How much should a towbar cost?

Yep - just paid £730 for a towbar fitment to my car. Seemed the going rate and pretty much what I think I paid the last time I had one fitted.

I got my last two from PF Jones, the detachable-ness upped the cost quite a bit and I never take mine off now - money well wasted. I only shinned myself a couple of times before I learned.

Just make sure through owners forums that the car won't need it coding in, cars are fussy beggars these days.

Edit, I just realised you mean fitted by someone else at your home, that will add a bit on. I fitted my own, a tedious but not difficult job.

Yeah I'd like someone to fit it while I'm working from home if possible. A few years ago I wouldn't mind pulling a rear bumper off and messing around but now I'd have to do it with a toddler climbing on my head and moving my tools around.

I might go with a fixed one. The one on the Yeti was fixed and it never bothered us.

I bought mine from just tow and fitted it myself (astra on 15 plate)

wasn't too bad to be honest

Think I paid about £650 for a detachable one on my Viano fitted at home. That was through PF Jones, but was about 3 years ago now.

Those prices are what I'd expect, ours was fitted 8-9 years ago.

Changing the car later this year, may go back to roof mounted, will need to price up the options.

If you're in the North East, give Hedley Towbars a try.

Just checked and the quote from PF Jones for at home fitting, detachable, 13-pin,  in 2021 was £699 (for a 64 plate petrol VRS), so your figures look about right, or even on the low side considering price increases in the last 3 yrs!

Also check if the car needs uprated cooling - I know for example petrol Volvo's with auto boxes have an additional transmission cooler fitted if the tow bar is factory fitted but is often missed when a towbar is retrofitted.

A lot of cars come pre wired nowadays (my Volvo's and Cayenne for example already are), but fitment is a case of sometimes removing the rear 'bumper' to bolt additional steelwork in place - that's were a fair amount of costs could come from.

i was quoted 780 for a Peugeot partner for a fixed flange bar with 7 pin + programming - most/nee all modern cars need it now a days.

i bought from PF jones for 260 inc a vehicle specific wiring kit - Easy fit up . Used peugeot planet to code it and all works well.

spent a day making it work though.  - Since Canbus and ISO use the similar colours to different meanings . Canbus being Yellow/Black and Iso being Yellow / White. ...... Yellow doesnt go to yellow as much as that would make sense.

I paid a silly amount (£800ish) about 10 years ago but I decided I'd spent so much on the car (2 years old but still had 3 years warranty) that I wasn't going to risk a situation where, if there was an electrical issue, the dealer could point to the fact that someone else fitted the towbar and I didn't have warranty cover.

We had a witter detachable towbar fitted to a 3 series in 2019, cost £570. Was done on our driveway.

I've got a witter too, came with the car. Never used it but as the car is due its MOT this month I've asked the main dealer to show me how to use it.

This is why I like older cars, £80 for the towbar and the biggest stumbling block is guessing the torque on the big bolts because it's more than most wrenches will deliver.

and of course working out if the rusty chassis is still structurally sound enough for the load

Seems the right ballpark. PF jones here, only one model available and only one person could get it so shrug.

Blimey. Just put one on the jeep. £160 for the bar and electrics

not sure the price difference between a detachable and non, but i paid extra for a detachable (a few years ago now) and its never been removed.

just something to consider in the pursuit of saving a few quid.

Also check if the car needs uprated cooling

You won't need that if you're only putting a bike rack on it.

£710 fully fitted for detachable and all electrics coded… to an EV.

sounds about right, think we paid £600ish for a kia sportage 5 or 6 years ago.  I didn't do it myself because I was worried about the electrics / programming

it two guys most of the morning to do so quite involved

Ours is detached, it only gets attached when it is going to be used.  Way to much stuff going in and out of the boot to have to keep avoiding it (akward stuff like kids scooters)

When we look for a new car part of the criteria is already having one fitted....

