Tow bar fitting and prep

[Itchigo23]

I need a tow bar fitting to use a mounted bike rack. I've had a look at my vin plate, and it's got kg weight next to 1 and 2, assuming this means I have the tow bar prep? What does this actually mean, and will it reduce the cost of a company fitting a tow bar? Does the tow bar prep disable the rear sensors etc? Looking at a DIY route, has anyone done this? You need an additional bypass relay kit, would this connect to the tow bar prep or need splicing in, and what does that do? Disable the sensors? Appreciate an expert breaking it down for me!

[Fossilnot]

This topic has been comprehensively covered in previous posts.
My understanding is that a tow bar fitted and used EXCLUSIVELY for use with a bike rack does not need towbar prep, or a towbar permitted vin plate. You would fall foul of the law only if using it to tow.

Fossilnot

[Itchigo23]

This topic has been comprehensively covered in previous posts.
My understanding is that a tow bar fitted and used EXCLUSIVELY for use with a bike rack does not need towbar prep, or a towbar permitted vin plate. You would fall foul of the law only if using it to tow.

Fossilnot

Thanks, that's not really what I'm trying to find out. I have the tow bar prep because it references weight on my vin plate right? And I'm not asking to tow, I said it's for a bike rack. I haven't been able to find answers to all my questions, or form an understanding of the process of 1. Fitting the tow bar 2. The 7pin electrics 3. The bypass relay and how they then impact the features of my car. Appreciate the help of anyone more knowledgeable then myself.

[Ken3966]

Tow bar prep is an extra option on manufacturing, the vin plate would say the same on any Enyaq of that same spec.
Even cars without towbar prep can later have a towbar fitted, as long as the vin plate permits as yours does.
With the introduction of packs I suspect no cars will be made with just towbar prep now, they will either have a towbar fitted on production line or not?

[peters_enyaq]

The new 85 model coupes have tow bar preparation as standard.
Didn’t check the estate model as wasn’t looking at that car.

[Octogenarian]

Hi Itchigo23.
Just read an article in Norway about fitting non-original towbars to the Enyaq. Apparently it results in frequent error messages each time software is updated OTA, and the system has to be reset by dealer, which is a very expensive procedure. HTH.

[Aragorn]

My car does NOT have towbar prep, but does have Towing weights on the VIN plate and V5.

They have some catchall statement saying cars without prep "may" not have towing weights, but it seems in the UK at least, every Enyaq does have towing weight on the VIN.

The main difference between prep and no-prep, is prep brings all the trailer connections to a single connection point in the boot. If you have no-prep, you have to run wiring thru the car to connect to the body control ECU in the front footwell.

Infact when you look at purchasing the official Skoda towbar kit, they have two part numbers, one for Prep and one for no-prep, which includes the extra bit of wiring harness required.


To answer your question about a DIY route, the lighting on the Enyaq is all Canbus powered. So there is a trailer module which sits on the CanBus and drives the trailer lighting. That module also tells the car when a trailer is connected, so the car can disable various features like the rear parking and pedestrian sensors and i think also adjusts the stability control.

Once the module is installed (either by connecting to the existing prep, or with the more involved harness) you need to program the various modules in the car to tell it that there is a trailer kit installed.

The biggest thing putting me off is the software issues people mention. It seems it can be quite a pain as certain updates reset the car to "as built" spec, and therefore the configuration changes required for the towbar get removed. The car then gets annoyed because it can see things on the CANBus that shoudlnt be there. However i've never heard of it happening with an OTA update, only the big ME3 update done at the dealership.


If you buy the official Skoda kit (and have it fitted by them ofcourse), they add a token to the cars build on the dealership computer system, so the system knows it has a towbar going forwards. However they will not apply that token for an aftermarket bar.

[Itchigo23]

Thanks that's helpful. Have you been able to eyeball the trailer connections in the boot? I'm thinking if I hunt for them it'll be a sure way of knowing. For the meantime I'm looking at roof mounted cycle carriers, that's have their own problems

[Aragorn]

If you look up the vehicle specific wiring kit that westfalia or brink sell and download the installation instructions it will typically have pictorial diagrams showing where the connections are.