I got tow bar prep done at factory and had DM Keith fit a twin electric fixed swan neck before delivery. I towed for first time this week but when I plug my 12s and 12n socket in, the parking sensors are still active. My understanding is that the sensors should turn off and I should see a trailer picture on my armundsen?

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Becoming a fairly common problem - dealers don't seem to know how to code the car for the towbar properly.

 

Flag it up to them and get them to sort it, you are by no means the first that has had this issue.

Cheers matey, just wanted to check my understanding is right

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I went through this trauma back in June when I purchased the full towbar option from Skoda. Fortunately, it has been resolved but only because I did some research and got information from Westfalia, the towbar suppliers for Skoda, and presented this info to the dealers. The dealer wasn't even aware that when a lighting board was connected, there are certain functions that should be enabled!

 

Here is what I  think should change when you connect the trailer electrics: Alarm goes off when trailer electrically disconnected, infotainment shows picture of car with trailer, the stability and anti-lock braking symbols are sequenced differently, the indicator signal on the instrument cluster uses a different symbol, you can't select ECO driving mode, rear parking sensors are disabled, park pilot (if fitted) is disabled, if your trailer has a fog light, the car's fog is disabled.

If any of the above are missing, they must  have coded it incorrectly.

 

I complained to SUK and asked for compensation for the hassle and the fact that I showed up staff in the showroom with their lack of knowledge about this issue. I said I wasn't paying for the towbar prep £170 and I wanted something off the price of the towbar.

I will have to say SUK were excellent dealing with this issue and I eventually got my £170 back and they sent me a credit note to use within the network for several hundred pounds. It's a shame the dealer lacked the experience and knowledge initially to sort it out. If you read the manual carefully, it explains most of the above features. Note them down and show them to the dealer as they won't have a leg to stand on when you explain things aren't working correctly.

Edited 26 September, 201411 yr by New8avia

Just got a tow bar fitted to my Elegance estate. As I've got rear parking sensors I didn't know if I would need a removable tow bar or not. I decided to play safe and paid the extra for the removable design. I can confirm that with the two bar fitted and without a trailer plugged in, the rear sensors do not see the tow bar.

 

Could have saved myself a couple of hundred pounds had I known.

 

Never mind!

I have the removable type as I didn't want a towbar showing when not in use. Even the socket tucks underneath the bumper and you can't tell there is one installed. Like you, I found out that the rear sensor don't detect the ball hitch.

The benefit of having a fixed one is that at least when your car is in a busy car park, other people will hit your towbar and not your bumper or am I just too synical!

I was once in a massive pile up on the M62 (not my fault) - we were in about of mile of stationary traffic because of an accident ahead in really bad weather, when an artic jacknifed across the full width and slammed in to the rear of all 3 lanes - I was sat there watching the cars behind getting bumped forward waiting for it to concertina to me - I came off of the brakes, let the car behind hit me and then slammed on the brakes.

 

I didn't hit the car in front, and it went on for quite some distance either side. Car behind was a write off - my tow ball had punched through the rad, intercooler, condenser etc.

 

Mine needed a new bumper and that was it.

 

I like tow bars