That's ballpark for a modern car that needs the electrics doing properly - mine took an extra hour as they had to download the software, while they sat that constantly pressing the <accept> 'button'.

Yup, few weeks back (I dun a thread) (and actually went with one of the recommendations!) Volvo V60 - £700 towbar + £20 reg plate

(Removable swan neck with 13pin elecs)

Way to much stuff going in and out of the boot to have to keep avoiding it

You'd be amazed how quickly you learn 😉

Also check if the car needs uprated cooling – I know for example petrol Volvo’s with auto boxes have an additional transmission cooler fitted if the tow bar is factory fitted but is often missed when a towbar is retrofitted.

Skoda's (this is for our Octavia VRS) also come with a larger intercooler if you spec the factory towbar but I'm never going to tow a caravan up a mountain so I'm not worried. I'll only ever carry a bike rack.

PF Jones can do a detachable Westfalia for £740 at the end of the month i.e after our trip to the Alps.

Or I can have a local company fit a detachable Tow Trust for £840 next Tuesday.

I'm going to wait until the wife gets home and see how tight the boot is with the bike and essentials loaded. If we're desperate for space I'll take the hit and book it in.

Having the bikes in the boot would be a good thing while we're away as I have to drive there and back on my own. Who's going to watch them while I go for a poo etc? It just depends if they fit with the pushchair and associated kiddy junk.

I went down a rabbit hole with tow bars before, some cars there is an electric connection and fixing bolts already there so it's easy to add a tow bar. Others you have to have the electrics altered and bespoke parts to add the tow bar which can be costly.

If I needed a tow bar then I'd be looking to have one factory fitted, especially the electronic fold out ones you get on BMWs.

If I needed a tow bar then I’d be looking to have one factory fitted, especially the electronic fold out ones you get on BMWs

Yeah, the OP was shocked about the price... Quote for the Volvo specific electronic job was £1800

Christ on a bike (rack)

As alluded to above, when you select a towbar as a factory option on a new car it usually comes with an uprated intercooler so you don't overheat your engine while towing a giant caravan around the Italian Alps in a Mediterranean heatwave. When you ask for a quote from a dealer to fit a factory spec towbar the larger intercooler (and associated labour )is usually part of the package whether you ask for it or not.

That's partly what makes the price so eye popping. The other part is just 'main dealer being main dealer'.

Paid £350 fitted on my drive 4 years ago.  Car is 2011 though so electrics relatively straightforward compared to a more modern vehicle.

£550 for a detachable supplied and fitted last year in Glasgow. That was on a Mazda CX5

https://www.buchansfortowbars.co.uk/

‘If I needed a tow bar then I’d be looking to have one factory fitted, especially the electronic fold out ones you get on BMWs.’

I have one of these, specced it on the lease on my i4. They are very good, but..a lot of racks, incl most Thule ones, won’t fit as the neck is very short.

I ended up with the BMW rack, which is great, but stupid expensive.

My 5 series has a fold out one. Factory option of about 1800 quid....

You’d get it for half that if you downgraded the spec - fixed bar, generic wiring kit fitted by someone competent.

In 2018 a Westphalia detachable on my VW was £500ish.

Had one fitted to my Kuga hybrid a couple of months ago - approx £500 for non detachable 7 pin (just for bike rack so don’t need 13 pin. The electronics all needed recoding - he needed WiFi to do that, was so weird needing the internet to fit a Towbar!

Used to have a fixed towbar on my old Mondeo.

Was never an issue, and I can't imagine how it would be one.

I paid £500 for a detachable Westfalia towbar with 13pin electrics. I didn't think it was too badly priced as It came with a free Porsche Cayenne attached to it!*

* Yes I know people are fed up with me bleating on about it.

generic wiring kits aren't compatible with all cars, modern cars often have integrated LEDs at the rear with a controller hooking directly up to canbus rather than a handy 5v indicator wire, and nearly anything from the last 15 years will have some kind of bulb-out detection that requires fiddling with to get a generic kit to work.

i've never heard the need for a larger intercooler before. I get the engine will be under more load for longer, but its not like you will be flat out at high revs everwhere..... but everyday is a school day!

