Hope someone can help me regarding the issue of a tow bar/tow bar prep please. I currently own my well loved ŠKODA Yeti but thinking about buying a used Kamiq 1.5 and need it to tow a small caravan Swift Basecamp. Can a Towbar still be fitted if there is no towbar prep from factory and how can you tell if a vehicle has towbar prep? Complete newbie to this site and also to Caravanning.  

Welcome to the forum.

 

Sorry no idea with the Kamiq, but be sure you get what ever information in writing from a dealership or Skoda UK before buying or ordering, 

and if a used car you want to check the plate on the towing limits for a Braked Trailer.

 

This is a new Octavia.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/492496-planning-to-tow-with-a-new-car-beware

 

Thank you for your advice and I will check out your link. Many thanks 😊 

"Tow bar preparation. Please note, it is not possible to retrospectively fit a tow bar if the car is not fitted with tow bar preparation at Factory."

 

From the Kamiq Pricing and Specification https://az749841.vo.msecnd.net/sitesengb/alv1/3790b4a5-0e33-4cf5-948e-9510c594d58f/SKODA_KAMIQ-Pricing-and-Spec_OCTOBER19.93a6142e51b692f2639649458fbc9a4f.pdf

 

 

THALL, did you get this sorted ?

I collect my Kamiq on Friday and will want a towbar, so I spoke via phone to my local tow bar dealer/fitter who told me that he believes that there are ongoing discussions regarding the viability of fitting aftermarket tow bars.

I wonder what the problem is with the Kamiq as I had an aftermarket tow bar fitted to my current Kodiaq which didn't have tow bar preparation and wasn't coded to the car and it works fine.

I have now spoken to Skoda customer services, who in turn spoke briefly to the technical dept. Apart from wanting a tow bar myself, I'd really like to get to the bottom of why Skoda advise not fitting a tow bar without factory prep. The brief chat with technical revealed no reason for this, so the customer services person is going to raise it as an issue and try to get to the bottom of it further up the food chain.

I will post again if I get an answer.

I contacted big towbar fitting company after being told my Fabia Monte Carlo could not be fitted with a towbar.

The towbar and wiring kit arrived the following day and the fitter a few days later. Done in a day.

 

The fitter and Westphalia detachable towbar/ball, were organised by 

 

0161 872 4755

Mon - Thu 8:00 - 17:00
Fri 8:00 - 16:30

 

0 



 

 

 

 

 

Edited 14 July, 20214 yr by gumdrop

41 minutes ago, gumdrop said:

I contacted big towbar fitting company after being told my Fabia Monte Carlo could not be fitted with a towbar.

The towbar and wiring kit arrived the following day and the fitter a few days later. Done in a day.

This is the sort of thing that bothers me as I'm sure that it's physically possible to fit a tow bar to a Kamiq, but I need to know the reasons why Skoda say don't do it. e.g. is it unsafe, does it need extra cooling, will it bugger up the electrics if it's not coded etc etc.

I suspect there's more than one fitter out there who'd say " yeh, I'll do that for you mate" without exploring the possible complications and we, as the general public  have no idea what can and shouldn't be done, so we believe the fitter because he says it's okay and he should know - right ?

Because of what Skoda advise, is there actually an aftermarket tow bar out there that is made for the Kamiq ?

Can I ask which company fitted your tow bar ?

21 minutes ago, olderman1 said:

This is the sort of thing that bothers me as I'm sure that it's physically possible to fit a tow bar to a Kamiq, but I need to know the reasons why Skoda say don't do it. e.g. is it unsafe, does it need extra cooling, will it bugger up the electrics if it's not coded etc etc.

I suspect there's more than one fitter out there who'd say " yeh, I'll do that for you mate" without exploring the possible complications and we, as the general public  have no idea what can and shouldn't be done, so we believe the fitter because he says it's okay and he should know - right ?

Because of what Skoda advise, is there actually an aftermarket tow bar out there that is made for the Kamiq ?

