Looking for a reliable towbar fitting service
Hi recently purchased a new car but no towbar so looking for a good place or mobile service near to notts/Derby. Specifically looking for a detachable one. Any recommendations?
Many thanks ?
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Just used tow bar express, arrived on a Tuesday and fitted as planned, went to get caravan and found there to be a problem with the wiring.
They returned the very next morning, did a repair, fitted new part and everything been top notch since - moral of story, whilst we don't want things to go wrong, this company delivered first rate service to put right when there was an issue.
Would definitely use again,
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If you buy a Witter towbar they have approved fitters who will do the job properly. We bought a detachable towbar and the Witter approved fitter came to our house and did the job in about an hour. Not the cheapest option though. Whatever you do I would
advise against letting the car dealer do the job. It's specialised and they will likely farm it out to a local towbar fitter. Nothing wrong with this except it will cost you extra as the dealer will want his cut and will charge a higher price than the fitter
would if you contacted him direct.0 -
I have recently used Indespension a nationwide fitting service. Took my vehicle into their garage (Lancaster) they did an excellent job fitting a detachable swan necked also specific 13 pin wiring. Cost £360.00 (no vat).
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Have you thought about the garage that normally looks after your car, we used to outsource towbars, but a number of years ago we decided we'd rather fit ourselves and ensure the quality of fitting is there, we aren't possibly the cheapest option, but running wiring in a safe way takes longer than cutting corners, we've recently tested a chevrolet with wiring run through the rear suspension!
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Re dealer fit
l had all my new cars fitted by the dealer due to warranty issues, my last one 2 weeks ago l know l paid extra but its got a 5 year warranty with the car. Its quite bit cheaper going to the mobile people but make sure the wiring harness is compatible to your make of car, heard some horror stories of car electrics plus vans don't work, if its the car you have the problem of going to the dealer who straight way hides behind the warranty issue. So for piece of mind l bit the bullet and paid the dealer knowing he would sub it out. Won't even find out how much he made as it would naff me off
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I would be careful using a motor franchised dealer. Due to the high charge they make, they tend to fit very few. I bought a new Ford recently and I found out they hadn't fitted one for three years!! I went to the garage I had used before dedicated to fittting tow bars and had a fantastic service which is especially important when they are messing about with the electrics and ECU..and found out that they did all the towbar fitting for two different franchised dealers in the locality.
Be careful about choosing a towbar. Some require a visible cut to the rear bumper, but some require a larger cut than others. Chose one that requires the least cut and in fact the fitter for mine didn't follow the template as he was happy he could do it with a much lesser cut, to the point when the vehicle was back on the ground, I could not see it easily. The garage or fitting service should be able to advise you
i would also be wary of having the electrics just crimped into the system rather than using a vehicle specific wiring kit. One large company had towbars fitted to 12 new vans and had 12 damaged ECUs with a £2K repair bill for each
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the local Vauxhall dealer used to farm all their towbars out, but do them in house these days due to the local towbar fitter thinking he could do better than the instructions from General Motors .... I had the same argument with him doing HIS way & drilling the car to fit his own earth point rather than use one of the dedicated earth point on the car. The dealer has the proper box of electrickery to programme your car too rather than use a generic jack of all trades gizmo like the local towbar fitter that fits to Volvos, Mercs, Fords etc
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I take the point but that sounds an issue with the fitter. My ford dealer wanted £950 to fit a big standard towbar, identical to what I had fitted for £600 and on the QT the sales rep advised me to have it fitted elsewhere. Dd I really want someone fitting a towbar who either hasn't fitted one in three years or prob not at all? No thanks. The garage I used did both BMW and VW group fitting for the local franchises so I don't think the equipment they used was a generic jack of all trades gizmo.
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I take the point but that sounds an issue with the fitter. My ford dealer wanted £950 to fit a big standard towbar, identical to what I had fitted for £600 and on the QT the sales rep advised me to have it fitted elsewhere. Dd I really want someone fitting a towbar who either hasn't fitted one in three years or prob not at all? No thanks. The garage I used did both BMW and VW group fitting for the local franchises so I don't think the equipment they used was a generic jack of all trades gizmo.
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I take the point but that sounds an issue with the fitter. My ford dealer wanted £950 to fit a big standard towbar, identical to what I had fitted for £600 and on the QT the sales rep advised me to have it fitted elsewhere. Dd I really want someone fitting a towbar who either hasn't fitted one in three years or prob not at all? No thanks. The garage I used did both BMW and VW group fitting for the local franchises so I don't think the equipment they used was a generic jack of all trades gizmo.
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As manufacturer specific diagnostic costs £thousands & also has anual cost & costs for updates, a local garage is not going to have one specifically for Ford & for Mercedes & for Vauxhall et all, they're going to have something like a Snap On or some other generic box of electrickery. The Mercedes dealer told me how much their STAR costs to buy & keep. It was an eye watering amount ... which is why they charge £120 per hour
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My local garage near Poulton le Fylde couldn't match an initial quote of £650.00. The garage in Lancaster was well equipped to deal with caravans and had spares in stock. No regrets. A saving of £300.00.
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Going back to having a tow bar fitted to my Rav 4. I have since been towing a Lunar Clubman into Europe returning and then into the lake district. I have had NO problems with this fitment and find it easy to detach and stow away. The electrical fitment also folds up under the bodywork out of sight. I highly recommend the indespension fitting service at Lancaster, which is part of a nationwide company. I might add that the Rav 4, makes easy meat of towing the caravan giving me a decent return on m.p.g.
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Mitsubishi fitted my towbar as part of the package when I bought the car - well worth making the dealer offer something like that. Like the advertisement is implying on the side of the page! Over a thousand worth of accessories for caravanners!
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I no longer undertake the fitting of tow-bar electrics myself for the reasons you have stated above. On modern cars (98% of cases) universal seven way bypass relays can no longer be fitted & the same goes for VSR's on the auxiliary side. As you have quoted, cars are so technical now that without the correct tow-module, programming & the correct equipment to do it, in which the software differs from one make of car to another, it’s become impossible for me to now undertake. I’m ashamed to admit this due to my track record, but it’s the truth. I do however sometimes wire just the auxiliaries on towcars but I never fit VSR’s.
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In many many years of Towing, and through dozens of different Tow cars I always went to Brittania Tow bars, but a couple of years ago they were bought out by the German Co "Westfalia". They continue to fit the main marques of Tow bar, and the best of electrics to match. I heartily recommend them.
TF
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