Surrey Hills Towbarworld ?

After a recent camping trip and a severe lack of space in the MK2 Kuga with the family overpacking I’ve decided to bite the bullet and get a Towbar fitted to take care of trailer / bike rack duties .
Does anyone around Surrey Hills / Horsham area have any recommendations for fitters ?
so far I’ve had two quotes for a removable with dedicated electrics . One was 700 all I. The other was 750 +vat .
Both seem a bit steep , just wondering if the Surrey hills massive have a go-to for this sort of thing ?
Thanks

You’re probably on about going rate at those numbers.

Think my SMax was about £800 (4+ years ago) removable with dedicated electrics, ECU update and 13pin.

I’ve priced various cars lately in my hunt for a replacement for our main family car and all come in around that number fully fitted.

One thing to check on Fords is whether a fixed ball clashes with the reverse sensors. SMax and Galaxy are known for it. That aside I’d happily have a fixed ball but I’m using it near weekly over summer.

Top tip if you get a removable then have a small rubber mat in the boot to kneel on when installing / removing on wet and horrible days.

Cheers thanks ,

I wanted a removable so we didn’t constantly clunk our shins on it when not in use .
I’m on a Kuga FB group and several people have had it done for around £500 but they are all up North .
I was hoping there was a good fitter down south somewhere .

You’d have to drive a bit but GT Towing near Hertford are good – you can fill out there web form / email for an online estimate.   I got a tow bar and Thule Velocompact bundle for £545 in 2015.    A more recent quote for a removable tow bar on the 3 series was much closer to your quotes.

Pretty much everything costs £200 more in Surrey than the rest of the country

Just had one fitted to my patner’s Volvo – was £700 in Hampshire (Phil Taylor Towbars, as recommended on here). Actual Volvo one, with fancy electrical removal gubbins was nearer to 2 grand, so I think £700 is about the going rate.

Lots of instructions online for self-fit, if you’re that way inclined and want to save some dosh.

Indespension Gatwick was an OK price, but nothings cheap these days!

Lots of instructions online for self-fit, if you’re that way inclined and want to save some dosh.

+1 the mechanicals aren’t usually too difficult.

The electrics range from a faff cutting and splicing wires together, to requiring dealer intervention.

£700 probably isn’t far off the mark, including travel time it’s realistically probably a days work for a mobile fitter and OEM compatible kits are £££.  DIY kits start at about £100-£150 if it’s possible to DIY the electrics.

Mine cost about that – I choose a Thule rack so I could mount the Backspace XT box on, which gives quite a lot of useful extra room for family holidays.

One thing we noticed – Phil Taylor towbars is REALLY busy! Getting a towbar fitted is rather popular.

I’m in the outskirts of Farnham and have used The Trailer Centre in Guildford a few times. They’ve done my Hilux and Subaru – no complaints.

Go to Pfjones website and price the bar and electrics , needs coding on Kuga

700 is reasonable when added up for 7 pin electrics 13 pin is a lot more work and I would avoid if possible as it is far more disruptive to vehicle interior and electrics.

Most 7 pin can just be plugged in to rear wiring connectors with the right kit try to get connector type and not splice in type for reliability.

Thanks all ,

appreciated

Is it worth getting a 13 pin done now and not regretting it later down the line ?
what does it interfere with when wired in ?
thanks for your reply

You only need 13 pin if you want to charge a battery in a caravan or run the fridge.

Solar will take care of batteries these days and fridge can be planned around.

The charging needs cables run to the alternator through the car interior- actually under the carpet around the sills etc. but modern cars have complex charging systems and whilst coding should take care of that I would not really trust it- having extra live cables run through car is a risk if there is any accident or bad installation – hence the factory installs sometimes insisted on

We tow a caravan on 7 pin as it has no battery, either it’s hooked up to mains at site or I run the water pumps and lights via a power pack and a made up 7 pin socket – fridge runs on gas or mains.

Don’t have a telly or any other electric things – gas heating and hob

One thing we noticed – Phil Taylor towbars is REALLY busy! Getting a towbar fitted is rather popular.

It was possibly me who recommended them previously.

They’re always great to deal with, efficient and they’ve been on that site over 20 years.  They’re also handily close to Queen Elizabeth Country Park for a half day ride while they fit.

I currently run 13 pin but don’t do caravans.

As well as caravan stuff 13 pin supports reversing lights..

Atera and Thule bike racks come with 13 pin electrics and I think both also have reversing lights.  7 pin connector+adapter will lose you that function.

IMO though the best thing about 13 pin is the bayonet fitting means it seems to connect more reliably as you’re not wiggling and tugging at the connector plug and I think it puts less strain on the cables.

https://www.witter-towbars.co.uk/help-and-faqs/towbar-electrics-the-definitive-guide

I recently bought a towbar and dedicated electrics kit for my 2021 Vauxhall Combo. The towbar was £122, the electrics were just sub £100. All from PFJones.

I fitted it all myself in a morning. The instructions are easy to follow. Essentially heavy Mechano for the towbar, and trim removal/refitting and plug’n’play for the electrics.

The vehicle needed coding and the local towbar fitter did it in 15mins for £60.

Fitted a removable swan neck to my Smax, never take it off and never bang my shin on it. Coding was straightforward with forscan. Went for 13 pin and wish I hadn’t bothered, hard to cram the wires in the back of the plug when installing, have to use an adapter back to 7 pin for my Thule tow bar. More is not always best.

Have fitted tow bars on a few cars and helped with some of homes have the fitting instructions online – easy to scratch plastic painted bumpers – crack lights run into model differences – I do it at a friends garage with a lift – he subs out most tow bar jobs to specialist fitters as unless you specialise and know each job like you have done it before it takes a long time on some cars.

vans pickups are easy

Used tanfield towbars in Horsham a few years ago, but they seem to be closed now. Bit further south is TowBex in lancing, highly recommended

Witter or towtrust for detachable swan necks

You are fairly local to me – I’ll give them a look – thanks