Can I ask which company fitted your tow bar ?

I posted the company name in the post before yours. PF Jones 0161 872 4755 fitted a Westphalia towbar.

If you get the skoda factory towbar they fit a rear skirt with a closure plate to conceal the towing connections,

this was the only reason I was given after extensive enquiries with skoda dealers and their head office.

My Kamiq has the towing prefit package but there is nothing to see so I assume it is wiring only

Edited 14 July, 20214 yr by gumdrop

Apologies for chuntering on but: I've just made a phone call to a company called Towbarexpress and asked what they thought about fitting a tow bar to a Kamiq.

" Yes we can do that and it will include a detachable hitch and dedicated wiring for the car" they said. They come to you and their price would be £1030, which isn't funny, but at least it tells me that the kit is available and the job is doable.

So what the hell are Skoda worried about - are they trying to keep it all in house ?

Quote

 

 I posted the company name in the post before yours. PF Jones 0161 872 4755

If you get the skoda factory towbar they fit a rear skirt with a closure plate to conceal the towing connections,

this was the only reason I was given after extensive enquiries with skoda dealers and their head office.

My Kamiq has the towing prefit package but there is nothing to see so I assume it is wiring only

Just saw you reply as I posted mine. Your link wasn't showing earlier, so thanks for that. Are you referring to your Fabia or your Kamiq in your statement ?

2 minutes ago, olderman1 said:

Apologies for chuntering on but: I've just made a phone call to a company called Towbarexpress and asked what they thought about fitting a tow bar to a Kamiq.

" Yes we can do that and it will include a detachable hitch and dedicated wiring for the car" they said. They come to you and their price would be £1030, which isn't funny, but at least it tells me that the kit is available and the job is doable.

So what the hell are Skoda worried about - are they trying to keep it all in house ?

As with my Fabia they will cut a "visible" slot in the skirt, in practice I had to get on my hands and knees to see it

1 minute ago, gumdrop said:

As with my Fabia they will cut a "visible" slot in the skirt, in practice I had to get on my hands and knees to see it

Thankyou.

I would check that the towing weight section of the sticker on the drivers door pillar is actually filled in. There are posts in other sections that the tow weight is 0 on some stickers so a tow bar cannot legally be fitted.

12 minutes ago, Kenny R said:

I would check that the towing weight section of the sticker on the drivers door pillar is actually filled in. There are posts in other sections that the tow weight is 0 on some stickers so a tow bar cannot legally be fitted.

Thanks Kenny, I'll have a look when I get the car (it's race blue by the way ).

I'm currently thinking that as I only want it for a bike carrier and the kit is available and I could get a detachable hitch, I'll go ahead anyway, depending on what local quotes are and what, if anything my insurance company has to say.

Edited 14 July, 20214 yr by olderman1
Addition

1 hour ago, olderman1 said:

Thanks Kenny, I'll have a look when I get the car (it's race blue by the way ).

I'm currently thinking that as I only want it for a bike carrier and the kit is available and I could get a detachable hitch, I'll go ahead anyway, depending on what local quotes are and what, if anything my insurance company has to say.

I think it will be okay as Top Gear gives specs for my model which state there's a 1250kg towing limit, which is encouraging.

Edited 14 July, 20214 yr by olderman1

6 hours ago, olderman1 said:

Apologies for chuntering on but: I've just made a phone call to a company called Towbarexpress and asked what they thought about fitting a tow bar to a Kamiq.

" Yes we can do that and it will include a detachable hitch and dedicated wiring for the car" they said. They come to you and their price would be £1030, which isn't funny, but at least it tells me that the kit is available and the job is doable.

So what the hell are Skoda worried about - are they trying to keep it all in house ?

It's cheaper to have factory fit 

2 hours ago, skoda1982 said:

It's cheaper to have factory fit 

Yes, but only if you already have factory fitted to bar preparation !!

14 hours ago, skoda1982 said:

It's cheaper to have factory fit 

Factory fit has to be when you order from Skoda factory not after it arrives in the UK.

