So I recently bought a superb combi and I am looking to get a towbar fitted, as I could not find a used one with a factory fitted towbar. I did not realise about some of the issues, and cost, involved prior to buying the car.

 

So I have gotten 2 quotes for fitting. One was for £585+vat from Buchanans Towbars in Glasgow. This was for westfalia detachable, and 13 pin vehicle specific wiring and all coding. Is this a decent price?

 

Second quote from Indespension in Glasgow who are quoting £575 inc Vat, which is for Brink detachable towbar and universal electrics. They state that they can't fit the vehicle specific electrics if the car does not already have the factory towbar prep fitted. Which my car does not. Are they correct in stating this?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

17 minutes ago, deedie said:

they can't fit the vehicle specific electrics if the car does not already have the factory towbar prep fitted. Which my car does not. Are they correct in stating this?

 

They may not be able to! But it is not impossible! 😉

 

My car is living proof!

 

Mine was £583 from TopFit:- https://www.towbarsandtowing.co.uk/product/skoda-superb-hatchback-and-estate-2015-to-present-detachable-swan-neck-towbar/

 

Brilliant bunch, couldn't be happier!

 

If you have assist systems on your car then a quick scan of my post here:- www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/471418-assist-systems-errors wouldn't be a bad idea to prevent the headaches that I & other people have experienced post-instal!!

 

(My recommendation would be to get the vehicle specific electrics - your car tells you the brake lights are not working on the trailer for example!!!)

 

All the best

Edited 30 January, 20206 yr by z1ts

I would also recommend the vehicle specific Electrics. It also activates the trailer assist/ stability control and will deactivate the rear parking sensors etc

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm beginning to think it's actually not worth the bother. 

 

Should have kept looking for a car with one fitted. 

 

We live and learn

1 hour ago, deedie said:

Thanks for the advice.

 

I'm beginning to think it's actually not worth the bother. 

 

Should have kept looking for a car with one fitted. 

 

We live and learn

It's only £127 (on your figures) extra to have dedicated coded electrics with a much, much better bar - hardly a deal breaker considering what you pay for a car - and only two tanks of fuel in any case.

12 minutes ago, NJRJ said:

It's only £127 (on your figures) extra to have dedicated coded electrics with a much, much better bar - hardly a deal breaker considering what you pay for a car - and only two tanks of fuel in any case.

The cost does not concern me. That was not the enquiry I made. I'm more concerned about the issues regarding getting a towbar fitted without having the prep in place. One quote says they can't do it. The other didn't ask whether it was in place or not. 

Last month I paid 590 for a detachable towbar, which came with the proper skoda wiring. This was fitted at my home, and the fella doing it took great care when removing the rear bumper.

Included in this price was a dual loom for 7 and 13 amp sockets. It took the fitter 4 hours to fit it.

I've had one run with my caravan on tow, and I've no faults/warnings come up.

 

25 minutes ago, Bigeater said:

Last month I paid 590 for a detachable towbar, which came with the proper skoda wiring. This was fitted at my home, and the fella doing it took great care when removing the rear bumper.

Included in this price was a dual loom for 7 and 13 amp sockets. It took the fitter 4 hours to fit it.

I've had one run with my caravan on tow, and I've no faults/warnings come up.

 

Did you have the towbar prep factory installed? 

I was going to say that my towbar fitter (and dealer) said that towbar prep wasn't needed on my S3 (2L Diesel Manual). Apparently the 'prep' is just for those models that need addition cooling when towing and is radiator swap etc - those bits could be retrofitted but would be ££££'s.

11 minutes ago, deedie said:

Did you have the towbar prep factory installed? 

The wiring used goes to the fuse box behind the glovebox, if that's what you mean deedie

Just now, Bigeater said:

The wiring used goes to the fuse box behind the glovebox, if that's what you mean deedie

That sounds like yours does not have the prep preinstalled then, like mine. 

4 minutes ago, NJRJ said:

I was going to say that my towbar fitter (and dealer) said that towbar prep wasn't needed on my S3 (2L Diesel Manual). Apparently the 'prep' is just for those models that need addition cooling when towing and is radiator swap etc - those bits could be retrofitted but would be ££££'s.

My understanding is the prep is the wires already in place from the fuse box too the rear of the car, to negate the need for a fitter to run wires all the way through the car. This was an optional extra on all variants of the superb mk3 in the UK. 

11 minutes ago, deedie said:

That sounds like yours does not have the prep preinstalled then, like mine. 

That's right. It was included in the 590 quid price.

My last three Skoda's - two Yetis and my current Superb - have all had towbars, with detachable towballs, fitted local to me..  None of these cars had the factory pre-towbar package installed.  The fitting company, Phil Taylor Towbars at Horndean are the best of the best - guys come from all over the country to use their services.  They will advise and fit whatever you want - everything works and they do the job in under one and a half hours.  Have a look at their website or give them a call.  You won't be disappointed - I should know - I've been towing caravans since 1972!  There are some good fitters out there - word of mouth is always a good recommendation.

I think you have to filter the above comments depending on what spec car you are fitting to.

