Tiguan Towing

[DougGlover]

Fitted my new $844 towbar (inc shipping) from Towbars Australia - rated at 2500/200kg (although of course my vehicle is limited to 1,800kg).

Installation wasn't too bad - bumper off - rear beam removal - slot into and assemble to the chassis rails - refit bumper (no cuts as the hitch receiver fits neatly in the existing cutouts - 110TSi).

The wiring was a little messy - came with a towbar ECU (relay box) and individual wires to piggy-back onto lamps direct. Easy enough to splice solder - not using insulation-displacement items supplied. Was hopeful I could add REVERSE to run an additional light, but proved hard to find in wiring running to tailgate - suspect it is an LED voltage, so may revisit later.

Interestingly:
- tail lamps use same signal for STOP and POSITION - around 4V for POSITION, rising to 12V for STOP - thankfully this feature built in to supplied ECU.
- suggested exit grommet was already taken (wiring to final sensor on exhaust), so changed over to larger grommet (not provided) and routed in adjacent hole.

I'm not so impressed by the towbar construction - separate side plates extend into the chassis rail to reach furthest forward fixing, then clamped to end plates on cross-beam. In my view (previously responsible for accessory design for a Japanese vehicle manufacturer) the main fixing to the vehicle is below-par in that it depends on clamping forces to a single wall of each chassis rails; as I am limited to 1,800/180kg, maybe this is sufficient (previously looking at 3t+ designs).

Overall, happy with the installation (and the fact there is no coding or system inhibit functions to worry about) - very happy to save $800 on alternative solutions.

Now to find how it will tow the rally car - and wonder if my fuel consumption will rise above 7l/100km......

[jdstephens]

Tiguan tow bar now downgraded back down to 100kg ball weight!!!

So I had my car delivered yesterday with the tow bar and whilst inspecting I noticed it had stickers which said the bar is rated to 100kg tow ball weight. I asked about this and here is the response I got from the dealer:

“We checked everything last update we had was in last December towbar went from 200kg to 100kg, we checked also with service they have no knowledge of an update since then”

So now they are saying it went from 100kg to 200kg and back down to 100kg. So does that mean previous vehicles with the 200kg stickers will be recalled and have new stickers placed? Is this a safety issue for those putting more weight on the ball thinking it’s ok? Pretty poor from VW to be honest!!

[Simonr23]

I’m fairly sure that vw Australia is a joke. I also believe that 200kg is the correct limit.

[Psych101]

So I had my car delivered yesterday with the tow bar and whilst inspecting I noticed it had stickers which said the bar is rated to 100kg tow ball weight. I asked about this and here is the response I got from the dealer:

“We checked everything last update we had was in last December towbar went from 200kg to 100kg, we checked also with service they have no knowledge of an update since then”

So now they are saying it went from 100kg to 200kg and back down to 100kg. So does that mean previous vehicles with the 200kg stickers will be recalled and have new stickers placed? Is this a safety issue for those putting more weight on the ball thinking it’s ok? Pretty poor from VW to be honest!!

Contact vw directly. It is the dealers that are hopeless usually

[jdstephens]

Contact vw directly. It is the dealers that are hopeless usually

Just sent them an email and will ring tomorrow

[Simonr23]

Vw told me (the call centre) that my car had working sunroof lights, as the dealer has marked the recall as completed. I advised that they weren’t working and that the dealer had raised the complaint with vw on my behalf.

3 operators didn’t agree and told me that my lights were working....


All days/weeks before the dealer finally got them to work.


This is a small part of my complete lack of respect for vw aus.

[jdstephens]

Vw told me (the call centre) that my car had working sunroof lights, as the dealer has marked the recall as completed. I advised that they weren’t working and that the dealer had raised the complaint with vw on my behalf.

3 operators didn’t agree and told me that my lights were working....


All days/weeks before the dealer finally got them to work.


This is a small part of my complete lack of respect for vw aus.

