[gej]

I took delivery of my Q5 SE 2.0 TDI last month, last week I phoned around both dealers and specialists to try to get a feeling for the cost of acquiring and fitting a tow bar. My first call was to a specialist as it seemed to me a relatively easy task to buy and fit myself and I knew when I ordered the car that the Audi tow bar would be around ?600 according to the brochure.

The specialist told me that although he would happily supply me with a tow bar kit, I should ring a main dealer because "in the trade" it was common knowledge that my spec of car required cooling modifications to the engine in order that a tow bar could be fitted and fully warranted by Audi. This seemed strange to me and a throwback to 10-20 years ago and old engine technology, oil coolers and Kenlowe fans etc.

I subsequently rang a main dealer and was horrified to learn that to fit a towbar to my car would cost ?2400. They told me that all the parts are itemised and costed on the Audi website, I subsequently have looked but cannot find anything.

So, to sum up, in order to get a tow bar fitted to my Q5 under an Audi warranty it seems that quite significant modifications are required to the engine, apparently this is also true of A4's fitted with this engine according to the specialist I spoke to.

Has anybody else had this same experience? Does AUDI expect to sell tow bars at this price? Has anybody else seen the information on the Audi website which itemises and costs out the kit of parts for this task as referred to me by the dealer?

Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[rob_c]

Thats unbelievable.

I was actually in my local dealership yesterday looking at a 2.0tdi se and would have bought it had the price to change been what I was expecting and having a tow bar fitted would have been my first job.The sales guy knew how important a tow bar was to me and when talking about it mentioned nothing about this,maybe he knew nothing or chose to know nothing to hopefully get a sale!.
This news has made my decision about purchasing a used Q5 much easier, guess I will be waiting for a while now until a used vehicle comes up with a factory fitted bar already installed.

 

[SIMONRICH]

Try this ??

e-bay item 380110567601

 

[gej]

Yes, the bar can be purchased, the issue is that when you ask Audi (I wouldnt have bothered if the guy at the tow bar specialist had not told me) they are effectively saying that other mods have to be completed before the bar is fitted to maintain the warranty, and the cost is just off the planet.

I guess nobody would be the wiser if you had no incidents, but if you did it could end up being pretty expensive and you would have no leg to stand on. The guy at the specialist was probably doing his duty and warning me in case of any comebacks on him.

For me, I feel strongly about the fact that I should have to pay for what could be a design issue. As I couldnt find anything on the web I wondered if anyone else had had a bar fitted and was aware of the schedule of work that had to take place?

 

[Kaine]

gej

welcome to the forum. Seems a crazy situation with the towbar - can you find any reference to this within the manual?

Kaine

 

[kaygee]

Hi

The ?2400 quoted is correct- a friend of mine owns a car mod shop here in Cheltenham and does all towbars for the local Audi dealerships- he had a Q5 to do last week, but couldn't as once Audi told their client the price, they immediately cancelled the job.

I wanted one on my Q5, but once i got the price, i also decided against it.

Not sure what Audi are playing at.

Cheers

Karl

 

[lostemple]

Here in the States it is roughly 800 US for a Audi tow hitch. One of the Q5 selling points in the States is it's 4400 lbs towing capacity.

Is the tow hitch and your tow bar the same? If so could it be the smaller engine that requires the expensive upgrade? If you purchased the 3.0 TDI or the 3.2 gas engine would just the tow hitch be your only expense?