Getting towbar fitted - things I need to know?

[MarvelVillis]

I'm a complete newbie to towbars/towing so firstly apologies for any stupid questions. I want to get a towbar fitted to my Tiguan in order to tow a trailer in the future. I've heard it's better to get a fixed towbar rather than detachable, is that correct? How do I know if I need 7 or 13 pin electrics? Is there anything else I need to know/be wary of?

 

[HorsesRule2009]

I've recently had a tow bar fitted, I went for a fixed towbar as feel happier/safer than a detachable one.
I already has my trailer so new I needed a 7 pin. Maybe look at the trailer you want and see what attachments it has? Though I think most horse trailers are 7 pin.

But you can also get an adapter if needed to convert from 1 to the other

 

[MarvelVillis]

I've recently had a tow bar fitted, I went for a fixed towbar as feel happier/safer than a detachable one.
I already has my trailer so new I needed a 7 pin. Maybe look at the trailer you want and see what attachments it has? Though I think most horse trailers are 7 pin.

But you can also get an adapter if needed to convert from 1 to the other

Thank you, that's useful, I didn't know you could get an adapter

 

[dapple_grey]

I've just had a tow bar fixed on my VW Tiguan and used a company called Tow Bars on the Drive who came to my house to put it on (they were the cheapest by a lot). I told them I would be towing a horse trailer and they put on a fixed swan neck with 7 pins. Would 100% go with fixed over detachable.

ETA: I think most trailers will have a 7 pin.

 

[AandK]

I got a fixed towbar fitted to my Merc ML 3yrs ago. I did it through the Witter website and selected mobile fitting, a local ish company came out and fitted it at my house, all very easy. My trailer is older (2004) so I have a 7 pin plug, but as mentioned above you can get adapters if needed.

 

[EventingMum]

The adapters are cheap so I would go for a 13 pin towbar and use a 7 pin adapter so the have both options if you even wanter to tow anything else.

 

[9tails]

You can't adapt a 7 pin (on car) to a 13 pin to tow something else, so go with 13 pin and use an adapter. They're about £5 off ebay.

 

[marmalade88]

do you have parking sensors? Can the electrics in the bumper actually be changed to fit a tow bar. I know when I was looking at a VW it was hard to retrofit towbars to Touareg’s. I ended up buying one with a factory fitted toe at for that reason. Just something to check.

 

[asmp]

do you have parking sensors? Can the electrics in the bumper actually be changed to fit a tow bar. I know when I was looking at a VW it was hard to retrofit towbars to Touareg’s. I ended up buying one with a factory fitted toe at for that reason. Just something to check.

We’ve had tow bars fitted our last 3 second hand Touaregs with no problems

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I'm a complete newbie to towbars/towing so firstly apologies for any stupid questions. I want to get a towbar fitted to my Tiguan in order to tow a trailer in the future. I've heard it's better to get a fixed towbar rather than detachable, is that correct? How do I know if I need 7 or 13 pin electrics? Is there anything else I need to know/be wary of?

I recommend Jimstowbars, they can tell you anything and fit it at your house

 

[marmalade88]

We’ve had tow bars fitted our last 3 second hand Touaregs with no problems

Good for you

 

[HorsesRule2009]

do you have parking sensors? Can the electrics in the bumper actually be changed to fit a tow bar. I know when I was looking at a VW it was hard to retrofit towbars to Touareg’s. I ended up buying one with a factory fitted toe at for that reason. Just something to check.

I had a tow bar fitted to my seat ateca thar has parking sensors camera and had no problem

 

[irishdraft]

You definitely wanted a fixed towbar and most new trailers, I have a 2018, have a 13 pin but you can get an adapter.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Don't do what I did and get the towbar fitter out to your driveway, for him to look under the Tiguan and realise you already have a tow bar that you weren't told about when you bought it and that the head of it is just under the boot floor. I let him keep the £100 deposit as he did then make sure all the programming/fitting was correct, but it did save me another £400 and I felt like a prize A kn0b for about 10 working days.

 

[Northern Hare]

Do you know what type of trailer you'll be buying? I had an Ifor Williams trailer, so checked with then on the correct towball height before getting the towbar fitted.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

Are you sure it doesn’t already have a towbar? My Touareg has a retractable one which is stowed underneath the rear bumper when not in use

 

[MarvelVillis]

Don't do what I did and get the towbar fitter out to your driveway, for him to look under the Tiguan and realise you already have a tow bar that you weren't told about when you bought it and that the head of it is just under the boot floor. I let him keep the £100 deposit as he did then make sure all the programming/fitting was correct, but it did save me another £400 and I felt like a prize A kn0b for about 10 working days.

Off to check my car immediately!

