I’ve been offered a company car but need a towbar for the bike rack. Never had a company car before so it’s all new to me. I’ve been told to remove it at the end of the contract. I could take a currently unused car or order a new one, the choice is mine but either way they don’t have towbars.
Has anyone done this?
Did you pay for everything, wiring , fitting etc?
If you removed it, were there any issues?

The leasing company’s standard answer will be that the car needs to be returned in the same condition it was received, which means if you fit a towbar (or anything else for that matter) you should remove it before handing the car back, and return the car to its original condition.

I fitted a towbar to a company car, and paid for everything. When it came time to give it back I asked if they wanted me to remove it like they said, but was told not to bother as it would leave unsightly holes, exposed wires, etc.

So, as with many things in life, there’s a whole grey area between ‘the policy’ and common sense, and where you fall between the two will depend on who you talk to on the day.

And whatever you do don’t specify any accessories when you order it or you’ll have to pay the taxable benefit on those, even though you’ll probably have to pay for them outright.

If you look at ex-lease cars at the auction it become pretty apparent that the leasing companies don’t even cast a cursory eye over them, I’d be surprised if they didn’t go directly to the auction when the lease ends.

My lease company said I could fit one, but as mentioned, I would need to return the car as it was, or leave the tow bar in place.

Brace yourself though, the last quote I had to fit one to a MK6 Golf was about £600 😯 That’s quite a lot if you have to give the car back in a year or two.

You can often choose the spec of your car (they are buying it new after all) so I think you can spec a towbar as you would leather or whatever else.

I have the same issue at the moment but I’ve opted to go for roof rails in the end to carry the bikes.

That way I can just take them off and buy a new foot set for the next car.

I came up with a reason to have a towbar for work. Work then fitted it for me. 😀

I’ve fitted towbars on last two company cars I’ve had but they were company owned & I just checked with bosses each time – only problem I can see is if lease company require car back in same condition – what happens with any areas of rear bumper that might need to be cut to fit bumper? Common sense would say leave bumpers on – but some s/h buyers steer clear of cars with towbars as they envisage cars having been worked hard 😕

My ex-lease car came with a towbar (to which I’ve just fitted a rack) 😉

You can often choose the spec of your car (they are buying it new after all) so I think you can spec a towbar as you would leather or whatever else.

This is what I did. The garage that supplied the lease car also provided an additional number plate FOC which avoided me having to provide vehicle docs etc.

Some companies will supply a legal number plate without any docs for “show” purposes. Apparently 😉

(apologies for thread drift)