Hi all,

 

I picked up my new Skoda Rapid Spaceback last night (16 plate) and I need to get a tow bar fitted.

The prices coming back are a lot higher than I expected and even more expensive then it was to fit on a Autosleeper campervan!

 

I am being quoted over £550 +VAT and told this is because Vehicle Specific wiring is needed, is this the car? could it work without?

 

Thanks,
Ellen

You don’t need vehicle specific wiring. It adds features such turning off the reverse sensors when connected to a trailer, extends the alarm to trailer electrics so it can’t be disconnected without setting off the alarm as well as stability programs too. 

I would still opt for the vehicle specific wiring as you’re not cutting into the wiring with the potential to call as canbus problems. I personally wouldn’t touch a used modern car either that doesn’t have specific wiring 

Yup, it is expensive for the electrics. The risk is that the vehicle electrics won't work properly with non-specific items, and your warranty would be affected if you have electrical issues.

 

On my 2014 SB there was a lot of dismantling of trim to fit the vehicle-specific harness, for some unaccoutable reason it wasn't just a "plug in in one place" job.

 

Job includes - or should include - re-coding the car's "brain" to act differently when the trailer is plugged in. There's a recent "towbar" thread in which I've posted more details on this.

Sounds expensive to me, even with the dedicated electrics

You can buy other aftermarket towbars and mechanically you can either have a permanent towball or a detachable one, the electrics are differant, you will need one that only takes a trigger signal from the loom and does the power switching inside the extra control box for each circuit on the trailer, the only thing is that when you reverse the car won't detect there is a trailer connected and will give you a continuous tone !  the fog light on the car won't switch off so it will light up the front of the trailer, that's all because the trailer isn't detected by the car, whereas the proper canbus control box will fully talk to the cars ECUs ! 

The PF Jones website is a good guide.

 

£366.17 for a Westfalia removable swan neck and the dedicated electrics, delivered...

 

 

 

Plus £270 for fitting...

 

 

So just under £600 fitted.

 

Cars are a lot more complicated than they've ever been before. There are a lot more vehicle systems that have to be considered.

 

https://www.pfjones.co.uk/skoda-rapid-spaceback-2012-onwards-westfalia-detachable-towbar.html

 

A fixed towbar would work out a bit cheaper.