Kodiaq SE 1.4 125ps 7 Seater after market tow bar debacle

[Birtywhistle]

I will keep u updated and headlys will be removing the electrics and giving me something ECU I think the car will be back to normal ie Asif the tow bar Neva got fit

[willcrick]

OK all, sorry about the radio silence, i will explain....

 

Skoda Winchester agreed to pay for the cooling system upgrade after i did a wide social media campaign. I did lots of Tweets mentioning both SkodaUK and Skoda Winchester (which i believe meant that Skoda UK called Skoda winchester and told them to sort it out). I also posted on Google + and Facebook. I also made sure that all the posting i did was cross referenced with this and other popular forum topics. What the cross referencing does is increase your google rank (most search engines put a higher ranking on content that they find on lots of other pages as they assume that means its popular). If you now search for Skoda Kodiaq Tow Bar, you get this forum post on the first google page!

 

However, what really got Skoda Winchester attention was the 1 star review on Facebook (again, with the links to the full story and other things). They really didnt like that. They responded by saying they would pay for the cooling upgrade (if we paid for the normal tow bar fee of around £1000) on the condition that we take down the facebook review. Reluctantly i did this (only the facebook review though, i left everything else up). I also have not posted on social media until the tow bar has been fitted, which i am pleased to say is now done, do the flood gates are back open from me!!!

 

To try and answer a few questions i have been reading in this and other posts.

 

i am only aware of the cooling system upgrade being required on the 1.4 125ps petrol engine , and it might only be my model (SE), but i would check, the dealer should know (or can find out). 

 

In terms of the work that the garage did. It took 3.5 days!!! They have added the fold away tow bar with the electrics and switch in the boot, which looks like standard fit now. pretty cool. They also changed the grill on the front of the car (wider gaps) and did other things inside with the cooling system. On the invoice i have there are no details (just says cooling system upgraded covered by WMC) so goodness knows, but it took ages (they kindly gave us a decent car to use while we waited)

 

The only issue now is that our DAB radio seems to constantly drop its signal now, not sure if that is due to the tow bar, cooling system change, or the software upgrade (that they put in at the same time). Anyone else seen this? 

 

any more questions let me know, i am now free to answer

 

[neilsupermac]

On 01/05/2018 at 19:57, willcrick said:

OK all, sorry about the radio silence, i will explain....

 

Skoda Winchester agreed to pay for the cooling system upgrade after i did a wide social media campaign. I did lots of Tweets mentioning both SkodaUK and Skoda Winchester (which i believe meant that Skoda UK called Skoda winchester and told them to sort it out). I also posted on Google + and Facebook. I also made sure that all the posting i did was cross referenced with this and other popular forum topics. What the cross referencing does is increase your google rank (most search engines put a higher ranking on content that they find on lots of other pages as they assume that means its popular). If you now search for Skoda Kodiaq Tow Bar, you get this forum post on the first google page!

 

However, what really got Skoda Winchester attention was the 1 star review on Facebook (again, with the links to the full story and other things). They really didnt like that. They responded by saying they would pay for the cooling upgrade (if we paid for the normal tow bar fee of around £1000) on the condition that we take down the facebook review. Reluctantly i did this (only the facebook review though, i left everything else up). I also have not posted on social media until the tow bar has been fitted, which i am pleased to say is now done, do the flood gates are back open from me!!!

 

To try and answer a few questions i have been reading in this and other posts.

 

i am only aware of the cooling system upgrade being required on the 1.4 125ps petrol engine , and it might only be my model (SE), but i would check, the dealer should know (or can find out). 

 

In terms of the work that the garage did. It took 3.5 days!!! They have added the fold away tow bar with the electrics and switch in the boot, which looks like standard fit now. pretty cool. They also changed the grill on the front of the car (wider gaps) and did other things inside with the cooling system. On the invoice i have there are no details (just says cooling system upgraded covered by WMC) so goodness knows, but it took ages (they kindly gave us a decent car to use while we waited)

 

The only issue now is that our DAB radio seems to constantly drop its signal now, not sure if that is due to the tow bar, cooling system change, or the software upgrade (that they put in at the same time). Anyone else seen this? 

 

any more questions let me know, i am now free to answer

 

Hi - I made an enquiry to have a tow bar fitted to my 1.4 4x4 Petrol Kodiaq and was also quoted £1.2k ... then over £3.k to have the cooling system upgraded - which is ridiculous. Unlike you I didn't ask about towing at point of purchase as I bought new but pre-built. I am struggling to understand how it is vin plate stamped with a towing weight, yet it needs a massive upgrade to the cooling system to tow? Anyhow I'm going t have another attempt at getting the tow bar added without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money as I'm trying to avoid aftermarker (as I have a 5 yr warranty and fear what problems after market my cause with that). 

[silver1011]

Is your 1.4 TSI the 125PS or 150PS?

[neilsupermac]

6 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

Is your 1.4 TSI the 125PS or 150PS?

150PS..

 

[silver1011]

At the end of the day, your car is homologated to tow.

