Hi all , my first post after a recommendation from another member.

would appreciate help and advice on this subject.

need to retro fit a tow bar to my octavia scout . Rainworth Skoda have quoted nearly £1500 for the fit including an upgrade to the cooling fans .

is this cooling fan upgrade really necessary? And if so can it be done cheaper by my local mechanic rather than paying dealer prices .

thanks in advance 

Dora.

Lets break this work down for you a little.

 

Tow bars and towing causes additional stress and strains on the car.  Firstly, for any job like this, get the Skoda Dealer to break down the work into its constituent parts.  

 

The car will need the "electrical preparation" kit and the "tow bar" kit.  The electrical kit is not a drop-in.  You have to take apart most of the internals of the car to get feeds for all the electrical feeds and add in additional connections into the internal fusebox plus programming the car up to accept the electrical connections and to tell it has a tow bar.  The TDI150's I think have a requirement for additional cooling (I think they get the cooling equipment from the 184's), so that maybe a radiator (possibly gearbox radiators too for DSG) and cooling fans, so that sounds about right.  I would also budget for getting a Skoda reversing camera installed too (300 odd pounds), because it will make towing so much easier.

 

Of course, you can take the car and get a tow-bar installed cheaply - it just depends on what you are expecting.  Without the additional cooling, you will stress the engine.  You maybe left with a car that is not supported and will cost a shed load to fix (overheating).  Please also note there are weight limits for towing - as your Scout is a 2015 model (MY16??), this was the last year for a manual gearbox - the manual gearboxes are good, but need fettling occassionally to keep them good.  I am very particular with cars, so I would also get the gearbox oil changed prior to towing.

Thanks for the detailed reply . I had no intention of doing a cheap half job on the tow bar install because as you rightly point out it needs to be done correctly and there’s a lot of work involved. It was the cooling question that had me wondering and you’ve answered it. 
Thanks again 👍

Thanks for the detailed reply . I had no intention of doing a cheap half job on the tow bar install because as you rightly point out it needs to be done correctly and there’s a lot of work involved. It was the cooling question that had me wondering and you’ve answered it. 
talk to me about skinny wheels, got this foam nonsense for the 225/50 R17 tyres that are fitted. Looking to purchase a skinny spare. Does it have to be a 17” or can I get away with another size fo4 a temporary job. Because looking around there doesn’t seem to be many 17’s about .
 

Thanks again 👍

Hi D, if your doing towing I would suggest getting a full size wheel and tyre. 

How often will you be towing? Surely you need to factor this in before shelling out £1500! 

 

I went for the 'half job' cheap install and saved £1000. 💪

Just bought a caravan mate , so I reckon it will be quite often according to the wife ! 

The Octavia's can fit a full sized 17" tyre in the boot. Recommend you get this and a spare tyre tool kit insert. Skinny 50mph emergency tyres coat about 200ukp. A full sized 17" plus tools is about the same money.

thanks for the advice mate , will do 

2 hours ago, Dora said:

Just bought a caravan mate , so I reckon it will be quite often according to the wife ! 

 

Right, so you dont want to be stuck doing 50mph with a caravan. Thats why i got a full size spare. 

Remembering that towing a caravan on single carriageway roads you are stuck with a 50 mph speed limit. 

As a fairly regular tower with the Scout, I can testify to its capability. Luckily mine had the factory fit bar and prep, which I assume came with the required changes to the cooling system etc (is that correct experts?) One thing to bear in mind tho is that despite the additional measures the car can still run quite hot. So before doing any serious towing, make sure you also have fresh engine oil, and if you haven’t already done it, if possible have the cam belt/water pump replaced. I almost had a breakdown in Scotland in 2019, warm weather, long journey and a failing water pump (didn’t realise at the time) caused a very near dangerous overheat. 

1 hour ago, Nickj633 said:

As a fairly regular tower with the Scout, I can testify to its capability. Luckily mine had the factory fit bar and prep, which I assume came with the required changes to the cooling system etc (is that correct experts?) One thing to bear in mind tho is that despite the additional measures the car can still run quite hot. So before doing any serious towing, make sure you also have fresh engine oil, and if you haven’t already done it, if possible have the cam belt/water pump replaced. I almost had a breakdown in Scotland in 2019, warm weather, long journey and a failing water pump (didn’t realise at the time) caused a very near dangerous overheat. 

Thanks Nick that’s good advice 👍

Oh, and dont forget that other "little" thing, the Haldex. 😳

1 hour ago, NZ100 said:

Oh, and dont forget that other "little" thing, the Haldex. 😳

Absolutely, make sure you are up to date with the minimum change of the haldex fluid, every 30,000 miles. Some do it as often as 20,000.

In fact, all this has prompted me to get my gearbox oil and maybe my diff oil changed next week before going away in June. Thanks OP.

Yes - all this is good.  Looks like that the MK4 Scout's won't be arriving anytime soon in the UK, so it is worth keeping our existing MK3 Scout's going for as long as possible.  Good luck to @Nickj633