I have an Octy II Estate and had a dealer fit removable towbar fitted.

After a few weeks I noticed that the black sill of the rear bumper was no longer straight. On the left side it was about a c.m from the bodywork and on the right side it was touching the bodywork. I complained to the dealer who said that in order to fit the towbar one or more of the support brackets have to be removed and this is why the bumber is out of shape. I have been assured by the dealer that the matter has been passed to Skoda, but I'm not hopefull of a speady solution.

Has anyone else experienced a similar problem after having a towbar fitted, if so let me know.

picking mine up with towbar on saturday so will let you know. I've had a witter ? one fitted as the skoda one was over

My father-in-law has had a Witter tow bar fitted (not removable) not a Skoada one. It appeared (at the time), the Skoda towbar was only really fit to tow trailers and the like, not caravans. This was earlier this year so I don't know if the Skoda towbar spec has changed since.

picking mine up with towbar on saturday so will let you know. I've had a witter ? one fitted as the skoda one was over

Mines a whitter, bumber fits lovely, not detachable though. fully fitted

On the Octy 1 the whole rear crossmember behind the bumper is replaced when fitting a tow bar and then the bumper refitts onto the new crossmember.

If the Octy2 is the same it looks like the parts supplied are out of shape.

I would demand it is replaced.

Cheers

Lee

about

My father-in-law has had a Witter tow bar fitted (not removable) not a Skoada one. It appeared (at the time), the Skoda towbar was only really fit to tow trailers and the like, not caravans. This was earlier this year so I don't know if the Skoda towbar spec has changed since.

Surely any towbar should be more than capable of taking the maximum towing weight of the car? At the moment I only tow a light trailer or the trailer-tent with mine (factory fit removable), but I'd like to think it would take a caravan if I wanted.....no?

Should have a label on it somewhere saying what wieghts it is capable of

Most caravans now come with Alko friction pad stabalisers which are not recommended for use on single point fixing detachable tow bars and some detachable bars do not give enough clearance for the Alko hitch.

Don't know if the Skoda bar for Octy2 is suitable or not but it's worth checking.

Cheers

Lee

Well, guess what?

Skoda do not have a towbar as an accessory on their website (just checcked Skoda.co.uk)- only electrics kit, stabiliser and towrope!

OK, I've just checked the manual for my towbar. Maximum trailer weight (braked) is 2100kg, unbraked 750kg. Maximum downforce 75kg. So from a weight perspective (given that the 85% weight of the car is somewhere around 1200kg) the towbar seems to be more than up to the job. So the only question remaining is whether it would deal with the Al-ko stabiliser. I'm thinking of going to the Caravan & Outdoor Leisure show in November, so I'll ask around then. Anyone else going?

Anyone else going?

Not sure if I can get the time off work yet. If I can I'll be taking the van and stopping down there.

Failing that I'll make the Boat,Caravan and Outdoor show at the NEC in February.

Cheers

Lee

Anyone else going?

Hopeing to go

Also got a Witter fitted to mine with no rear bumper problems, dealer fitted the Witter instead of the Skoda detatchable due to confusion over the not suitable for caravans statement from Skoda. I think the confusion is with the dealers because of the electrics with the detatchable are the single euro type rather than the twin electrics we use in this country and there is no room for the twin sockets on the detatchable towbar, my dealer didn't realise you could get a single to twin adapter cable so fitted the Witter.

Many main dealers do get very confused over towbars, towing weights and the electrics for a caravan.

My Octy 2 with a 2.0 TDI tows very well though when you do get the towbar sorted, got used to the fixed bar now but was gutted when I picked the car up and it wasn't the detatchable.

Darren

PS had a detatchable on my vRS combi and a Alko stabiliser with no problems

PS had a detatchable on my vRS combi and a Alko stabiliser with no problems

Some detachables are OK' date=' I can't find Alko's advice page but they found detachable bars that had a single side fixing could become loose as the stabliser shook the bar from side to side under the pressure of the friction pads.

Most standard fixed tow bars come with the wrong ball for Alko stabalisers as well.

[url']www.swift-owners-club.com/soc1/tips/alko_stabiliser_warning.html[/url]

Cheers

Lee