and why a £240 towbar does not impress me or make me cry for having a £750 one fitted to my Yeti. Horses for courses, Golf vs Bentley, Tesco vs Fortnum & Mason.

You only fergot Steptoe and Son as the Optioon 0.5

That is all fine and well but not everyone wants a permanently fixed tow bar with two external sockets for both 7 and 13 pins and no software upgrade to the car's system... With towbars I have realised from reading this forum that you get what you pay for. Yes the Westfalia is varying in price from £600 to over a grand now, but below £600 you won't get all the boxes ticked full stop. And that is everyone's right and the choice they make. But people need to realise that a £250 towbar is not the same thing as a £750 one... You are not buying the same thing.

The purpose of a tow bar is to safely attach my caravan to the car and all the lights work reliably,charges my caravan battery, runs my fridge and does not affect any of my cars operating systems, my tow bar fitted by a specialist tow bar company ticks all these boxes, so I fail to understand your reasoning , bet you shop at Waitrose as well!!!

Edited 27 September, 201015 yr by mellyboy

The purpose of a tow bar is to safely attach my caravan

If "safety" is your top priority - the loom/software update is the best way to go. It enables anti-snaking in the ABS.

Bypass relays will not provide as much safety, as the vehicle does not "know" it is towing.

Saying that - I paid £500 for my (fully software enabled) detachable on my S-Max - not quite sure why the Yeti is so dear in comparison.

As I will attest,

one may not always get what one has paid for

However....................................

One does most certainly NOT get what one has NOT paid for.

I thunk.

...bet you shop at Waitrose as well!!!

I can't help but not to! My office is on top of a Waitrose!

ESP has saved more lives than airbags. I have seen a caravan crash right in front of me snaking all over the road on the way to Cornwall. So having ESP that knows about what I'm towing is paramount to me.

If "safety" is your top priority - the loom/software update is the best way to go. It enables anti-snaking in the ABS.

Bypass relays will not provide as much safety, as the vehicle does not "know" it is towing.

Saying that - I paid £500 for my (fully software enabled) detachable on my S-Max - not quite sure why the Yeti is so dear in comparison.

I have towed my van all over the West country in the last three weeks with absolutely no problems I have up to date anti snake devices fitted on my van, are you saying that the ABS with the right software update, it can rectify snaking., my understanding that you do not brake if a trailer is snaking so how can the ABS help if you if one is not braking?

...my understanding that you do not brake if a trailer is snaking so how can the ABS help if you if one is not braking?

Correct. You should not brake. But ESP does not work by braking all the wheels like when you press the brake pedal yourself. It will brake only one wheel at a time slighly to stop any swaying it detects (if the right rear corner is being pushed out by the van that wheel will be braked slightly) thus cancelling the snaking out without you even knowing or taking your foot off the accelerator.

Correct. You should not brake. But ESP does not work by braking all the wheels like when you press the brake pedal yourself. It will brake only one wheel at a time slightly to stop any swaying it detects (if the right rear corner is being pushed out by the van that wheel will be braked slightly) thus cancelling the snaking out without you even knowing or taking your foot off the accelerator.

sorry I was getting my ABS confused with my ESP, so this will only work when towing if software is updated, presumably the ESP works normally after this update so why is it not set up this way any how. My first tow car was a Ford Ghia estate makes me wonder without all this technology how I managed to get out of Norfolk, must have been incredibility lucky to get my wife and two daughters down to Devon and back for several years. I will transfer this topic to Caravan Chat Site!!!

sorry I was getting my ABS confused with my ESP, so this will only work when towing if software is updated, presumably the ESP works normally after this update so why is it not set up this way any how. My first tow car was a Ford Ghia estate makes me wonder without all this technology how I managed to get out of Norfolk, must have been incredibility lucky to get my wife and two daughters down to Devon and back for several years. I will transfer this topic to Caravan Chat Site!!!

Mellyboy soon we will be living in a world where cars drive themselves like in i-Robot or some SciFi movie. So all these electronic things are just slowly taking over our jobs that we managed perfectly well up to now! (Like your indicators blinking three times, switching the car's lights on, etc, etc...)

The ESP only knows you have a trailler/caravan hooked to the car when one of the pins in the 13pin socket tells it (I can't remember which) - hence needing the software upgrade. So without a trailer the car's ESP works like normal within the parameters of the car alone. Plug a trailer/van in and the computer knows the parameters for snaking (in other words what it "feels" like and how to apply the counter measures by individually braking the correct wheels.

This also implies that having just a 7 pin connector won't give you this functionality as there is no pin that can tell these things to the car. I'm not sure if I'm right on that?

Did anyone ever find out what the factory tow bar prep option did /offered?

There seems to be a considerable disparity in dealer quoted prices for detachable tow bars that I wondered if owners with tow bar prep were getting a cheaper quote.

Why Skoda can't just offer a factory fit tow bar I have no idea!

Mellyboy soon we will be living in a world where cars drive themselves like in i-Robot or some SciFi movie. So all these electronic things are just slowly taking over our jobs that we managed perfectly well up to now! (Like your indicators blinking three times, switching the car's lights on, etc, etc...)

The ESP only knows you have a trailler/caravan hooked to the car when one of the pins in the 13pin socket tells it (I can't remember which) - hence needing the software upgrade. So without a trailer the car's ESP works like normal within the parameters of the car alone. Plug a trailer/van in and the computer knows the parameters for snaking (in other words what it "feels" like and how to apply the counter measures by individually braking the correct wheels.

This also implies that having just a 7 pin connector won't give you this functionality as there is no pin that can tell these things to the car. I'm not sure if I'm right on that?

Thank best explanation so far!!! Just one last point , my caravan has twin plugs if the Yeti is wired with a13 pin can it be rewired if I desire the singing and dancing set up, Oh for the days when I would , make, fit and wire my own tow bars for my and friends car, would lay under cars in car parks to see how they were fitted then make a much superior one.

Thank best explanation so far!!! Just one last point , my caravan has twin plugs if the Yeti is wired with a13 pin can it be rewired if I desire the singing and dancing set up, Oh for the days when I would , make, fit and wire my own tow bars for my and friends car, would lay under cars in car parks to see how they were fitted then make a much superior one.

If you have the two 7 pin plugs then all you need to get is a conversion lead that fits between those plugs and the car 13 pin one. Just make sure you get the right one!

Towsure list them.