Hi all!

Does anyone out there tow a caravan with their Octavia?

I have just bought an Octavia estate VRS 170bhp.2012.

I am going to be caravaning for the first time this year (im getting old!) thus a decent car, but now need to purchase a towbar.

Can anyone suggest a good towbar that will fit and will be up to towing a 4 berth caravan.

Cheers, Pete the newbie.

 

 

Yes I pull a 6 birth with my 1.9 no problem 105bhp 

Had two Octavias and both were fitted with WITTER towbars. Never had any problems.

19 hours ago, pastiche said:

Had two Octavias and both were fitted with WITTER towbars. Never had any problems.

I also have witter fitted but the detachable variety, looks good detached and extremely sturdy.

Thanks for the replies guys!

I have the Westfalia removal tow bar on an Octi Scout - have hardly ever removed it, so would go for a solid fit next time... Get the factory wiring loom, it sorts out the rear parking sensors when you plug the lights in - good for bike racks and trailers, and if you unplug the lights with the vehicle locked it sets the alarm off... 

I got a deal on a Westfalia solid swan neck for £100 from PF Jones with a free 7 pin kit and fitted using a universal smart bypass relay they sold separately. A bit of a faff to fit, the bar was easy, the electrics took longer but all works perfectly and all in £120.

 

It's a good quality kit and I managed to get the electrics socket tucked up behind the bumper so it looks tidy. I've only towed a trackday car on a twin axle trailer but my 2010 VRS estate was brilliant. 60mph, turn the cruise on and it pulls effortlessly. It's odd that the VRS seems to have a lower plated towing capacity that some of the less powerful models.

 

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/skoda-octavia-ii-estate-2005-2013-westfalia-swan-neck-towbar.html 

Superb guys, more than enough info to make a decision now!

Be aware that the Octavia estate, even the vRS is quite softly sprung at the rear, the car can really squat with some weight in or on the back.

 

Quite a few have upgraded the rear springs to help stop the towbar from catching speed humps etc.

Thanks for the heads up silver1011!

Might have to rethink it through.

First job that I had to do on the hurry up on my MK2, the MK1 was far better in that respect but I did add Grayston inner springs as I would frequently overload it.

 

Best estate cars I ever had were Sierras with Boge self levelling struts at the rear.

I bouht my towbar in Germany on an Ebay shop. Payed 130 euro for it including shipping to the Netherlands. This was for the towbar and a 7-pin cable kit, including 'control box'.

 

My car doesn't have parking sensors, so I only had to fit the towbar and connect the wiring. It only requires a constant 12V cable (Which I alread had for my subwoofer). All other cables are connected to the existing rear lights, the control box just uses these wires as signalwire, and drives the actual towbar lights. 

Also, I didn't have any issues with the canbus or light check system, everything works fine.

Fitting took me approx 4 hours. I'm sure it can be done in 2, but it was my first towbar install so involved some googling/youtubing to find the correct way to remove the rear bumper

 

I agree with the soft rear springs. Even without a towbar in use, only luggage and 2 adults in the back I had to take speed bumps carefully. Didn't like it... With the towbar (and some weight on it) this occurs also.

Not sure if this has been any better when the car was new (Mine is a 2005 MK2 with over 260k miles) but based on the reviews this seems to be a common 'problem'.

 

I ended up putting MAD helper springs (Payed 40 euro on Marktplaats - The Dutch 'version'  of Gumtree/Craigslist) and I didn't have any issues anymore, can drive on speedbumps (to a certain limit of course) without having my towbar hitting the ground.;

 

Edited 27 January, 20197 yr by DJSmiley

I have same Westfalia system as dangreenwood79. With the swan neck out and the wiring socket folded up behind the bumper, no-one can tell you have a towbar facility. I certainly didn't when I bought the car and only found out when I looked in the spare wheel well and found the hook.

 

Just one point, make sure you swing down the wiring socket once every six months and give the hinge a good oiling/greasing to keep it free.

My detachable towbar came factory fitted and is a wesfillia complete with a factory wiring loom, the only problem was it wasn't wired for towing a caravan as the actual pins were missing for the fridge and charging !  So I had to run a couple of 2.5mm wires to the fuse box for a permanent and switched power as well as having to change the 13pin socket ! Cheers Stuart 

10 minutes ago, sparky2 said:

My detachable towbar came factory fitted and is a wesfillia complete with a factory wiring loom, the only problem was it wasn't wired for towing a caravan as the actual pins were missing for the fridge and charging !  So I had to run a couple of 2.5mm wires to the fuse box for a permanent and switched power as well as having to change the 13pin socket ! Cheers Stuart 

 

I bought a Westfalia 13 pin kit for my Superb from PF Jones and the kit came in 2 pieces. One was the normal wiring for the lights and indicators and control module etc. and the other part were the switched and live feeds + relay for charging and the supply to the fridge. Sounds like they missed off half the kit.