New Skoda Not Approved To Tow - Buyer Beware
Hi all,
Don't often post on here but this is worth noting.
I've been towing our two berth Elddis with a Skoda Karoq 1.5 TSI DSG for nearly three years with no problems. For a small petrol it really tows our small van well.
Back in February I was sent a few mail shots from Skoda showing the latest deals. I ended up changing for a new (from Stock) Mk4 Octavia Estate 1.5 TSI 6 Speed. I shopped around for prices of towbars and settled for a fitter in Clitheroe East Lancashire (actually recommended by Simpsons Skoda). Booked the car in and drove over from home to have it fitted. The fitter had a look round it (first Mk 4 he had done) and turned round to me and said "Sorry Chris I cannot fit the Towbar". Apparently Skoda have not put a Gross Train Weight (GTW) on the VIN Plate on the B Pillar (well they have but it reads 0Kg). So I cannot tow anything or have the bar fitted. At least the fitter was honest!
Raised a post on the Skoda Internet Forums and surprisingly this is not an isolated incident and not just with Mk4 Octavia's. The fitter mentioned he had seen this once before with a Kodiaq 2.0 TDI 7 Seater. Seems like some towbar fitters have either not spotted this issue or just fitted the towbar regardless. One forum member had a towbar fitted by a reputable fitter and mentioned he had no GTW on the VIM plate. Others have said they had 'Issues' too on more than just Octavia's
Spoken to my Skoda Dealer and they know nothing about this and the same for another dealer that's been contacted by my towbar fitter. This issue seems to affect mostly petrol models but also the odd diesel when no 'TowBar Preparation' is specified at the point of manufacture. My dealer has been very proactive and is taking this up with Skoda as they confirmed that when I purchased the car I stated it had to tow a small caravan. I wait to see what happens.
As far as I can grasp from the dealer, Towbar Prep for the UK is the addition of wiring from the front to the rear, the same wiring supplied in the 'Dedicated' kits that the fitters use. On some export markets they uprate the Cooling fan and Radiator.
I will report back with any further news but for now please beware. Not sure if this is the same for other VAG makes.
Anyone had any issues along these lines? Looks like my trip in May could be off!
All the best,
Chris
Comments
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Thanks for posting this. We are currently looking for a Skoda to tow. One main dealer was exceptionally blurry about towing but another took me through the pricing and spec sheets and showed me where to look as some models were clearly marked 'not homologated for towing' but it would easily be missed if it hadn't been pointed out. He also gave me the info about 'tow bar prep' that is the same as in your post whilst the other dealer told me it must be carried out by Skoda.
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Have you taken this up with the Technical People in the Club? They always seem to use various Skoda models for their TCOY.
Maybe they should be made aware of this, even if only to inform members in the magazine.
We were thinking of using a Skoda Superb Estate but the weight limits let it down so I never got around to talking about towbars with the sales people.
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To be clear this happens with many manufacturers and specific variants of model ranges. There was a recent thread about Mercedes C class with some versions certified for towing and others not. Just because one version of an Octavia isn’t certified doesn’t mean they are all affected. It can even apply to something with the same engine but different trim/suspension.
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Yes I realise that JVB.
It's been mentioned by the OP and by Flatcoat that there may be certain models within the range tested by the club that won't be able to have a towbar fitted, so if a member sees that Skoda XYZ model has been tested and given a good write up but decides to buy a variant on XYZ model as he assumes there will not be a problem then he could be making an expensive mistake.
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The issue is made worse by the Skoda configurator on there website. It could in theory be possible to spec a vehicle with tow bar prep and tow bar as a factory fit that could not be built. I recall when I ordered my 2014 Yeti I could spec an item on my vehicle that was unavailable
Colin
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Hello!
Just been caught out with the same issue. Same Skoda Octavia model. Dealer agreed to arrange a towbar fit once the vehicle arrived as part of the sale. The fitter then tells me the 0kg rating means a towbar can't be fitted.
I find it incredible that a car that wins in categories for 'towing car of the year' has this problem linked to it and even the dealers don't seem to know there's an issue.
