I really need a resolution to this.. 😉

Honour deal or do one would be my response. There is a contract there if the order form has been signed with towbar on it and deposit paid.

And a call to Skoda UK customer service to tidy up.

nealgover – I was told that big heavy stuff could affect the vehicles stability programme and braking so when the tow electrics are plugged in the vehicle ecu knows this and adjusts, whereas a diddy bike rack attached to towbar probably won’t affect this overall balance. Also something to do with reversing sensors, fog and reversing lights being switched off or something with big things but not needed on attachements like a rack. At least that’s what I think the bloke fitting told me.

I have ‘dodgy’ clip on electrics, not fully integrated.

Also something to do with reversing sensors, fog and reversing lights being switched off or something with big things but not needed on attachements like a rack.

Reversing sensors do not like it when I pop car in reverse when I have the rack on. No problem, I have this ‘Off’ Switch I use when it beeps up in objection.
All other lights work with standard trailer or rack electrics – fog, reversing, brake, tail and indicator. It even beeps once when I connect the rack, and then has a repeater beep when indicator is on.
My car also has stability control, and it seems just fine, even with loaded rack on compared to unloaded.

So far the downsides are having to press one switch when reversing. Cost difference on the Touran for this (I don’t know the figures for the Galaxy) was nearly £1k…. 😯

some of the big costs on towbars are due to additional cooling componants that are fitted as well – no issue with a bike rack but big caravans may be an issue.

also modern canbus systems may detect your new towbar lights as a blown bulb on what ever circuit your bodged your scotchlock work of the devil clips into.

id run a mile if a professional tried to attack my car with scotchlocks.

(almost every electrical issue i had with my landy back on the old loom was due to someone modifying the loom with scotchlocks)

How does this work if I was towing a massive caravan one day, and then a towbar mount bike carrier with one bike on it the next day?

If you have an auto, the update sometimes changes the gearbox so having a bike rack might make the shifts different to normal driving. That’s probably the only downside. Most modern autos are fairly intelligent so should adapt to whatever your load is.

In terms of disabling reversing sensors, etc, then that applies whether you have a bike rack or trailer.

Stability programmes only apply to trailers, but that is really using sensors to detect snaking and the like so although the programme gets enabled it should never really do anything with a bike rack.

I asked the main dealer to fit a tow bar to the transporter when we bought it. He refused to even give a price. His advice was get it done elsewhere.

Only issue is it still beeps with the caravan on in reverse but as stated above I press the mute button.

if they completely refuse to budge I’d tell them to go ahead and do the work..

then when it comes time for me to pick it up I’d tell em to F off…

The days when they can say “ah but you got it serviced somewhere else so it’s not our fault” and so on are well past.

Indeed and I’m well aware of that but we’re not talking about a simple service which any monkey can do – it’s the car electrics/ecu which can be much more of a minefield.
On a £5k motor you may not be bothered,but if you’d just spent £40k on something I think you’d think twice.
I very much doubt a dealer is going to honour a warranty claim for any electrical work if a 3rd party has been stuffing cables into the system.
In fact a good mate is a dealer and he confirmed this.

If you have an auto, the update sometimes changes the gearbox so having a bike rack might make the shifts different to normal driving. That’s probably the only downside. Most modern autos are fairly intelligent so should adapt to whatever your load is.

My VW one doens’t change the shift points with a bike rack on. There’s a map in the gearbox that sets the shift point based on throttle position and engine speed I think. So the more pedal you give it, the longer it waits to shift. With a heavy trailer, you are going to be giving it more pedal.

br I’m talking here about the costs of the tow bar,

Similar towbar to the one you linked to are available from eBay for £174.

I’d then expect to be paying two hours labour for fitting as they are the most simple things in the world generally to put together, (big mecanno) the electrics if you purchase the correct fitting kit are just plug in and then need a little programming on a computer system.

They are a licence to make an easy buck for a garage.

Reversing sensors do not like it when I pop car in reverse when I have the rack on. No problem, I have this ‘Off’ Switch I use when it beeps up in objection.[/I]

Ok, but if like our Land Rover you’ve front sensors too you’ll be switching those off as well.

I’ve been shifting loads of stuff over the last few days and had to do lots on manoeuvring with a trailer, having the front ones working must’ve stopped me clipping the front more than once plus the rears are still intelligent enough that they sense something near (that’s not the trailer).

Anyway, this is what our next one will have – ‘auto’ reversing 🙂

http://www.landrover.co.uk/explore-land-rover/one-life/technology/all-new-discovery-towing.html

Similar towbar to the one you linked to are available from eBay for £174.

I’d then expect to be paying two hours labour for fitting as they are the most simple things in the world generally to put together, (big mecanno) the electrics if you purchase the correct fitting kit are just plug in and then need a little programming on a computer system.

They are a licence to make an easy buck for a garage. [/I]

Ok, but £174 plus 2 hours at a main dealer is still upwards of £400.

They are a licence to make an easy buck for a garage

How much do you think dealer level Vagcom software and hardware costs, and the week training the technician?
They don’t use £300 eBay knock off clone.

Go on Bba reman and spout that shite and see how long before an industry standard trained tech rips you a new one!

The point surely isn’t whether it costs a million dollars or ten bob to fit a tow bar, but rather that stealthily adding on £250 to a completed sale contract is somewhere between immoral and illegal. No?

Told them to honour the original contract of sale – but not heard any response. Unfortunately I’m out of the country and haven’t been able to get in touch via phone to have a proper ‘discussion’

https://m.facebook.com/Cartmell-Transmissions-1511295479093598/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1

This.
To my mind, the salesman has seriously underestimated the cost, and has tried to shuffle the costs so as not to impact his commission.

It’s the cost of the electrics which push it up, I paid £275 for mine fitted 3rd party, Citroen dealer wanted that for just the electrics then another £325 for the tow bar, it’s not cheap. I checked my last car the dealer ripped the old tow bar off before reselling it.

My next car will be trying to get it all in one price.

Copied this from a previous post on C4 Grand Picasso

On our third C4 Grand Picasso since 2007, never had a problem with the first two, the last which is now two years old had a electrical problem which took ages to be sorted out, turns out that it was a problem with the aftermarket towbar wiring which was interfering with the cars electrics. Local dealer and Citroen UK were first class in getting it sorted.

The tow bar and electrics were fitted by a reputable local company who we have used for every car towbar we have had since 1990.
The work was done the day after we bought the new car so as not to interfere with biking duties.
It was a regular problem in that the car would not start, the engine would not turn over, and the only way to start it was to disconnect and reconnect the battery
The problem persisted for 18 months with the car been in and out of the garage for weeks and been loaned cars and vans whilst it was been sorted.
As it seemed to be a problem from new it wasnt until the towbar electrics were disconnected for a few weeks that the problem went away.
The towbar electrics were replaced by Citroen and the car has been fine since.

Just for an update/closure the garage are doing the work for the agreed price.

Result!