Anyone towed with the MK4

[Andy585]

Hi has anyone towed with their mk4 yet 

what was the car like ?? 
 

I have the factory drop down towbar fitted but not going camping till late August to try it out 

 

 

[mitchec]

I have an mk4 diesel estate with an aftermarket removable Westfalia tow bar. The car has a towing capacity of 1600 kg which is ok for my caravan.  With regards to towing, the car has no issues with towing re hills etc. I normally tow at 57 on a motorway. The only issues I have experienced is passing wagons on the motorway. You normally have do 60mph and it can become a bit unstable if your not careful. I try to give them a wide berth if possible. 
 

I normally get around 34 mpg on a motorway trip as apposed to the 65-68 mpg I get for a similar trip when not towing. 
 

on a positive note I have used travel assist in good weather on the motorway and it has done a good job keeping in lane though it doesn’t do so well around road works. Doesn’t like traffic cones at the road side. 

[CS363]

I've towed a motorcycle trailer several times with 2 or 3 road bikes and barely noticed the trailer, in all cases this was for long distances and varied terrain and mostly using cruise control. The only downside was fuel consumption was a bit worse but that is to be expected.

In New Zealand the factory towbars are not legal, so we use locally produced (well Australian) towbars that meet local certification with a removable tongue. I believe the electronics package they fitted is the same as the ones used in Europe as it is a Skoda factory item.

[AlanOsborne]

Hi, Just a cautionary tale, I bought a 2020 Octavia MkIV a couple of years ago to replace my 2015 model.  I had a towbar fitted to pull my caravan then discovered that the car was in fact plated at zero weight for towing!

[RADIOTWO]

On 28/07/2023 at 20:59, AlanOsborne said:

Hi, Just a cautionary tale, I bought a 2020 Octavia MkIV a couple of years ago to replace my 2015 model.  I had a towbar fitted to pull my caravan then discovered that the car was in fact plated at zero weight for towing!

Hi Alan, 

That does not make sense, how did you discover it was plated zero for towing, where did you get that info?

[Kenny R]

9 minutes ago, RADIOTWO said:

Hi Alan, 

That does not make sense, how did you discover it was plated zero for towing, where did you get that info?

There is a vin plate on the lower drivers side B pillar. If the plate shows towing weight as zero then a towbar should not be fitted.

[RADIOTWO]

1 hour ago, Kenny R said:

There is a vin plate on the lower drivers side B pillar. If the plate shows towing weight as zero then a towbar should not be fitted.

Don't tell me tell the OP

 

[AlanOsborne]

Yes, it was when I was cleaning the car having had the towbar fitted that i noticed the '0 kg' towing weight!  I had bought the car second-hand and the towbar was fitted by the Dealer (via a 3rd party) who promptly uninstalled it when I pointed out the problem!  I was paid some compensation for my troubles and was informed, rightly or wrongly, that there were more and more 'Zero-Plated' cars appearing because less people are asking for their new cars to be even capable of having a towbar installed, never mind actually having one factory-fitted!

 

I accompanied a Skoda employee around their display of 2nd hand Octavias and nearly half of the cars, mostly around a year old, were plated at 0 kg towing weight!  This was in late 2021 and was probably a cost-cutting exercise by the manufacturer - I don't know if the situation has changed?

 

[Kenny R]

5 hours ago, RADIOTWO said:

Hi Alan, 

That does not make sense, how did you discover it was plated zero for towing, where did you get that info?

You asked the question “where did you get that info”

[RADIOTWO]

6 hours ago, Kenny R said:

You asked the question “where did you get that info”

I was asking the OP I know all about the towing figures I have been into towing for may years but not heard of them

marking them up as zero 

[RADIOTWO]

6 hours ago, AlanOsborne said:

Yes, it was when I was cleaning the car having had the towbar fitted that i noticed the '0 kg' towing weight!  I had bought the car second-hand and the towbar was fitted by the Dealer (via a 3rd party) who promptly uninstalled it when I pointed out the problem!  I was paid some compensation for my troubles and was informed, rightly or wrongly, that there were more and more 'Zero-Plated' cars appearing because less people are asking for their new cars to be even capable of having a towbar installed, never mind actually having one factory-fitted!

 

I accompanied a Skoda employee around their display of 2nd hand Octavias and nearly half of the cars, mostly around a year old, were plated at 0 kg towing weight!  This was in late 2021 and was probably a cost-cutting exercise by the manufacturer - I don't know if the situation has changed?

 

I gather its too late but there is a company up in Preston who will re plate them, I know its not the same but I had a Van that could 

only  tow 2800Kg and I wanted it to tow 3500kg, so I contacted the company and they sent me a new plate showing the 3500kgs

[Ootohere]

^^^ That is a whole different kettle of fish or can of worms from cars without the Type Approval from the manufacturers not plating a car to tow.

As was the case with Mk1 & Mk2 Fabia vRS. 

 

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

 

Edited 30 July, 2023 by toot

[J.R.]

28 minutes ago, RADIOTWO said:

I gather its too late but there is a company up in Preston who will re plate them, I know its not the same but I had a Van that could 

only  tow 2800Kg and I wanted it to tow 3500kg, so I contacted the company and they sent me a new plate showing the 3500kgs

😄😄

 

I have a stock of blank Tare plates for trailers:

 

https://www.maxter-accessoires.com/1940/plaque-constructeur.html

 

My letter & number stamping is not as straight and equally spaced as it once was.

