vw passat estate towbars

[cal1664]

hello, i drive an auto passat petrol 2.0 estate 56 and require a towbar fitted to tow a caravan. has anyone got any good info on this subject i.e. who to fit it, cost, retro fit suggestion, do's and don't, contacts etc, do i need to fix new electrics and panels. please help

regards

cal

[bora(ing) nick]

Ben (golfmk5gttdi) is your man for tow bars, however he has a golf.

When i fitted a towbar to the bora, it was quite simple really...

Back bumper off, screw in wheel arch and underneath, remove impact bar, (4 bolts under back bumper) Slide the tobar into the chassis, and bolt up.

Tow bar acts as the impact bar, and then just refix bumper. My bumper needed a smaller 1" sq hole cutting out of it (right underneath, invisable to the eye). The electrics came in a pre wired kit, that just plugged in behind the existing light clusters. and then took a feed from the battery with an in-line fuse.

Whole job took around 3 hours.

Nick

[Ben]

Hi


The link you need is in my sig.

What's your location?

EDIT: was in m,y sig untill i removed it.

[mctowbars]

hello, i drive an auto passat petrol 2.0 estate 56 and require a towbar fitted to tow a caravan. has anyone got any good info on this subject i.e. who to fit it, cost, retro fit suggestion, do's and don't, contacts etc, do i need to fix new electrics and panels. please help

regards

cal

have you got yourself sorted

[thebambers]

Hi, new member to this gang as due to pick up my 2.0 TDi Passat Estate tomorrow. Am really excited but also confused about the towbars and TSP. My local towbar fitter is really clued up and mentioned that after he has fitted it that he needs a code to enable all the features to work correctly such as parking sensors etc. He also mentioned about the vehicle "sensing" when the towbar is connected to something and this can affect the traction and handling etc. I spoke to the dealership in Leeds where I am buying it from and they seemd to have no idea, even contacting VW uk and they would not give info on non VW products even though i am spending the best part of 15k on a vehicle!!

Any ideas chaps?

Many thanks,

Paul PS its an 06 model!

[angus]

Hi, new member to this gang as due to pick up my 2.0 TDi Passat Estate tomorrow. Am really excited but also confused about the towbars and TSP. My local towbar fitter is really clued up and mentioned that after he has fitted it that he needs a code to enable all the features to work correctly such as parking sensors etc. He also mentioned about the vehicle "sensing" when the towbar is connected to something and this can affect the traction and handling etc. I spoke to the dealership in Leeds where I am buying it from and they seemd to have no idea, even contacting VW uk and they would not give info on non VW products even though i am spending the best part of 15k on a vehicle!!

Any ideas chaps?

Many thanks,

Paul PS its an 06 model!

I had exactly the same response from another dealer in West Yorks (part of the same group), consequently I have had a bar fitted locally (and i`m very happy with) and even without the additional aids have no problems towing a 1350kg van - not that i would have expected any anyway.
It just saved the Company 600 quid.

If you want any info or other towing comments, let me know.

[Quatrelle]

There's been at least a couple of threads on towbars in this (B6) forum, so it might be worth doing a search....

[LeFrog]

Hi Paul
I've done a lot of research on the Tow bar and electrics and the Trailer stability Programme. TSP will only work if the OEM(original equipment manufacturer) trailer wiring looms plus trailer control module are fitted and the car is then coded. I went down this route buying both the detachable towbar and wiring looms via westfalia at about 2/3 the cost of VW dealer. The Towbar was easy to fit in about 2 hours but the OEM wiring looms took about 2 days!!! they are quite complex and not for the faint hearted involving the dismantling of a fuse panel and terminating in the back of same. Followed by dismantling 2 existing wiring loom plugs and removing/replacing individual wires in same and that is apart from removing most of the trim from front to back of car on both sides as the fuse panel is on the near side but the 2 plugs are behind the dash on the off side. There is also a seperate loom to take to the Battery in the engine compartment for caravan battery charging / Fridge.
Having done all the hard work my VW dealer then wanted to charge me £242 plus vat to change the 4/5 codes needed to activate all the facilities (Trailer function / TSP / parking brake / ABS / Alarm ). I tried local independant VW experts but unfortunately the car is too new so I bought the VAG-COM software/lead and coded it myself (with some help from westfalia).
If you fit a detachable towbar I would highly recommend buying the VW lower bumper (the black bit) that has an access cover built in.
I forgot to mention all this only gives you the continental 13 pin socket so you either have to use an adaptor or rewire the caravan.
I am extremely pleased with the end result but I now know why my VW dealer wanted to charge £1200-00 to fit it. I have also told my wife that if I ever say I'm going to fit a towbar to another new car she should hit me round the head with something heavy!
If you still want to go ahead and need any other info either email or PM me
Paul (lefrog)

[PNS2007]

Hi Cal,

For my two penneth, please see my earlier posting which has some pictues of the Westfali Tow Bar I had fitted:-

https://www.vwaudiforum.co.uk/forum/s...ead.php?t=8148

I agree with Lefrog, go for the Westfali, you won't be disappointed. It can also be packed away in its dedicated holder which is designed for it along side the jack.

I can't believe all the quotes people are saying their VW garages have given them. Mine was less than £600. A copy of the costs are broken down below which are copied from the receipt last year:-

Detachable bar - Part no. A3C0 092 155 @ £194.55
13 Pin electrics - Part no. A3C0 055 204 G @ £195.32
Combi relay - Part no. ZTF1170 @ £9.85
The bottom bumper valence and flap which was about £50
a few clamps washers and pins @ £3
and labour @£87.50
This is about £535 + vat.

(perhaps they charged me wrong )

I did haggle for a 20% reduction as I had just spent the best part of 20K with them. I also haggled a 15% discount on roof bars a couple of months ago, so it proves if you ask then you can get discount.

As i've said before, I looked at doing this myself (or at least fitting the bar), it is sort of plug and play but by the time you have removed all the panels etc, let the professionals do it. You don't want to void the warrenty which I'm sure VW would do if something went wrong!!

I did afterall have the new valence with the integrated spoiler fitted. Looks great (enough if I do say so myself!) I polished it yesterday and have taken a photo of the back, you can just see the removable flap in the valence:-

http://www.esnips.com/web/SwiftLights

[thebambers]

Thanks for your reply guys. Firstly I have no intention of fitting the towbar myself because I am clueless at such things so I am using a local guy who is very knowledgeable and honest about such things. He is charging me £375 for a fixed unit (as wife wont let me part with £600 after all we have spent buying the car!).
I am assuming that everything that is required except the programming from VW will be provided so I suppose the only other option I have is to go ahead and have it fitted and then try an get the coding done at VW. To be fair to the salesman he has contacted VW UK and was appalled at their response that they cannot help with non VW towbars. In otherwords either buy one of ours for an extortionate £1000 plus or tough!
The salesman did say to get it fitted, take it to his garage (albeit a 60 mile trip for me each way) and they will try and sort it. The other thing I have heard is that VW will program it for you bit will cost in the region of £80 which could be a non too expensive option!

Will keep everyone updated and thanks all for your help. Never been on a car forum before but will certainly use this one again. Thanks