I’m starting to agree with you....Just got off the phone to VWA, they said the towbar was down graded from 200kg to 100kg back in late December. They told me they are investigating the process of a safety recall for those that have the 200kg stickers and will probably change them over at the next service. I said it’s pretty unsat and if it’s a safety concern people should be made aware as soon as possible. They said their investigating, I said I’m reporting to the ACCC, will see what that brings

[Simonr23]

If that is the case, my car is no longer fit for purpose! I need the downball weight for the trailers I tow. Was a key consideration in picking it and why I had the genuine bar fitted before delivery.

Could get messy...

[jdstephens]

Vw told me (the call centre) that my car had working sunroof lights, as the dealer has marked the recall as completed. I advised that they weren’t working and that the dealer had raised the complaint with vw on my behalf.

3 operators didn’t agree and told me that my lights were working....


All days/weeks before the dealer finally got them to work.


This is a small part of my complete lack of respect for vw aus.

If that is the case, my car is no longer fit for purpose! I need the downball weight for the trailers I tow. Was a key consideration in picking it and why I had the genuine bar fitted before delivery.

Could get messy...

I think very messy! Spoke to RAA then ACCC and they have raised a case, they have suggested to contact the department of infrastructure which I will later today.

Unfortunately it’s legit, just spoke to a very helpful gentleman name Steve from the solitaire VW Spare parts department. He read out over the phone the updated bulletin they received in December last year. Essentially it advises that the tow bar ball weight has been revised down for all Tiguan and all space models, and that it’s up to the service and sales departments to advise customers that they will need new stickers fitted.

It’s under review and may change back but Steve said at the moment he can’t even order the 200kg sticker kit because VW has put a stop to it.

What a mess, had I known I would not have had it fitted as I need to tow up to 180kg ball weight!!!!

Really sour taste in an otherwise awesome car!!!!

[iDiesel]

Funnily enough I sent my dealer and their spare parts division an email asking for an update on the sticker - been waiting since October 2018 for one and there's been nothing but radio silence.

If true, it is disappointing as 200kg ball weight was perfect for me!

[jdstephens]

Funnily enough I sent my dealer and their spare parts division an email asking for an update on the sticker - been waiting since October 2018 for one and there's been nothing but radio silence.

If true, it is disappointing as 200kg ball weight was perfect for me!

Its as true as I can find out. I contacted VW Australia and they rang me back with a confirmation of the downgrade. I spoke to the Solitare spare parts department yesterday trying to order the stickers in. They rang back today saying VWA have put a halt to the sale of the stickers. Steve ( the helpful man in parts) read out the entire internal bulletin over the phone which was dated from December last year. He said he and his manager spent a considerable amount of time trying to find out if it reverted back to 200kg, but it hasn't.

Ive submitted a vehicle report to the department of infrastructure, very unsat of VW to down rate the towing capacity of the bars but not tell the owners its changed. I think its a pretty big safety concern TBH.

If others raise a report via the department of Infrastructure, perhaps this will motivate VW to get engineering approval to put it back up to 200kg. Heres the link:

Submit an Online Vehicle Safety or Non-Compliance Report

[Chalnoth]

Could get interesting for anyone who bought the car to pull a load higher than the 100kg limit, or who bought a caravan that they now can't pull.

[Guest001]

Could get interesting for anyone who bought the car to pull a load higher than the 100kg limit, or who bought a caravan that they now can't pull.

Been there done that and had to spend another $23,000 to change to a suitable vehicle

[jdstephens]

Could get interesting for anyone who bought the car to pull a load higher than the 100kg limit, or who bought a caravan that they now can't pull.

surely they got it engineered to state it can tow 200kg. I think something else is going on, perhaps some type of procedural issue? So I think the more people who report via the above link the more motivation VW will have to fix it and revert back to 200kg

[jdstephens]

Been there done that and had to spend another $23,000 to change to a suitable vehicle

I can foresee myself doing this earlier than planned