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If you want to get to the point of this overly long post, skip to the 2 questions at the bottom 
We purchased the Passat just before xmas principally as my commute to the city from the Mornington Peninsula. Excellent family car on the weekends great fuel economy.
Following a short motorhome holiday in Tasmania over the summer, we decided to investigate moving away from our traditional tent camping holidays to something a little more sophisticated.
We started to look at Jayco camper trailers and came very close to buying a used one. The Passat was actually in the dealership to have the towbar fitted when I spoke on the phone to the Jayco dealer and discovered that the maximum towball weight on the Passat was not going to be enough to legally pull a Jayco Swan (or just about any other Jayco camper trailer). I quickly rang the VW dealer and got them to stop fitting the bar as I was reluctant to pay $1700 for a tow bar I couldn't use.
Having recovered from this shock (we're talking about 2010 towing car of the year in the UK) and acknowledging that the Passat is rated at 85KG on the ball, we went out to look at alternatives at the Caravan and Camping Show this weekend at Caufield Racecoure..
First off we found the Coramal F400 Family series. Same size as the Jayco Swan but rated at just 80KG on the ball. We liked it very much, better quality than the Jayco by far. However, after some consideration we decided that it may be a little too close for comfort once we start to load it up. Anyone have an opinion or any experience on this, would love to hear it?
Second we came a across the Ultimate XTrk.. quite a leap in terms of budget but great quality and attractively, it's rated at just 35KG on the ball. Did some haggling at the show, decided that the Ultimate ticked all the boxes and left the show happy that this was the way to go.
Right.. now here's the thing. The dealerships are now closed for the long weekend. The quote I got on the camper is good until the end of the show (Monday). But unfortunately, we're still missing a few pieces of critical information..
Whilst we're happy the Passat can comfortably tow the Ultimate Xtrk (tare weight 700kg, ball weight 35kg), we've been advised that we will need to fit both an electronic brake controller and either 12 pin wiring or a 15 amp anderson plug for recharging the batteries on the camper.
So, on Tuesday when I rebook the car for the towbar fitting:
1. What's the VW dealer going to say when ask about wiring for an electronic brake controller?
2. How do I go about getting additional wiring for a 15 amp anderson plug so we can recharge the batteries in the camper whilst hooked up?
Apologies for the long post.
Cheers Scullers
We purchased the Passat just before xmas principally as my commute to the city from the Mornington Peninsula. Excellent family car on the weekends great fuel economy.
Following a short motorhome holiday in Tasmania over the summer, we decided to investigate moving away from our traditional tent camping holidays to something a little more sophisticated.
We started to look at Jayco camper trailers and came very close to buying a used one. The Passat was actually in the dealership to have the towbar fitted when I spoke on the phone to the Jayco dealer and discovered that the maximum towball weight on the Passat was not going to be enough to legally pull a Jayco Swan (or just about any other Jayco camper trailer). I quickly rang the VW dealer and got them to stop fitting the bar as I was reluctant to pay $1700 for a tow bar I couldn't use.
Having recovered from this shock (we're talking about 2010 towing car of the year in the UK) and acknowledging that the Passat is rated at 85KG on the ball, we went out to look at alternatives at the Caravan and Camping Show this weekend at Caufield Racecoure..
First off we found the Coramal F400 Family series. Same size as the Jayco Swan but rated at just 80KG on the ball. We liked it very much, better quality than the Jayco by far. However, after some consideration we decided that it may be a little too close for comfort once we start to load it up. Anyone have an opinion or any experience on this, would love to hear it?
Second we came a across the Ultimate XTrk.. quite a leap in terms of budget but great quality and attractively, it's rated at just 35KG on the ball. Did some haggling at the show, decided that the Ultimate ticked all the boxes and left the show happy that this was the way to go.
Right.. now here's the thing. The dealerships are now closed for the long weekend. The quote I got on the camper is good until the end of the show (Monday). But unfortunately, we're still missing a few pieces of critical information..
Whilst we're happy the Passat can comfortably tow the Ultimate Xtrk (tare weight 700kg, ball weight 35kg), we've been advised that we will need to fit both an electronic brake controller and either 12 pin wiring or a 15 amp anderson plug for recharging the batteries on the camper.
So, on Tuesday when I rebook the car for the towbar fitting:
1. What's the VW dealer going to say when ask about wiring for an electronic brake controller?
2. How do I go about getting additional wiring for a 15 amp anderson plug so we can recharge the batteries in the camper whilst hooked up?
Apologies for the long post.
Cheers Scullers
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