 

If it is fitted with things like blind spot monitor, cross traffic alert etc then you will need to have the appropriate coding done as they are going to get confused with a trailer in the proximity of their safety scanning area.   

 

52 minutes ago, SurreyJohn said:

I think you have to filter the above comments depending on what spec car you are fitting to.

 

If it is fitted with things like blind spot monitor, cross traffic alert etc then you will need to have the appropriate coding done as they are going to get confused with a trailer in the proximity of their safety scanning area.   

 

thanks for that

 

my sel exec model does not come with any of the extras. The only thing I think was non standard is the front parking sensors. I think those were an added option

1 hour ago, busdriver said:

My last three Skoda's - two Yetis and my current Superb - have all had towbars, with detachable towballs, fitted local to me..  None of these cars had the factory pre-towbar package installed.  The fitting company, Phil Taylor Towbars at Horndean are the best of the best - guys come from all over the country to use their services.  They will advise and fit whatever you want - everything works and they do the job in under one and a half hours.  Have a look at their website or give them a call.  You won't be disappointed - I should know - I've been towing caravans since 1972!  There are some good fitters out there - word of mouth is always a good recommendation.

thanks

 

Good advice regarding word of mouth.

 

So anybody used anybody in the Glasgow area who has fitted a towbar? I don't mind travelling for the job to be done properly.

If I understand this correctly there were 2 options when ordering a Superb mk3:- 1) no towbar 'prep' and 2) with towbar prep (and technically a third:- full factory-fit towbar install)

 

Also, I believe that both options have the wiring loom from the front to the rear pre-installed, what you get with option 2 is some additional wizardry in relation to cooling: different radiator etc.

 

My Superb did not have towbar prep (as I ordered it brand new & configured it myself) and it does have a retrofit towbar that didn't require the technician to run a loom from front to back of vehicle..........

 

If I'm wildly off the mark then someone please correct me.

 

Have you been in touch with https://www.towbarsandtowing.co.uk/ yet @deedie??? I would be very surprised if they can't help you.

28 minutes ago, z1ts said:

If I understand this correctly there were 2 options when ordering a Superb mk3:- 1) no towbar 'prep' and 2) with towbar prep (and technically a third:- full factory-fit towbar install)

 

Also, I believe that both options have the wiring loom from the front to the rear pre-installed, what you get with option 2 is some additional wizardry in relation to cooling: different radiator etc.

 

My Superb did not have towbar prep (as I ordered it brand new & configured it myself) and it does have a retrofit towbar that didn't require the technician to run a loom from front to back of vehicle..........

 

If I'm wildly off the mark then someone please correct me.

 

Have you been in touch with https://www.towbarsandtowing.co.uk/ yet @deedie??? I would be very surprised if they can't help you.

This is one of my other issues, so much conflicting info about this. I recon before I made this post I head read every towbar fitting thread in this section and a lot of different opinions was evident. It was already mentioned in this thread by someone who had one fitted, that the fitter had to run wires to behind the fuse box. 

 

I also read a thread on here about some one who retrofitted the factory towbar. They also had to run wires to front and regretted starting the job in the first place due to the complexity of that install. 

4 minutes ago, deedie said:

I also read a thread on here about some one who retrofitted the factory towbar. They also had to run wires to front and regretted starting the job in the first place due to the complexity of that install. 

 

Shoot! There must be yet another option, with no factory fitted loom from front to back!!

 

The best thing to do I suppose is to get a towbar fitter (remote or workshop based) to poke their nose in & around your particular car and verify things for certain as to what you do/don't have and then establish from there what you do/don't require!!!

48 minutes ago, z1ts said:

 

Shoot! There must be yet another option, with no factory fitted loom from front to back!!

 

The best thing to do I suppose is to get a towbar fitter (remote or workshop based) to poke their nose in & around your particular car and verify things for certain as to what you do/don't have and then establish from there what you do/don't require!!!

Yep. Probably not a bad idea. 

Hi all, I fitted a westfalia Tow bar to my 66 plate 190 tdi sport line 4x4 without prep. This required running cable to under glovebox. I then fitted the same to my 280 l&k 18 plate with prep, the only difference is the cables are run to behind wheel arch left hand side next to subwoofer. You still need to dismantle that side of the boot and fit relays which are not included. Next time I will not bother paying £200 for the prep and run the cable to front myself. 

4 minutes ago, Martin201 said:

Hi all, I fitted a westfalia Tow bar to my 66 plate 190 tdi sport line 4x4 without prep. This required running cable to under glovebox. I then fitted the same to my 280 l&k 18 plate with prep, the only difference is the cables are run to behind wheel arch left hand side next to subwoofer. You still need to dismantle that side of the boot and fit relays which are not included. Next time I will not bother paying £200 for the prep and run the cable to front myself. 

Thanks for the confirmation. 

 

So it looks like the vehicle specific wiring has to be run through the car. At least I now know it is possible without having the prep in place. 

 

Which also is strange If @z1ts had the vehicle specific wiring fitted without it being run all the way through the car. 

Edited 31 January, 20206 yr by deedie

Happy to pass on my experience. 

1 minute ago, Martin201 said:

Happy to pass on my experience. 

Out of curiosity, when did you get it fitted, and how much did it cost?