A case now logged with Skoda by the dealer so I wait to see what the outcome is. Not keen on the VIN plate being changed as I think the problem is more fundamental than that so it will be a car exchange that I'll be looking for here.
Interested to know if you had a result, Chris?
Trish
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Trish,
Sorry to hear about your problem. I was supposed to have my towbar fitted on the 16th April but as you know from the tail of woe above the fitter couldn't fit due to the 0KG Gross Train Weight issue.
Went straight over to the Skoda Dealer who didn't know anything about the issue with GTW but did admit that I had mentioned that I wanted to tow a caravan to which he said the Octavia would tow up to 1500KG (way over the 85% by the way!). To cut a long story short, the dealer has taken back the car and replaced it with another as Skoda will not change the VIN Plate. It is costing me a little more per month as I've had to go for an SE First Edition Diesel (2.0TDI) as against the SEL TSI Petrol as it seems that mainly the Diesels that have a GTW quoted if the car is not fitted with Towbar Prep at the factory. For some reason the Towbar Prep (two wiring looms from the passenger dashboard fuse box area to the boot) make all the difference. Apparently there are no cooling or any other mods for the UK market (but worth double checking that). The Towbar Prep option costs about £200 when ordered from factory build, you will be lucky to find one with this option from UK stock! My dealer has said that they plan to order Towbar Prep for all cars for their stock from now but these won't be available for many months yet. One issue I did find is that with COVID impacting supply chains, there isn't a great deal of stock out there. Worth noting that the Towbar fitter mentioned he had the same issue last week with a customer with a Hyundai Hybrid.
So basically, it took TWO weeks to arrange the car swap, the dealer paid for the private plate swap and sorted the new service plan out at their expense.
Today (7th May) I've been back to the Towbar fitter to have a fixed Swan Neck and 13 Pin Dedicated electrics fitted (£435 inc VAT). I'm bringing the van home in a few days from storage so we will see how it works (need to get a few more miles on the new engine first).
Please, please, be aware of this before signing for your new cars. It's not just Skoda!
Let us know how you get on Trish. Hope your dealer is as proactive as mine.
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I realise I am a bit late to this discussion, but when we bought out Octavia back in 2014, we had the factory towbar fitted, but it didn't come with power supply to run the fridge. We only realised the fridge wasn't working when we took the overnight ferry to France. Apparently, at that time at least (2014), the continentals didn't run the fridges whilst towing, so didn't need it.
Just thinking of changing to a Karoq, so will be making sure it has the full complement of wiring this time around.
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I have just bought a 2 year old Skoda Octavia Estate (only 1000cc but a turbo charged engine) and the tow bar issue will not affect me as I do not tow, but I do find it alarming that Skoda dealers are not aware of the tow bar issue. I hope that you find a solution to the problem. Regards, Val.
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Good luck with that. I have a Porsche Cayenne, and before that a BMW X5, both with factory fitted towbars and electrics. Although the fridge "battery" button does react, on both cars there is insufficient power output to run the fridge - the wiring is correct and it stops the warning buzzers. There has been much discussion on here over the past few years about this problem, which seems to affect most new cars with complex electronic brains. The computer apparently cuts the power output - something to do with economy and emissions I think.
Dometic won't do anything, and the German car manufacturers and their UK Dealers are not interested.
Normally OK for UK trips, as fridge/freezer can stay cool long enough, but on a 6 hour overnight ferry followed by a day driving down through France the freezer defrosts. Maybe not so much a problem now that the EU confiscate any food you take, at the border.
Please do respond if anyone has found a solution to this problem.
Paul
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A footnote - in both instances - 2012 BMW and 2016 Porsche both purchased new and factory towbar specced - 13 pin sockets fitted but only 7 connected so didn't run either the fridge or the Alko system when delivered. UK dealer had to get the wiring altered here in the UK - and pay for it themselves as I had the towbar and electrics prep in writing.
Paul
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@Nutsy and the German car manufacturers and their UK Dealers are not interested.
but my German Merc ML has a factory towbar & my fridge works when towing .... I've no idea whether the wiring was modified or if it came like that from the factory as I didn't buy it new.
