hi everyone, ive been looking for a towbar for my fabia vrs and cant find one for sale anywhere.they all say ' not vrs models'.does anyone know where i can get one and how much.thanks in advance

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/155133-vrs-tow-bar-anyone-looking-for-1/page__p__1921818__hl__vrs%20tow%20bar__fromsearch__1entry1921818

Its just the rear bumper that stops them being used, so you need to cut the bumper slightly to fit one. The thread above explains most of it tho.

Matt

http://briskoda.net/...1entry1921818

Its just the rear bumper that stops them being used, so you need to cut the bumper slightly to fit one. The thread above explains most of it tho.

Matt

Fabia vrs is not approved for towbar use, one of my customers was stopped by the police towing a trailer, he was then told remove the towbar as that model has no max tow weight info as its not approved

Edit:

A ROW has broken out over a car tow bar fitted more than five years ago.

Fitting was arranged by the dealership where Mike Smith bought his Skoda Fabia vRS in 2004.

But he was recently pulled over by police and taken to a weighbridge, where he was told the car was not approved for towing.

That’s when he asked for my help in the dispute.

He is now in negotiation with the dealership to resolve the problem.

Mike told me the tow bar was fitted by sub-contractors on behalf of the previous owners of Silbury Skoda, Cramlington, Northumberland, to clinch a deal on the £12,000 car.

Mike, a retired teacher, said: “I was looking for a car with a tow bar for my retirement because my hobby is kit cars and I needed to tow a trailer.

“I liked the Skoda Fabia vRS, but there was no tow bar as standard.

“At one point I was not going to buy it but they found someone to fit a tow bar, so I decided to go ahead with the deal.”

There followed many years of happy motoring as Mike, now 65, indulged his hobby.

All that came to a stop when he was pulled over and taken to the weighbridge.

He said: “They said the car was not type-approved for towing. They said I was within the spirit of the law if not the letter because the model below mine is approved.

“They decided not to prosecute, but I can’t use the car for towing anymore.

“As I see it, the garage was responsible for creating this situation and they are responsible for putting it right.”

Mike, formerly of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, moved to Wiltshire on his retirement.

He wants to be put in the position of having a car which can legally pull a trailer.

I wanted to speak to both Skoda and the dealership but, first, I investigated what internet discussion forums said about the Skoda Fabia vRS.

One said: “The vRS is not type-approved for a tow bar. Not that it stops people fitting them.”

Another said: “Yep, you’re right.

“ If you check the V5, the registration document, you will see there are no weights in the towable mass section.”

A spokeswoman for Skoda said the case was a mystery. She said: “The problem we have is that we have never authorised a tow bar to be fitted to this model.

“It’s a sporty model not in production at the moment, although there will be a new version next year.”

Silbury Skoda was owned at the time by North East dealership Colebrook and Burgess.

When I first spoke to Colebrook and Burgess managing director Andrew Maidwell, he said he was looking into the complaint.

He said: “Mr Smith is referring to something that happened years ago and I need extra information before I can comment.

“We will make sure the matter is resolved, but I just need time to put the facts together.”

It was later confirmed that the tow bar was fitted by sub-contractors on behalf of the dealership.

At the time of writing, Andrew and Mike are talking it through with both parties hopeful of an agreement.

Edited 16 March, 201016 yr by allytech

Depends on what you are using it for mate.

As said above, you cannot two with the car.

I have one fitted to my vRS and I use it for my Thule bike rack - I bought the Skoda hatch tow bar and electric kit from the dealer.

The only cuts that need to be made with this option, is underneath, at the back for the drop down electrics.

I got around this as I had a Thule electric socket mounting plate sitting in my shed, so I ditched the drop down unit and therefore didn't have to cut anything.

The official Skoda wiring kit (which is actually Hella) is great to, as it plugs into the rear light electrics via piggy back connectors. So there is no need to cut any wires.

HTH

Ah, so there IS proof that they shouldnt be used, unlike that thread i posted! Confusing issue, some insurers are ok with it, but then i guess that doesnt make it legal, prob just sanother way for them to get out of a claim,

Matt

the vrs makes the best towing car as well, crazy.mines remapped and would tow anything.i only want one to tow a motorbike trailer, so i can take my sons crosser out every weekend.

thanks for the info everyone

Ah, so there IS proof that they shouldnt be used, unlike that thread i posted! Confusing issue, some insurers are ok with it, but then i guess that doesnt make it legal, prob just sanother way for them to get out of a claim,

Matt

I never understand why people ask insurance companies about vehicle and driving licence laws. Since when are insurance brokers experts on this subject?

If you phone up an insurance company and ask them to insure a 3 axle double decker coach as a motorhome, and by the way is it ok if I drive it on my car licence, they will say yes no problem.

They don't know or care, they take your money and send out the policy documents, if you read them it will state that you must hold a licence to drive the vehicle. You actually need a category C rigid lorry licence to drive such a vehicle, but there are plenty of people out there who asked their insurance company and are driving around with a car licence, just waiting to be pulled by VOSA or the Police, who will find they are neither entitled to drive or insured to drive such a vehicle.

You can fit a tow bar to the vRS that is not a problem, but the minute you attach anything to it you are immediately overloading the vehicle, exceeding its towing capacity and this means you are not insured.

I am one of the people who totally fail to understand why people CONTINUALLY say ignore the fact the vRS is not type approved to fit a tow-bar. I asked my insurance company about fitting one and they said NO !!! It's the FITTING of the tow bar that's the problem not whatever you might or might not use it for.

Direct.gov website says quite clearly that "it is not permitted to fit a coupling device or tow a trailer."

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/vehicles/vssafety/towingwithvehiclesfrequently4577

However {thinking laterally} just because the manufacturer did not include it in their type approval, if someone really wants to tow with a VRS and wants stay on the right side of the law then why not go through the Individual Vehicle Approval or Single Vehicle Approval process just like if it were a kit car?

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/BuyingAndSellingAVehicle/ImportingAndExportingAVehicle/DG_177879

If a "radically altered vehicle" can go through this process then I can't see them refusing a towbar.

Edited 19 March, 201016 yr by bnjyn