I'm looking for a new car, I'll only be towing a trailer tent (I know, the forum is caravan towcars but it seemed most appropriate). I had settled on a Skoda Yeti but when researchng the cost of having a towbar fitted it seemed extortionate. I saw £500-600 and upwards quoted. Now, I know my last 3 fittings have been 2 x Focus and 1 x Astra and they've all be older card, but the total cost of fitting on all of them was less than £600. Main dealer quote for the Yeti was something like £720.
Wonder if anyone can advise? Am I looking in the wrong place, or is this kind of price typical for a Yeti towbar fitting?
Go online and look for towbars Skoda yeti. Much cheaper than main dealers and an easy fit fit. If not happy with electrics a good motor electrician should manage easily. Towsure will have one to fit at good prices.
I bought a new Skoda Superb last year, the main dealer where I bought the car quoted £700. So I went to a local tow bar fitting garage, who fitted a genuine Skoda tow bar, £500.
However when I started to tow the van with the car, I couldn't get the cruise control to work? So had to return to Skoda to get the diagnostics on the car to match up with the electrics on the tow bar, & charged me £75. They said it should have been more, but I paid cash for the car, plus my wife was after changing hers, so as a sweetener, thinking we would be buying another car from them, charged me less. My wife bought a Nissan micra instead. The Superb is a superb tow car.
If you are buying a new Yeti then the best and cheapest way of doing it is to order it fitted at the factory.
Doing it that way you get everything that is needed fitted correctly, plus the car correctly coded.
If you have it done later it needs a considerable amount of trim removing, which can result in future rattles, and problems with the coding.
(As I know to my cost!!)
I would have thought if you are buying the car new you could get a deal on the towbar included in the price. All it will cost main dealer is wholesale price of towbar/electrics & about 2hrs workshop fitting time.
Advantage of main dealer fit is that it is warranted with car whereas outside fitter will have to warranty their own work as any malfunction caused by towbar fitting that can only be sorted by main dealer would have to be paid for.
Thanks everyone, when I say new car I mean new to me!
Looks like it isn't a cheap job then. By coding, am I right in assuming that's something to do with the electrics?
Might have to pretty much confirm a towbar price before committing to a car I think. Will be stretching the budget on a Yeti as it is so 500-700 on top is a bit much really.
If you want to get the car then I would speak to local towbar fitting companies. Get quotes but ask questions. Ask for a quote for towbar from well known make, Westfalia or Thule for example & that you want car specific electrics. State whether you require swan neck or flange towbar & type of electrics, ie 13pin or 12n/12s depending on your caravan or just 7pin if towing a trailer.
Also ask whether main dealer only coding is required if at all or can towbar fitter do it. I think some can. That way you will be getting a quote for similar towbar main dealer would fit so you can compare prices like with like.
We tow our folding camper with a Yeti and think the tow bar was around £500 for someone to come out and fit it, we didn't have the dedicated electrics done but brought an adapter to convert to 13 pin as we only wanted it for lights etc , not to run the fridge as we used to when we towed a caravan, Yeti is a great car , had a Superb to tow the van which was also brilliant !
Towsure list the price of a fixed bar at £116, and a 50mm ball at £9; fitting, plus electrics, is where the expense lies. For a 13pin socket, plus full dedicated kit, £436. Link For a DIY electrics kit, £30. It's not that difficult to fit a towbar, if you're fairly practical (or know someone who is), so you could do it for just over £150.
The electrics on the Yeti are quite clever: I don't know of anyone who has used the smart relay box that comes with the kit, to know whether it's effective. Towsure claim it will adapt itself to the Canbus system in the car. We had ours fitted by the dealer. They used Westphalia parts.
I'd have thought any Yeti is pretty much spot on for towing a TT - tall enough to see over, and a good power match. The Octavia is generally more economical, and has a bigger boot for all the overflow camping bits. Good luck with your new wheels!
When I bought the Superb, I asked about a factory fitted tow bar, they quoted £999- the garage would not move on price. The garage who specialise on fitting tow bars, did everything correct the same kit as Skoda use [ V W ] its the mapping of the computer, on the car where they have you. Every thing was ok apart from the cruise control, there's a radar gadget, that really clever? that wouldn't work.
As I mentioned before they charged me £75 for the mapping, normally its £200, you cant win.
Quote: Originally posted by Opensauce on 06/4/2017
You mean they did you a bad job & failed to rectify it? Can you post up full details of the poor service received?
The fitter did a perfect job of fitting the physical tow bar but was unable to properly code the car. After a formal complaint PFJ refunded me the coding charge plus an amount in compensation.
I had to take the car to my dealers to get it done correctly.
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Topic: Yeti Towbar