I'd go for the Westfalia. It's essentially VW OEM and will plug and play nicely. Once coded properly it'll be indistinguishable from OEM and you'll get all the funky stuff like disabling the parking sensors when connected, TSC if you ever tow anything with wheels,  alarm integration (thread a 13 pin extension cord through the bikes and if anyone tries to disconnect them the alarm should go off). You may also notice the DSG box shift points change when the rack is connected.

Local skod dealer fitted a witter and connects2 electrical kit to my yeti. Blew the mind of the car needing a new wring loom and BCM. Skoda kindly wrote to me that they were invalidating my electrical warranty until it had been sorted by the dealer. Lovely. They're no longer a dealer.

i think i paid £350ish for a detachable one on my Yeti 9 years ago. Waste of money. i cant remember the last time i detached it other than to make sure the lock wasnt jammed.

i’ve never heard the need for a larger intercooler before. I get the engine will be under more load for longer, but its not like you will be flat out at high revs everwhere….. but everyday is a school day!

I suspect he means a bigger oil cooler - I know some older automatics used to have a gearbox oil cooler added for towing.

What surprised me when I had a two bar fitted is that when the electrics are plugged in auto stop/start is disabled. Why?

I suppose it all depends what you're fitting it to.

I've currently got a bit of a skip old car, and can find various kits between £100 - £400 for it on fleabay, depending whether they include a proper wiring harnesses and/or different Swan neck/straight/folding tow hooks...

The corresponding YouTube videos make it look simple enough for the basic fitting of the bar itself. It's the electrics that worry me more than the bolts though, I don't want to goose my brake lights through a lack of knowledge about CANBUS and magic string.

TBH I'd do it if I wasn't planning to get shot of the car for something newer soon, and once you put the hourly rate/overheads of someone competent on top of the basic cost of a towbar kit, especially for a nicer/newer/shinier car, that you actually want to look after ~£700+ starts to seem kinda reasonable.

Plus I have other roof carrier solutions already and that £700-800 can pay for an awful lot of inefficiently burned fuel before the lack of a tow bar becomes a real concern.

Cost sounds about right for your spec. As has been said, you could get it cheaper if you went fixed and can put up with your parking sensors going crazy every time you reverse with it on - we had generic wiring on the last car but bit the bullet and went vehicle specific on the current one seeing it was a long-termer (5 years and counting).

Just got one fitted to my 2019 Golf. Bought the towbar for £130 brand new on Ebay and got a guy to fit it on my driveway for £170 without the electrics. He said he'll do that for another £80.

He had it done in under an hour. He told me obviously some cars are easier than others and that Range rovers have approximately 150 fasteners that need undone an redone ?

Yep £800 three years ago Canbus kit.

I've booked one. It's expensive but they're local and they can fit it on the drive on Tuesday before I leave for France on Thursday night.

I'm paying £840 for a detachable Westfalia with the correct wiring and they'll do any coding or programming that's required. The car is still in warranty and has parking sensors, DSG etc. I didn't want to trigger any gremlins by splicing in a generic wiring kit. If it was just nuts and bolts I would have done it myself no worries. It's a one off cost and we're planning to keep the car until petrol is illegal.

I feel relieved to have something lined up. I think I was mostly stressing about the amount of unfinished jobs I'm currently dealing with.

Hopefully I'll be riding Pleney in the sun this time next Friday.

As a result of this thread we paid £500 for a detachable inc. fitting from JIB towbars in the Midlands. Got a detachable because of the reversing sensors.

Their quote in my email was:

Fixed Flange Towbar c/w 13 Pin Universal Electrics is £400.00 (May affect Rear Parking Sensors)

Detachable Swan Neck Towbar c/w 13 Pin Universal Electrics is £500.00