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Further to my earlier comments, we have now ordered a nearly new 2 litre diesel Karoq, and checked a couple of other examples, which have suitable towing weights allowed. As we will have to have a towbar fitted separately I have checked with a couple of towbar fitters and they assure me they fit factory approved electrics, with suitable power supply for the fridge etc when towing. Just need to double check everything when the car is delivered to the dealer. He knows the situation so is prepare for us to cancel if this particular car is not suitable. As stated by someone else, at our prompting, he discovered the lack of towing capacity is standard across some engine variations for both Karoq and Octavia, and so presumably other models and makes. They seem to be the small engine / low power versions that would struggle somewhat if fully laden without and form of trailer as well.
Nothing to do with this, and not expecting an answer from here, but it bugs me that I only get base spec models with the small rims + large and therefore ride cushioning tyres, so my so called up market car has a poorer ride.
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I am looking to buy a Skoda Octavia Estate SE 1.5 TSI (150PS) Technology. I had ordered a brand new SL in Aug 2021 and told today I will get it sometime in 2022. So I'm looking at 2020 Reg's and planning to have a tow bar fitted. Any up date on the problem identified? Thanks for bringing it to my attention I'm going to get on to the agents I'm talking to and see if they know anything about it. I had been told if I order a new car I have to put it in the order for the manufacturer to fit the towbar cancels it affects my warranty.
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Interesting.
We have a 2020 Karoq 2.0TDI Sportline 2WD Manual. The towing weight is listed in Parkers Guide as 1400kg, but the same vehicle with a DSG box is listed at 2000kg..?
I can't really see why there would be such a difference ? I'm not that clumsy with the clutch..?
We have been toying with getting a small caravan for some of our trips so the 1400kg would be adequate, just....
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I'm a bit confused by your last line. I previously owned a 2014 Skoda Yeti 2L diesel from new I requested a factory fit tow bar when I ordered it, but this would have meant no feed to caravan battery or fridge power. It all got very complicated.
If you get a vehicle with factory fit bar and electrics then they are covered by the vehicles 3 yr warranty. If the bar and electrics are dealer or third party fitted then you only have a 12 months warranty.
Incidentally, the 150bhp 1.5 petrol you are sourcing is the same as I have in my 2019 Audi A3. I have posted on this engine before as I am surprised to find how good a towing engine it is for lighter vans. It is better than the diesel I moved on from. It also won tow car of the year in a Seat.
Colin
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VAG must surely make a loom to add the fridge & charging electrics. Years back I bought an OE trailer loom for my Vauxhall. The loom was plug & play for the lighting side of it but even though the fridge & charging side of it was not, the plug itself was wired up such that it reached the inside of the boot. Fridge & charging wiring is a straight forward addition. If I was to order a new car (very unlikely) it would be ordered with factory bar .... I'd worry about the fridge & charging later.
'Europe' isn't going to go to the effort of introducing the 13 pin plug if nobody was going to use all (most) pins
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VAG are not renowned for towing electrics. My 2004 factory order VW Touran could not be supplied with fully functioning 13 pin electrics. For my 2014 factory order Skoda Yeti it was the same story. Guess what, my 2019 factory order Audi A3 was supposed to have fully functioning 13 pin electrics, but they did not do the job and it spent two nights in the local Audi main dealer for things to be sorted out.
Colin
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Everything works as it should on my 2017 190 diesel Kodiaq with factory fit towbar
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How was it with your Yeti previous to this?
Colin
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I had an aftermarket towbar fitted on the 170 Yeti done with bypass electrics. The car would beep when reversing with the caravan attached. Fridge and charging worked OK.
Superb all round car. Very stable with the van on the back. It was one of those cars I would have liked to have kept forever.
David
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The 13 pin design is great, especially when it plugs into the side of your swan neck hitch, but only if those pins are all wired up.
Colin
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Fair point ocsid, but you'd have thought that with 3 dealers of different makes [admittedly same parent company] over a 15 year period VAG would have managed to sort the issue out.
Colin
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