I need to get a towbar/wiring installed on my (2nd hand) Yeti and going to Skoda seems to be by far the most expensive option. 

Can anyone please give me the benefit of their experience with 3rd party towbars and their hazards, suggestions etc and any other viable alternatives to paying Skoda's exorbitant prices.

Thanks

 

Where are you, if near Manchester, P F Jones!

It would help if you gave a general locality.

It would help you to know if your car has “towbar prep” fitted or not.  This was a factory option which added some wiring and fuses ready to accept a dedicated towing module.  If you don’t have it you need a wiring harness that goes all the way to the fusebox in the front.  If you have it there is a plug hidden behind the interior trim on the left side of the boot.  One way to check is look in the fusebox to see if there are any towing-related fuses fitted.

Hi there, I'm in Canberra, Australia  .... we have a single Skoda dealer - so they can charge what they want. I've even heard of PF Jones who sound awesome! Unfortunately, they don't have an Oz branch

4 minutes ago, weasley said:

It would help you to know if your car has “towbar prep” fitted or not.  This was a factory option which added some wiring and fuses ready to accept a dedicated towing module.  If you don’t have it you need a wiring harness that goes all the way to the fusebox in the front.  If you have it there is a plug hidden behind the interior trim on the left side of the boot.  One way to check is look in the fusebox to see if there are any towing-related fuses fitted.

 

I am told that (most ?) australian vehicles are towbar prepped. Thanks for the tip of checking the fusebox before figuring out how to pull the left side panel. 

Whatever you chose ensure it's skoda approved so that everything that interacts with the towbar electrics works as it should, the car will likely need reprogrammed to accept this which will need to be done by skoda or a specialist. 

Things like deactivation of parking sensors when trailer is plugged in, trailer stability control, deactivation of cars rear fog lights and extension of the vehicles bulb failure warning system. 

I fitted the wiring myself - mine had towbar prep so all I needed was the extra harness and module (I went for the 13 pin plug).   The trim panel was ok - I managed to get away with just pulling the rear part of the panel away and reaching in to plug in the wiring and fit the ground wire.  I used the genuine Skoda wiring module which was as cheap as any aftermarket option, then got my local dealer to code it.

Thanks for the 

13 hours ago, weasley said:

I fitted the wiring myself - mine had towbar prep so all I needed was the extra harness and module (I went for the 13 pin plug).   The trim panel was ok - I managed to get away with just pulling the rear part of the panel away and reaching in to plug in the wiring and fit the ground wire.  I used the genuine Skoda wiring module which was as cheap as any aftermarket option, then got my local dealer to code it.

 

13 hours ago, Gmac983 said:

Whatever you chose ensure it's skoda approved so that everything that interacts with the towbar electrics works as it should, the car will likely need reprogrammed to accept this which will need to be done by skoda or a specialist. 

Things like deactivation of parking sensors when trailer is plugged in, trailer stability control, deactivation of cars rear fog lights and extension of the vehicles bulb failure warning system. 

 

Thanks for the feedback.  Unfortunately, here in Oz, genuine skoda parts and service by Skoda dealers is very very expensive.  I can get a Hayman Reece towbar installed for about $900 - where the Skoda original installed by Skoda dealer was quoted as $2200 - which is why I'm trying to find out about the pros and cons of alternatives.   Unfortunately, I don't have the skills or confidence to try a 'self install'. 

1 hour ago, lyndeelu said:

Thanks for the 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback.  Unfortunately, here in Oz, genuine skoda parts and service by Skoda dealers is very very expensive.  I can get a Hayman Reece towbar installed for about $900 - where the Skoda original installed by Skoda dealer was quoted as $2200 - which is why I'm trying to find out about the pros and cons of alternatives.   Unfortunately, I don't have the skills or confidence to try a 'self install'. 

 

The Skoda OEM tow-bar is Westfalia, that and the proper Skoda connection kit and the car programming for it is the least you should be aiming for.

2 minutes ago, Urrell said:

 

The Skoda OEM tow-bar is Westfalia, that and the proper Skoda connection kit and the car programming for it is the least you should be aiming for.

Thanks Urrell, it begins to look as though I'm just going to have to suck it and pay Skoda's pricing.  Even the few people flogging Skoda genuine parts - still charge Skoda type prices.  I got the Yeti for towing a small caravan and it's the only car I could find in that size with that towing capacity. (1800kg).  