[fryeruk]

On 30/07/2023 at 16:03, AlanOsborne said:

I accompanied a Skoda employee around their display of 2nd hand Octavias and nearly half of the cars, mostly around a year old, were plated at 0 kg towing weight!  This was in late 2021 and was probably a cost-cutting exercise by the manufacturer - I don't know if the situation has changed?

 

 

The Skoda employee is right. When I was at my dealer purchasing my new Octy, I've raised the towbar question as I am also planning to tow at some point ( bikes trailer only ). I did not purchase the car with a towbar fitted from factory, but I included in my order the towbar car preparation, which includes not only the mounting points of the towbar in future when I decide to install it, but also a different electric system with more powerful alternator and a slightly bigger cooling expansion tank.

[Stonekeeper]

Good article from Camping and caravan club here regarding European directive EC 94/20. and the subsequent ECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe) Regulation 55.

 

"The towbar must attach to the vehicle using dedicated mounting points provided by the manufacturer. A further requirement is that the towball must be in a specified position in relation to those mounting points and not the height from the ground.  It is up to the vehicle maker to ensure the towball positioning meets the regulatory requirements."

 

 

https://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/advice/equipment/towbars-and-towing-electrics/

 

 

For clarification i am not saying that after market tow bars cannot be fitted.

 

 

[Stonekeeper]

[Andy585]

So just back from my October trip to the north of Scotland with the caravan heading up the MPG showed 35MPG 

 

Heading back home it was slightly lower 33MPG in to a keen easterly wind 

 

Caravan was under 1Ton no issues with stability 

 

car was the VRS TDI estate FWD 

 

Back up in November 👍

[RADIOTWO]

4 hours ago, Andy585 said:

So just back from my October trip to the north of Scotland with the caravan heading up the MPG showed 35MPG 

 

Heading back home it was slightly lower 33MPG in to a keen easterly wind 

 

Caravan was under 1Ton no issues with stability 

 

car was the VRS TDI estate FWD 

 

Back up in November 👍

How do you check the rear lights on the caravan ?

[Andy585]

I have factory fitted towbar everything works perfectly on 13pin electrics I use someone to check lights operate on caravan before setting off 

[RADIOTWO]

Just now, Andy585 said:

I have factory fitted towbar everything works perfectly on 13pin electrics I use someone to check lights operate on caravan before setting off 

Hi Andy, I was not doubting your installation, but wondered if you knew about the self test hack ?  

[PetrolDave]

42 minutes ago, RADIOTWO said:

wondered if you knew about the self test hack ?  

Please share ...

[RADIOTWO]

18 minutes ago, PetrolDave said:

Please share ...

Are there is some interest  !  Before you plug the trailer into the car, turn the hazards on then plug in and look at the trailer

lights and tell me what you see  

Edited 19 October, 2023 by RADIOTWO

[J.R.]

1 hour ago, RADIOTWO said:

How do you check the rear lights on the caravan ?

 

39 minutes ago, RADIOTWO said:

look at the trailer

lights

 

Is the answer to your question "with your eyes"?

 

Doesn"t sound like much of a hack but that would seem to be obligatory of anything bearing that label.

[GWoodhouse]

On 30/07/2023 at 20:29, RADIOTWO said:

I was asking the OP I know all about the towing figures I have been into towing for may years but not heard of them

marking them up as zero 

There are other threads on here which suggest that unless towbar prep was specified from the factory that the vehicles are 0 rated for towing, which seems a somewhat dubious practice from Skoda. It's also been mentioned that the same applies to the Kodiaq, an SUV favoured by people who... like to tow caravans,  I think it may also have been suggested that this was an administrative error by Skoda rather than intentional. I'd be interested to know if more recent cars are coming out of the factory as 0 rated? 

 

I have a 21 plate which is 0 rated, I have no intention of towing a caravan or a trailer but do have a towbar mounted bike carrier that I might want to fit someday, again, other threads on here provide different opinions regarding whether one can attach a towbar mounted bike carrier to a 0 rated vehicle.

 

We had an aftermarket towbar fitted (for the bike carrier) on our 63 plate MkIII Octavia and it was faultless.

 

Well done Skoda 👍

[RADIOTWO]

2 hours ago, GWoodhouse said:

There are other threads on here which suggest that unless towbar prep was specified from the factory that the vehicles are 0 rated for towing, which seems a somewhat dubious practice from Skoda. It's also been mentioned that the same applies to the Kodiaq, an SUV favoured by people who... like to tow caravans,  I think it may also have been suggested that this was an administrative error by Skoda rather than intentional. I'd be interested to know if more recent cars are coming out of the factory as 0 rated? 

 

I have a 21 plate which is 0 rated, I have no intention of towing a caravan or a trailer but do have a towbar mounted bike carrier that I might want to fit someday, again, other threads on here provide different opinions regarding whether one can attach a towbar mounted bike carrier to a 0 rated vehicle.

 

We had an aftermarket towbar fitted (for the bike carrier) on our 63 plate MkIII Octavia and it was faultless.

 

Well done Skoda 👍

 

Edited 21 October, 2023 by RADIOTWO