Was reading an article about what to look for on a used Skoda. They went onto if it has a tow bar fitted in which the car might be "worn" more than not having a tow bar. Now I have had two Octavia both 2.0, last one with the CR engine. My belief is that if you keep to the recommended weight for your car it should have no effect. My first octy dsg went at 55k, I do not think it was because of towing. Present one is now at 106k and up to today has not been any problems. I must add that both cars are ,were serviced at Skoda at required times. So guys any comments?.

I've got a towbar fitted on a Superb and it definitely doesn't mean the car has been worn any more than normal.

It's only been used with a bike rack lol!

Towing within the maximum capacity with the correct nose weight has never caused any issues with my Octavia's over the years, still on the same suspension, clutches and tyres.

Simple physics will say it’ll put more strain on things, but at what percentage it’ll reduce the life of things is very variable, as above, it may have had a bike rack on its whole life, or someone might tow a badly loaded caravan that puts strain on the back of the car.

 

the only thing you can say for certain is you have more chance of things being worn out quicker if it has towed in its life and you don’t know it’s history.

 

It is more common for big 4x4’s to suffer more with a tow bar as the towing weights are a lot more and they tend to be vehicle of choice for heavy towing.

22 hours ago, Vrsburnzy said:

Simple physics will say it’ll put more strain on things, but at what percentage it’ll reduce the life of things is very variable, as above, it may have had a bike rack on its whole life, or someone might tow a badly loaded caravan that puts strain on the back of the car.

 

the only thing you can say for certain is you have more chance of things being worn out quicker if it has towed in its life and you don’t know it’s history.

 

 

+1, in my mind I'd always avoid cars with Towbars if you didnt know the history.  Saying that I brough my current car recently and previous owner had put a removable Westfalia on it .... that looked like it had never bee used 

^^^ depending on your view point it may even be a good thing as someone else has already had the expensive of having it fitted. I would say the way to look at it is the same as any used car, if the car has full service history and all the usual bills and receipts and looks well cared for then a towbar should be no issue. If however it looks like it ls been thrashed like it owes somebody money and has questionable history, walk away. 

The only thing I might say is octys tended to have saggy rear ends so may have had spring assistors fitted or you may wish to fit them afterwards yourself, either way make sure its been done properly. 

Edited 16 December, 20196 yr by Gmac983

Mine has a removeable towbar though I never remove is as it is a deterrent from people parking up against your butt.

 

Most I've towed with it has been the tiniest trailer you can get. So small you can't even see it from the rear (had to add flags to reassure myself it was still there).  That would never cause undue wear.

Use it with a bike carrier though.

As I started the thread thought I would tell you the weight of our caravans, the first one  being 1325 klg, done about 5k France etc. Second one 1340 klg  all uk and about 4k so far. Fuel consumption caravan 32mpg on the first one . latest with the CR engine 37mpg. Both solo on long runs up to 65/70 mpg. But have kept a log on all our motors and I would say the average mpg is no more then 42mpg per year and that includes caravan pulling.

@pastiche

Do you mean that your first DSG was gubbed / broken / dead at 55,000 miles?

So what happened there, was that in warranty or a hit to your wallet?

 

So was all OK here?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/464734-concerned

 

EDIT, got my answer on the first one, so was it sold as in need of repair or just punted, buyer beware?

 

PS Edit. 

Now i know.

 

Edited 17 December, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

On 13/12/2019 at 20:30, pastiche said:

Was reading an article about what to look for on a used Skoda. They went onto if it has a tow bar fitted in which the car might be "worn" more than not having a tow bar. Now I have had two Octavia both 2.0, last one with the CR engine. My belief is that if you keep to the recommended weight for your car it should have no effect. My first octy dsg went at 55k, I do not think it was because of towing. Present one is now at 106k and up to today has not been any problems. I must add that both cars are ,were serviced at Skoda at required times. So guys any comments?.

