Ordering VW retractable towbar, getting special permit, use adapter - possible?

[Marakai]

OK, I may really be dreaming here (only had half my morning coffee so far):

If I wanted to take on the bureaucracy, and as I need to special order my vehicle anyway, would it be possible to order a Passat (Alltrack) with the nice retractable towbar and then obtain a special permit to use it here?

I mean, people get permits and exemptions for all kinds of things, from left-hand steering to what-not. Why not a towbar?

Apart from the plug for which I could always get an adapter, just what wouldn't work? Is the ball size different? Trying to remember that you could order different sizes due to variations within the EU. What else?

Or is there simply nothing to be done?

Yeah, I'm sort of obsessing about the b*tt-ugly "slice open the back of your car" approach taken here. It just freaks me out to have to do this to a new car. Talk about attack vector for rust!

Tell me I'm dreamin'
Mike

[Umai Naa!!]

No structural sheetmetal is altered when the towbar is installed.

Only a section of plastic from the underside of the bumper is removed, which you can't see from the rear of the car anyway.

The biggest concer with the European towbar is the lack of ADR approval, hence Volkswagen Group Australia requiring the services of Best Bars in New Zealand to design and mass-produce ADR-approved towbars for the entire range.

[Marakai]

The biggest concer with the European towbar is the lack of ADR approval, hence Volkswagen Group Australia requiring the services of Best Bars in New Zealand to design and mass-produce ADR-approved towbars for the entire range.

Which of course begs the question: WHY was the Euro towbar not ADR approved?!

[Umai Naa!!]

Because it doesn't meet the requirements outlined in the ADRs - Ball height from the ground, in relation to the distance from the rear axle line, material wall-thickness, etc.

On a side note, there are currently a few car manufacturers pushing to have non-ADR approved accessories (especially those manufactured locally) outlawed. These included towbars, bullbars, nudgebars, and the like.

[Marakai]

On a side note, there are currently a few car manufacturers pushing to have non-ADR approved accessories (especially those manufactured locally) outlawed. These included towbars, bullbars, nudgebars, and the like.

Wait, aren't they already outlawed? If it's NON-ADR approved then it's against the law to use them, I would have thought.

Confused.

[Guest001]

Because it doesn't meet the requirements outlined in the ADRs - Ball height from the ground, in relation to the distance from the rear axle line, material wall-thickness, etc.

On a side note, there are currently a few car manufacturers pushing to have non-ADR approved accessories (especially those manufactured locally) outlawed. These included towbars, bullbars, nudgebars, and the like.

Wont stop the hardcore users though will it. Take For instance the number who use wheel spacers. Illegal everywhere in Aussie on road but plenty still use them.

Most Towbars and Bullbars are ADR approved and after doing a trip around the country I would support the use of a Bullbar on almost any vehicle.
Much sooner hit a Roo with that than have it come through the windscreen.


Incidentally it was a Government initiative that was trying to ban Bull bars as they thought they would hurt pedestrians.

Obviously these pen pushers never got out past city limits to see what they were actually for.

Not needed on Toorak tractors but essential in the bush

[Umai Naa!!]

It's all a big grey area, really. Car manufacturers apparently can't put their name to things like bullbars and towbars, unless they're crash-tested and ADR-approved. Toyota crash-tests their genuine bullbars at great expense, to ensure they don't reduce the crash-rating the car already has. Volkswagen chooses not to even go down that path, deciding not to offer a genuine bullbar for the Amarok, or anything else for that matter.

The story goes, their viewpoint is, if they've got to jump through hoops, so should the aftermarket companies.

Personally, there's no denying there's a need for bullbars, but that bullbar should not compromise the safety of the occupants.

[Amalgam]

START OF RANT

VW Au seam to be very conservative. The Passat has recently suffer a very minor front bumper accident when someone reversed into it in a carpark. Wanting to do the right thing, I rang up VW Au and asked for recommended panel and paint repairers in Perth. I was told that VW Au don't have a list as they don not want to be liable for the repairs. Mercedes Benz, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari all have recommended panel and paint repairers.

END OF RANT

BTW can anyone recommend a panel and paint place in Perth and I promise not to hold you legally liable.

[drad81]

A friends body shop had a BMW GT (ugly car btw) without the rear bar on. It had the euro tow bar installed. I wish I had taken a photo now.
It folds away nicely but it didn't look anywhere near as beefy as the ones you normally see on Aust cars. Not sure if it was fitted like this from factory or ordered at a later date.

[Marakai]

What I want to know is how he managed to order it, then get it past customs and everybody else?! How did he talk his dealer into it?

A friends body shop had a BMW GT (ugly car btw) without the rear bar on. It had the euro tow bar installed. I wish I had taken a photo now.
It folds away nicely but it didn't look anywhere near as beefy as the ones you normally see on Aust cars. Not sure if it was fitted like this from factory or ordered at a later date.

[Guest001]

What I want to know is how he managed to order it, then get it past customs and everybody else?! How did he talk his dealer into it?

There are things you can buy that are sold legally but cannot be used legally for various reasons.

EG spacers Legal to sell but only legal OFFROAD

Spotlights Legal to sell but not legal to use above the bonnet line ON ROAD

Towbars You can make one yourself but it wont be legal.

You may NOT ALTER IN ANY WAY an ADR compliant towbar.

EG Technically you cant weld it cut it drill it or alter anything about it as it alters it away from how it was complianced.

I bought one identical to a Toyota one but it had underslung attachment for the D shackles.

I asked the seller if he would weld the plate on the same as a Toyota version.

The above is what he told me.

[brad]

What I want to know is how he managed to order it, then get it past customs and everybody else?! How did he talk his dealer into it?

Why would customs stop the import of a towbar? It's only the fitment of the towbar to the car that is illegal.

There are a number of people that have brought in their own Euro style towbars. Basically, they are transferring the risk to themselves.

BTW: have you tried ironbull.com.au?

[booba]

Customs won't do ****. They don't care if a part is ADR complied. I have ordered genuine vw accessory that isn't ADR complied and it came through nice and easy.

[Marakai]

The point is, of course, that you don't order "a towbar". What you do is have your vehicle ordered with the factory-installed towbar!

Provided you can even find the order number (OK, I could get that from VW Germany, bilinguality ftw), then your local VW dealer needs to be able to even put that order number into *their* IT system (OK, maybe as a special order item). Finally, VW in Germany need to not get some flag in their system that says "oh nein, zee fehicle iss goink to Australien, vee musst not put on zee uber-elektrischschwenkbarerabschlepphakenruestsatz").

If all this miraculously happens, then for that wonderful chain of events nobody has answered the question whether, if you want to be a law-abiding citizen, you can get an exemption ADR. I mean you can get it for all kinds of other crap and junk on our roads, from LHS to Holden cars in general (ba-da-bing-ba-da-boom! ).

[Marakai]

BTW: have you tried ironbull.com.au?

Interesting site - if only they hadn't just redone it all and now don't have any actual product info, images or what-not on it (as of 13-12).