Plus if anyone in or around Manchester or WYorkshire used anywhere efficient/good?

mobile towbar services based out of doncaster have done a couple for me hora, relly good service and come to you. Not sure how far their range goes though.
Mobile Towbar Services 0114 2486325

Rack wise get a 2 bike wheel support aiston, best racks available imho having tried them thule and pendle.
http://www.aistoncycleracks.co.uk

How much did you pay for the tow bar fitted?

easy to fit yourself if you can do the electrics side and buy tow bar from ebay etc

£195 to a 55-reg Focus estate. Witter towbar + electrics

I've got a 3 bike Thule 9403 in the classifieds if you're interested Mark – could post.

I paid about £200 for a towbar, fitted on my car.

easy to fit yourself if you can do the electrics side and buy tow bar from ebay etc

Does it require any drilling though?

No not generally, a very small number of cars do. Prices vary depending on the car, my mondeo was 155. The place i mentioned above have always been 20ish cheaper than anyone else too.

Jeesus, is this normal? I have to take the bumper off AND the exhaust backbox then replace with new gasket seals. WTF?!

Just depends on the car hora but no, that kind of work is rare! The worst you normally have to do is cut the bumper out a little.

you're lucky if you don't have to start chopping bits out the back bumper…

cut back bumper but they give you a template but it is relatively easy to do. The electrics are tricky if you dont know about that kind of thing I assume. Mine was £80 for towbar + electrics so I saved about £100 ish

just take your motor to indispension up in Sale hora.
seen to remember they quoted me about 220 for my passat.

Fitted one to the zafira. Needed lights and bumper removing, a bumper cut but not a visible one and two holes drilling but it was just opening up factory dimples so no way to go wrong. Electrics was just a plugin module to the cars existing panel which is in the boot. I wasn't sure about taking it on but everyone was quoting 300+ so thought I'd give it a go. Took 2 hours but half that time was looking for a 25mm drill bit! Comfortably the easiest job I've ever done on the car!

If you need a big drill bit like petriboy, get a stepped drill. Its a cone shaped bit with 2mm steps, so if you want a small hole you just go to the first step, if you want a massive hole you drill through all the steps one at a time. They make much neater holes in metalwork, plus you don't have to start with a small bit and keep changing to a bigger size.

Yup, step drill is where it's at, just make sure you don't use a 24mm one to make a 25mm hole – ends up much less neat 🙁

I used MDS towbars when I lived in Manchester. It was about £180 for an Anker towbar and single electrics fitted to my Passat estate on my driveway. Very happy with the service.

Just used Towbar express. Mobile fitting and they do cover the W Yorkshire area ( see their webpage for coverage ) Very efficient and used by a lot of the main dealers round here. Cost depends on type of car, type of bar and electrics. I went for an integrated wiring loom as the car was new and the VAG electrics complicated. The prices quoted above look about right for a standard bar and simple loom.

First one contacted of these local ones recommended above……£255 😯

Another: fixed flanged towbar is £250.00 or a detachable towbar is £390.00.

I think I'll leave it!

I'm getting a Witter detachable bar fitted to my 320 Touring tomorrow. They're a mobile fitters based in Cambs (as am I) and are charging £380.

For the bike rack, Ive gone for a Buzz Rack Buzzrunner 2 from roofbox.co.uk

I just got a buzz rack moose 4 bike thingy from them TheTompy – very impressed with it.

Cost £250 for my Civic (got 2 separate, near-identical quotes too), although the place I went with did a decent deal where I got the Towbar fitted, the Thule 9503 rack and the locking cap for it for £350 all-in.

£210 to have the one fitted to my Astra for the Rack test we did in issue 57. Done by PSB Towing, Burnley.