Just replaced a mk2 Skoda superb DSG on the CR170 engine

180,000+ miles and towbar fitted and used regularly to tow over a tonne of glider or near the limit 1.5 tonne) caravan. All services as recommended on longlife servicing intervals and the engine and gearbox both working perfectly still.

 

As long as serviced properly it shouldn’t be an issue.

18 hours ago, Roottootemoot said:

@pastiche

Do you mean that your first DSG was gubbed / broken / dead at 55,000 miles?

So what happened there, was that in warranty or a hit to your wallet?

 

So was all OK here?

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/464734-concerned

 

EDIT, got my answer on the first one, so was it sold as in need of repair or just punted, buyer beware?

 

PS Edit. 

Now i know.

 

 

The 55 reg at 55k dsg started making weird noises so took it to our Skoda who had it over a week .Then when I enquired what is going on they replied they just do not know and Skoda uk also said same.They offered me £2500 in part exchange. As said on another thread when I went on to the MOT site looking at that reg it turned out the new owner had done 34k more than when I sold it. Otherwise it was in really good condition. They did say a new box would be in region of 3k.

@pastiche

Cheers i got that from those threads i read.

What about the light you had with your current car though that caused you concern. 

Did that just stop having the light come on?

...A roofbox/rack lower fuel consumption by supposedly around ten percent. This means there is more drag/resistance to the car moving through the air (Obviously). Towing a trailer, even a small one, will add additional weight, as will a fully laden car. Simple physics mean this will make the working life of said car harder. So there is no way on earth, adding and regular usage of a tower, albeit a small trailer, a bike rack, etc cannot have at least a minimum detrimental affect to the fuel comedy and lifespan of the engine, clutch and gearbox. 

Heres the but... The previous owners may have used the towbar just a few times and there you have a freebie added. They might have had just one occupant in the vehicle, most of its life, serviced it on the dot and never drove in anger. So, in theory, you may find no detrimental effect and the car could seem perfect in almost every way. It is going to be a gamble, though as they could also have pulled the largest caravan possible, whilst having the car laden to the hilt, every weekend, travelling across Europe, over mountains, etc and just "Slipped in" A new, cut-priced clutch prior to knocking the car out for sale!

 

As the saying goes, "You pays your money, to takes your chance"!

You have just  reminded me of that am going red thinking about it. When I saw that light come on I looked in book and it said dsg overheating which I knew was wrong as the car was covered in frost that morning. Anyway took it to our Skoda who said they would put it on diagnostics at £60!.They phoned me few minuets after getting home asking what light had come on .This is the bit where I cringe. It was the rear light bulb!, they charged me £20 odd for bulb no diag charge.

On 16/12/2019 at 15:38, Gmac983 said:

^^^ depending on your view point it may even be a good thing as someone else has already had the expensive of having it fitted. I would say the way to look at it is the same as any used car, if the car has full service history and all the usual bills and receipts and looks well cared for then a towbar should be no issue. If however it looks like it ls been thrashed like it owes somebody money and has questionable history, walk away. 

The only thing I might say is octys tended to have saggy rear ends so may have had spring assistors fitted or you may wish to fit them afterwards yourself, either way make sure its been done properly. 

 

I do all the normal checks on history etc but in reality, 2 cars the same on paper, but one could have towed 1.5tonne on a weekly basis and the other may not.  On that point I know which one I would want.

6 hours ago, pastiche said:

You have just  reminded me of that am going red thinking about it. When I saw that light come on I looked in book and it said dsg overheating which I knew was wrong as the car was covered in frost that morning. Anyway took it to our Skoda who said they would put it on diagnostics at £60!.They phoned me few minuets after getting home asking what light had come on .This is the bit where I cringe. It was the rear light bulb!, they charged me £20 odd for bulb no diag charge.

Oh dear me.

 

RTFM comes to mind ......

Read The F****** Manual lol 😂 

 

very honest of you to fess up to that one ‼️