 

Aftermarket towbars do not invalidate warranties if fitted correctly and in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines.

 

Paying £500 vs. £3,000 would have me taking my chances with future warranty claims via a franchised main dealer. Personally I don't think Skoda would have much of a leg to stand on if push came to shove. They do not publicly promote the additional changes needed to the car in the event of fitting a towbar.

 

I imagine the extra cooling is a 'cover all scenario's approach', i.e. pulling the maximum weight in the most arduous conditions, which for most of us is unlikely to be experienced.

 

The car has several systems built-in to prevent it from overheating, including the DSG gearbox where fitted.

[neilsupermac]

On 14/01/2019 at 16:22, silver1011 said:

At the end of the day, your car is homologated to tow.

 

Aftermarket towbars do not invalidate warranties if fitted correctly and in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines.

 

Paying £500 vs. £3,000 would have me taking my chances with future warranty claims via a franchised main dealer. Personally I don't think Skoda would have much of a leg to stand on if push came to shove. They do not publicly promote the additional changes needed to the car in the event of fitting a towbar.

 

I imagine the extra cooling is a 'cover all scenario's approach', i.e. pulling the maximum weight in the most arduous conditions, which for most of us is unlikely to be experienced.

 

The car has several systems built-in to prevent it from overheating, including the DSG gearbox where fitted.

 

I agree with all of it but it's just ridiculous that its vin plate stamped to tow as it is and they want to uprate everything...to tow (pressumably at the same towing limits).....so I was just interested in whether there was an angle I can push back on to try and get the skoda tow bar fitted but without it costing £3k....

[silver1011]

You'll have to fight Skoda UK.

 

They aren't going to volunteer to pay for it themselves, so you'll have to argue your case.

 

I imagine you'd have more chance getting them to put something in writing stating that fitting an aftermarket tow bar won't adversely affect your warranty, as long as is it is fitted in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines.

 

Hopefully this ticks all three boxes; you can have a tow bar fitted, it won't cost the earth and it won't impact on your warranty.

 

 

 

https://tools.skoda.co.uk/contact-us

[neilsupermac]

5 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

You'll have to fight Skoda UK.

 

They aren't going to volunteer to pay for it themselves, so you'll have to argue your case.

 

I imagine you'd have more chance getting them to put something in writing stating that fitting an aftermarket tow bar won't adversely affect your warranty, as long as is it is fitted in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines.

 

Hopefully this ticks all three boxes; you can have a tow bar fitted, it won't cost the earth and it won't impact on your warranty.

 

https://tools.skoda.co.uk/contact-us

 

I did have dialogue with them...and then the dealer where it got left that the dealer was also left stunned about what they were requesting...I will pick it up again on both fronts - its ridiculous to want to charge £3k and uprate the car thats already plated to tow and also if you are going to do that I want the words that explain what the problem is with after market fit..thanks for the help.

[silver1011]

The fact the car is plated to tow i.e. homologated then I personally would have no reservations about the fitting of an aftermarket tow bar.

 

The issue arises when you want to fit the genuine electrically foldable tow bar at a franchised main dealer. If Skoda UK insist that to do that the car needs expensive modifications then I guess the dealers hands are tied.

 

Good luck, hopefully with plenty of persistence you'll get some answers.

[neilsupermac]

2 minutes ago, silver1011 said:

The fact the car is plated to tow i.e. homologated then I personally would have no reservations about the fitting of an aftermarket tow bar.

 

The issue arises when you want to fit the genuine electrically foldable tow bar at a franchised main dealer. If Skoda UK insist that to do that the car needs expensive modifications then I guess the dealers hands are tied.

 

Good luck, hopefully with plenty of persistence you'll get some answers.

Thanks - I don't blame the dealer at all in this case .. I wasn't (unlike original poster) sold the car and told I could fit one for £1.5k and then told it would actually be £3k. I'll ping back here as I go with progress as it might help others I'm sure. After all, its the type of car that I'm sure many a family will want to do the same...

 

[silver1011]

Take a quick look here, some useful information on what is actually different between cars that have the tow bar factory fitted and those that don't.

 

The 1.4 TSI isn't listed, but since the 1.5 TSI is very similar it can be fair to assume the changes apply, or applied to the 1.4 TSI...

 

 

Regardless of engine, the only modifications are to the cooling fan (upgraded) and radiator grill (the opened slots / air intakes are larger).

 

As all Kodiaq's get Stop/Start the battery doesn't change either. See the notes at the bottom of the document attached above.

 

Part numbers for the fan and grill are included too, so you could try pricing them up. No doubt the front bumper and headlights have to come off to fit the new fan, but the modifications don't appear to be as extensive as previously discussed, which might raise questions on the price you've been quoted.

 

The main issue in the thread linked above is that the dealer was quoting for parts which weren't needed when approached for a quote to retrofit the tow bar.

 

This is a radiator grill from a Karoq fitted with the 'Tow Bar Preparation' factory option (not the tow bar itself), and you can see that the openings between and inside the slats are enlarged...

 

 

Edited 17 January, 2019 by silver1011