1 minute ago, gumdrop said:

Factory fit has to be when you order from Skoda factory not after it arrives in the UK.

I get that, but what about the poor sods who buy a used car, or as in my case, a demo ?

It could be argued that a person shouldn't buy a car that can't tow, but there's many out there that wouldn't do any research and buy blind with the expectation that any car can tow.

Skoda are complicating things !

2 hours ago, olderman1 said:

I get that, but what about the poor sods who buy a used car, or as in my case, a demo ?

It could be argued that a person shouldn't buy a car that can't tow, but there's many out there that wouldn't do any research and buy blind with the expectation that any car can tow.

Skoda are complicating things !

My comment was to skoda 1982, I always buy the showroom cars that others order then back out of I tend to get a better deal

as long as most of the spec suits me. This is the first automatic, dsg, that I have owned (the glass roof I would not have entertained).

Okay FWIW, I was in my dealer today, so I went and had a chat with a very nice lady on the service desk, who I'd spoken to yesterday about tow bar fitting. She had little knowledge about what Skoda will or won't allow, so I thought for her future reference, I'd share what I've learned since yesterday, which is; 

This is reference to the Kamiq 1.5 etsi in standard trim. It is possible to fit a tow bar to this car, the kit inc dedicated wiring is available and the statement of conformity that came with the car states that it can tow up to 1250kgs (there is no sticker on the B pillar or anywhere else that we could find that states otherwise).

So I asked if they would fit a tow bar to my car bearing in mind Skoda state it shouldn't be done if the car has no factory pre wiring fitted (mine hasn't). The answer was yes they would, but at a price just short of £1200, so that gives lie to what Skoda state.

This does not apply to all models e.g 1.0 petrol and 1.6 diesel and it may not apply to all 1.5 tsi models as it may depend on what, if any extras are fitted. Best check with your dealer if you're thinking of having a tow bar fitted.

Apart from the expensive quote I mentioned earlier, I've had two others, one from PF Jones for £637, but only if I drive further north because there's a shortage of fitters down here in the west, and another from a local fitter for £710. both quotes are for a detachable swan neck hitch and wiring dedicated to my car. If having bypass wiring fitted the price would be somewhat cheaper.

PF Jones said they could provide me with the kit for £327.27 if I could then find someone to fit it.

So on my car it can be done, my dilemma being, is it worth it just to carry two E bikes ??

Further to this, during my chat line conversation to customer services on Weds, the lady I spoke with said she'd chase this up with technical and try to ascertain the reason Skoda say a tow bar can't be fitted without tow bar prep.

I was impressed to get a call back yesterday, although not so impressed with the answer.

Technical told her that without factory fitted tow bar prep, a car is not homologated for towing. I then told her that my dealer had said they could and would fit a tow bar, which rather took the wind out of her sails, as she didn't know how to answer that. 

So my stance is for my particular model; should I decide to have a tow bar fitted, I will, but ensuring that the dedicated wiring kit is used so as not to possibly nullify my warranty.

I hope this may be helpful to anyone considering having a tow bar fitted. Enough said, I'm off to pick up my Kamiq today. 

21 hours ago, olderman1 said:

the statement of conformity that came with the car states that it can tow up to 1250kgs

 

If the CoC for your vehicle VIN number states that then the vehicle is homologated full stop, it doesn't matter what they say, it is that information that the DVLA use for the  weights on the V5.

 

Have you actually seen the certificate for your vehicle or are you relying on what is being said to you? If the latter then with respect it has as little validity as what Top Gear magazine may write.

 

I think VAG are applying overshrewdness, the CoC and the vehicle data plate will not show any towing weight unless you have bent over, dropped your trousers and accepted being reamed for factory towbar prep.

Quote

Have you actually seen the certificate for your vehicle

Yes I have, it was in a sealed envelope in the car when I went to view it yesterday. Must check that it's still in the car when I pick it up later.