I’ve pretty much convinced myself and the missus that we should lease a sensible family car for the next couple of years.

One thing I have been mulling is bicycle transport, I would obviously much prefer a towbar mounted rack but that would obviously need a towbar, some sites seem to indicate you can add one to the spec/price and then you won’t have to go breaking any conditions having one fitted to a car you don’t own.

So has anyone ever spec’d a towbar on their lease? Was it straight forwards? Should I be considering some other bike transport option(s)?

We did this on the last two cars. It was simply a case of adding it to the extras we chose and made only a minor difference to the lease cost. The car was delivered with the towbar fitted.

It’s just an option. Options have no residual value so the drawback is it’s disproportionately expensive as the say £750 towbar costs you an extra £30 a month over 2 years for example and then it’s not yours. Much easier though.

A well fitted aftermarket won’t affect your lease, will cost you a lot less and you can take it off at the end, depends really on the car as some modern cars require bumper cutting etc if not factory specced which obviously doesn’t work with a lease.

Hmmm, that is sort of what I have noticed, and I’m trying to keep the costs sensible to make the exercise worthwhile, paying and extra £1000-1500 quid (I’d need to buy a rack too) so I can occasionally cart a bike about starts to feels extravagant…

The sites that let you play with options that include a towbar list them as silly expensive mostly, I assume that’s because it’s not a factory fit, but the lease Co. having to pay approved main dealer workshop prices for parts and labour. ..

I’m sort of caught up between an estate and a hatch (I prefer smaller cars personally). A hatch with a towbar would have helped offset the lack of boot space for bikes maybe and swing things that way.
Then I start mulling the options of roof bars or seasuckers…

I think I will have to forget about a towbar rack this time maybe… Shame.

I just fit towbar myself and remove prior to handing back.

Buy from PF jones its only a few hundred £ compared to the £1k+ paying on lease and I recoup most of the cost selling on

I’ve just received my cheap lease (Octavia Estate) for 2 years. I’ve ended up using one of those RockBros suction cup roof mounts.

It’s been pretty good so far, but I did prefer my tow bar rack on my previous car. Just felt like less faff.

IF the tow bar isn’t cost effective, have a go at one of those roof mounts.

For bike carrying alone I wouldn’t pay out for a towbar I’d get a decent roof rack. I tow boats from time to time and I also want capacity to carry bikes and kayaks at the same time. That means towbar. I also (now) have an MPV so a long reach to the middle of the roof which would need a hop up or mini step.

Part, but not all, of the reason that I don’t lease is because at £800+ for a removable towbar and dedicated 13 pin electrics I’ll run my cars as long as I can to get the value out of the set up.

Edit… If I was leasing and adding a tow bar then I’d probably opt for a four year deal.

If it’s just for bikes a Thule roof rack is a great solution.

However, I have added towbars to leased cars before and just left them on on return of the car. Naughty I know. 😬 None have been mentioned on the return of the car. As long as it’s a removable neck they’re invisible unless you look.

If you remove it before handing back you’ll get a few quid on ebay for your hassle.

Yeah, I’ve got some roof carriers for the current car, so some bars wouldn’t be such a difficult thing to procure. I just fancied exploring other options.

I’ve just received my cheap lease (Octavia Estate) for 2 years.

Definitely a strong contender for us, skoda is very clearly the VAG badge pitched at more affordable leasing, If I can’t sell the idea of a hatch (golf maybe) then the octavia is probably what we’ll end up with.

Be careful with tow bar accessory weight limits to, just noticed the other day that the Polestar 2’s £1000 option towbar states a 30Kg accessory limit – wtf.

I was looking at leasing a while ago, was looking at the Toyota corolla estate with a 4 year lease – I would cs just specced the towbar as an option myself. You will miss out on the ‘in stock’ deals doing this however which is where some of the best laser deals are available. Once you start looking for a particular spec/colour etc you miss out on the cheap deals.

In the end I wasn’t totally happy signing up to a 4 year contract with no way of getting out early (easily) so went down the nearly new route instead (skoda superb in 99% of the spec I wanted, 2.5 years old, money from old car + bank loan).

We’ve leased cars for the last 7 years. OEM costs at factory for a tow bar enabling you to put yours/the family’s bikes all on is a pita! They typically cost around £750 if you’re lucky but I’ve just been quoted £1100 for an OEM tow hitch and brace.
There is hope though..Most leasing companies don’t care they just want to put off your average DIYer, cost achieves it – as modern cars aren’t like cars if 8/10+ years ago; onboard computer senses things plugged into the cars electrics and blocks parking sensors so you don’t get spurious warnings, pops up messages on Infotainment screens warning you of this and changes transmission and engine selection settings – so you can’t run in ‘ECO’ mode for example as the car thinks it’s towing.
But there’s sunlight at the end of the tunnel – there’s now some after-market options that are exactly the same as OEM factory for around £350. Fitting labour costs are around £200. I’ve just got this quoted from a dealer so it’s legit. Only difference is the 7(13)Pin plug doesn’t swing out the way into the bumper or move electronically up/down.
I had one fitted at factory on my VRS estate and it’s brilliant but I was incredibly lucky and got an amazing deal that is impossible to get now! So I’m actually think h I’ll buy the car at the end of term and run it for as long as financially sensible. We love it and I use a roofbox on the roof bars and bike rack on the tow hitch when we go away – we all go ride, I get to have proper MTB epics on my own and the dog appreciates the massive boot space (bigger than an A6!).
Hope that helps mate good luck

Nah, I’m putting the towbar thing to one side, choose a car to a suit our primary needs (ferrying people and their luggage about), then worry about bike transport. odds are I’ll end up with roof bars again, which is not really that bad.

I’m certainly not fitting any aftermarket kit, not on our first go with leasing.