 

[MarvelVillis]

Do you know what type of trailer you'll be buying? I had an Ifor Williams trailer, so checked with then on the correct towball height before getting the towbar fitted.

Good idea. I'm quite sure I want to go for a single Ifor trailer.

 

[MarvelVillis]

do you have parking sensors? Can the electrics in the bumper actually be changed to fit a tow bar. I know when I was looking at a VW it was hard to retrofit towbars to Touareg’s. I ended up buying one with a factory fitted toe at for that reason. Just something to check.

A garage came back to me over the weekend and said I would have to have a detachable towbar as I have parking sensors, which I'm not sure is 100% true as my friend has a Tiguan with parking sensors and she has a fixed tow bar, so going to contact a couple of others garages.

 

[dapple_grey]

A garage came back to me over the weekend and said I would have to have a detachable towbar as I have parking sensors, which I'm not sure is 100% true as my friend has a Tiguan with parking sensors and she has a fixed tow bar, so going to contact a couple of others garages.

Yeah that's incorrect. I've had parking sensors on both Tiguans and the tow bar company I've used have sorted it out.

 

[MarvelVillis]

Don't do what I did and get the towbar fitter out to your driveway, for him to look under the Tiguan and realise you already have a tow bar that you weren't told about when you bought it and that the head of it is just under the boot floor. I let him keep the £100 deposit as he did then make sure all the programming/fitting was correct, but it did save me another £400 and I felt like a prize A kn0b for about 10 working days.

Unfortunately there's no hidden towbar under my car

 

[Muddy unicorn]

I had a fixed towbar fitted on a car with parking sensors and it was fine - I opted to have the Mercedes-specific wiring which was a bit more expensive but would definitely mean the parking sensors would work normally.

 

[Penguin_Toes]

I just had a fixed towbar fitted to my 2018 Tiguan with parking sensors with no issues.

I'm up in Cheshire otherwise I would have recommended the chap to you but I see you are in Devon! He supplied it, came to my house and fitted it for £450 all in.

I got a 13 pin because the adapters to take them down to 7 if I need one are so cheap.

It was a 'swan neck' one, I don't know if that helps with the parking sensor thing. It is very unobtrusive.

 

[QueenBella]

I have a 2018 Tiguan 4 motion and retrofitted the towbar. I went for detachable due to mechanics saying that a fixed would interfere with the sensors. I never take the tow bar off and its never caused any issues with my sensors. However, there is an issue that wiring up the lights for the trailer has caused issues with my adaptive cruise control. I can only have one or the other. My uncle is a mechanic and can swap the fuses over for me when I need the ACC but I never use it due to driving mainly on country roads. He has had people out from VW and they are all very perplexed with why this is causing an issue. Just if you do a lot of motorway driving it is something to consider. Maybe my car is a one off but you can't be too sure and I'm also not really putting a push on the mechanics to sort it as it isn't really an issue for me.

 

[ditsyponies]

I just had a tow bar (last week) fitted to my 2016 tiguan, I went for a fixed swan neck with 13 pin as most new trailers take 13 now (cheval liberte) so look at the sort of trailer you have/are buying but you can buy adaptors.

I was worried about parking sensors which is why I had a swan neck and have had no problems at all, all sensors work perfectly as normal without a trailer attached and he reprogrammed my car to know when it has something hitched on the back so when I have the horse trailer on it turns the side and back sensors off (screen on my car has a photo of a car towing a trailer too)

Not sure where you are located but mine was done by Road Radio (I think a South East company) so they specialise in programming radios etc too so might be why my sensors work well still.

 

[FlyingCircus]

I have a 2018 Tiguan 4 motion and retrofitted the towbar. I went for detachable due to mechanics saying that a fixed would interfere with the sensors. I never take the tow bar off and its never caused any issues with my sensors. However, there is an issue that wiring up the lights for the trailer has caused issues with my adaptive cruise control. I can only have one or the other. My uncle is a mechanic and can swap the fuses over for me when I need the ACC but I never use it due to driving mainly on country roads. He has had people out from VW and they are all very perplexed with why this is causing an issue. Just if you do a lot of motorway driving it is something to consider. Maybe my car is a one off but you can't be too sure and I'm also not really putting a push on the mechanics to sort it as it isn't really an issue for me.

Please check the instructions for the detachable towbar. They're usually not meant to be left on when not in use, and can be dangerous if they are.

 

[ponyparty]

Don't do what I did and get the towbar fitter out to your driveway, for him to look under the Tiguan and realise you already have a tow bar that you weren't told about when you bought it and that the head of it is just under the boot floor. I let him keep the £100 deposit as he did then make sure all the programming/fitting was correct, but it did save me another £400 and I felt like a prize A kn0b for about 10 working days.

This is the kind of thing I’d do