Purchasing Advice - Towbar

[ouradventure]

I have just acquired a 2009 Mk3 Multispace.
What advice to folks have about towbar fitment.

Thanks
Ouradventure

[evdama]

Recommended!

Citroen genuine part has been proven in the forums to be often no easier due to the electrics sometimes needing specialist attention to activate

Third party stuff is excellent.
The worlds your lobster but best to stick to reputable brands (Witter Bosal etc)
Fixed type is also easy to fit to MK 3 without cutting holes in the bumper.
The electrics are easily accessable and straightforward to graft into
A bypass relay is advisable if not absolutely neccessary.
I would personally recommend a 13 pin socket.

Do a forum search on Towbar - its been discussed at length previously

[Baldricks Pilot]

I costed them up locally and found that my local Indispension oulet were the best price, even better than the 'visit you at your home and fit it' people and its a good make of bar. Only down side is that it is a swan neck bar and I cannot now fit my bike rack as that needed a mounting bolted between a traditional ball and the tow frame itself, not possible on the one I have. Didnt know what type they were going to fit when I got them to do the job.

[Romahomepete]

Towbar a doddle to fit, it took me 20 mins, I bought from the internet for about £65 including single elecs which I did not use because ours is still under warranty. The single elecs are easy to fit using a bypass relay as I have done it before on a previous Berlingo.

I had 7 plus 7 supplied and fitted by local Citroen dealer for about £200. We had a bit of a problem a few weeks after, a microswitch in the socket had stuck. Fixed in about 30 seconds.

Peter

[steve valentine]

Fitted towbar and wiring in 20 minutes? I'm impressed!

Took me about half hour to fit my towbar and around an hour to fit the wiring and relay.

[Romahomepete]

Fitted towbar not wiring, I let the dealer do the wiring

Peter

[Fletch]

I had a bad experience with the "visit you at home type company" I used. After about a year I was on a campsite near Blackpool and as I put my bike on the rack I noticed the whole tow bar dropped and I could easily wobble it about! A frightening experience when you've got to get a caravan home. Anyway, I took it steady and got home without losing anything. I found out the twit that fitted it had only bolted it onto the bumper carrier! There was 2 bars going into the car chassis that were not bolted in.
The guy that did it told me he was a time served qualified mechanic and seemed a competent chap. I usually do everything myself without exception but I couldn't buy the towbar for what they charged to supply and fit.

Lesson learned, NOBODY touches my cars now

[evdama]

I had a bad experience with the "visit you at home type company" I used. After about a year I was on a campsite near Blackpool and as I put my bike on the rack I noticed the whole tow bar dropped and I could easily wobble it about! A frightening experience when you've got to get a caravan home. Anyway, I took it steady and got home without losing anything. I found out the twit that fitted it had only bolted it onto the bumper carrier! There was 2 bars going into the car chassis that were not bolted in.
The guy that did it told me he was a time served qualified mechanic and seemed a competent chap. I usually do everything myself without exception but I couldn't buy the towbar for what they charged to supply and fit.

Lesson learned, NOBODY touches my cars now

Did you take action on this?

[Fletch]

No, I was going to send an email with photos but they didn't have an email address, which kind of says what they think of customer care.
I blame myself a bit too, I should have known better. I had a fiesta van once and the garage that sold it me fitted the towbar (a Ford dealership by the way) and the electrics were wired into the little thin boot courtesy light wire, needless to say I ended up doing it myself 6 months later when the lights failed.

[labeline]

Just looking at fitting a tow bar to our Berlingo which we have yet to collect. 59 Plate Multispace XTR. I have had three quotes from two companies. Phil Taylor Towbars £240 spliced or £320 for one with the dedicated wiring kit. Indespension £240/£215 depending on what length and spliced in or £390 for one with the dedicated wiring kit. My question is " Is it better to have the dedicated wiring kit" or is plain spliced ok? and does anyone know these companies. I think I would rather go for the dedicated loom but don't want to pay £400 for it. I will let the experts tell me whether it is worth it. What difference does it actually make?