 

Is importing an OEM bar and harness an option for you? Might that be cheaper? Then have someone fit it for you. 

16 hours ago, Gmac983 said:

Is importing an OEM bar and harness an option for you? Might that be cheaper? Then have someone fit it for you. 

Thanks GMac - and all. Have decided to go 3rd party towbar with a universal ECU.  Skoda updated their pricing, most recent quote was nearly $3k. That's getting on towards 20% of the cost  of the car. 

Importing and getting it fitted was an option but there was a suggestion that there could be issues with Road transport - tho I think that unlikely.  Anyway, I have run out of time - so made a choice and will have to live with it. Thanks all for your input. 

Read the thread below about Kessy not working and then perhaps reconsider the idea of your "universal ECU". 

 

1 hour ago, Llanigraham said:

Read the thread below about Kessy not working and then perhaps reconsider the idea of your "universal ECU". 

 

 

Sorry, I must be missing something ... which thread below ?  Can you give me the link for the thread please ..

I think Graham is referring to this thread:

 

 

2 minutes ago, Robjon said:

I think Graham is referring to this thread:

 

Thanks - I found it .  However, I'm just going to have to wait and see.  My vehicle is worth about $15 or 16k - a towbar fitted by Skoda  has been most recently quoted at $2720 and a 3rd party installing genuine skoda bits at about $2400.  Its just not worth it.   If I have to, I can live without the Kessy lock/unlock.  

 

But can you actually live when the stability control fails because it doesn’t know the car has a trailer attached?

You can't help some people, Ken!

Like most things in life, personal choice!!

12 hours ago, Llanigraham said:

You can't help some people, Ken!

If that's for me - I think you are being a little unfair.  I thank  you all for your advice, it was helpful - I was helped.  Luckily for you, Skoda parts and service in the UK is evidently not at the premium cost it is here and in the UK, its an easy choice to go for the genuine parts.   It could be that I will live to regret (should I live...) ever having heard of Skoda - but when someone can say "I used the genuine Skoda wiring module which was as cheap as any aftermarket option"  then we obviously live in different parts of the world because that's certainly not the case here. 

1 hour ago, lyndeelu said:

If that's for me - I think you are being a little unfair.  I thank  you all for your advice, it was helpful - I was helped.  Luckily for you, Skoda parts and service in the UK is evidently not at the premium cost it is here and in the UK, its an easy choice to go for the genuine parts.   It could be that I will live to regret (should I live...) ever having heard of Skoda - but when someone can say "I used the genuine Skoda wiring module which was as cheap as any aftermarket option"  then we obviously live in different parts of the world because that's certainly not the case here. 

 

^^^ don't worry about it lyndeelu... You pays your money and you takes your choice. After all, it is your vehicle and not theirs. 

14 hours ago, Gmac983 said:

 

^^^ don't worry about it lyndeelu... You pays your money and you takes your choice. After all, it is your vehicle and not theirs. 

thanks

It is likely the Skoda dealer may be subcontracting the work out to a local towbar specialist. The dealers here in the UK rarely fit towbars themselves.

 

Could you not try to find out who the Skoda dealer uses and bypass the middleman?

 

I thought the towbars in Australia were different to those here in Europe?

 

Whilst I was there all the ones I noticed had an interchangeable square interface...

 

 

This might mean that the Skoda OEM partner for towbars (Westfalia) isn't applicable in this instance.

14 hours ago, silver1011 said:

It is likely the Skoda dealer may be subcontracting the work out to a local towbar specialist. The dealers here in the UK rarely fit towbars themselves.

 

Could you not try to find out who the Skoda dealer uses and bypass the middleman?

 

I thought the towbars in Australia were different to those here in Europe?

 

Whilst I was there all the ones I noticed had an interchangeable square interface...

 

 

This might mean that the Skoda OEM partner for towbars (Westfalia) isn't applicable in this instance.

I think their service dept do their own tow bar installations. I did find a source for genuine skoda parts - and a 3rd party installer with access (one way or another) to Skoda's programming. But 'yahoo - skoda' - and it worked out  about $100 less than Skoda's own charges.   The common towbar in AU (and NZ) is indeed square per your pic. It's a 'Hayman Reece' design I beleive and in fact, I'm having an HR towbar, made specifically for the Yeti, installed. The Westfalia swan neck/gooseneck .. whatever, design is legal here afaik, but rarely seen.