Towbar fitting

Mrs Toast

After much deliberation (and checking with Nissan), we've decided to go for a towbar mounted bike rack. First, however, we need to get a towbar fitted to our Nissan Micra. The Nissan garage has quoted £316, which is obviously a hefty wodge of cash.

Now, I know from experience that getting work done at an official dealership would cost a lot more than getting it done at a smaller garage. However, I'm a bit wary of going to a 'non-official' garage with something like a towbar, as it's something that could potentially knacker the structural integrity of my car (and even worse, Mr Toast's Meta might fall off!) if it's not fitted correctly. I don't know how much of that is paranoia fuelled by authorised dealership propaganda though.

So, do people think that fitting a towbar is a pretty standard job that any garage can do safely, or should I stick to the dealership garage?

rudedog

any reputable garage should perfectly fine to fit a towbar.

Cps

Have a word with these http://www.towequipe.co.uk/Homepage.html they are right on you doorstep




I've used them in the past and service is excellent

ratty2k

would think that any reputable garage should be ok. If its a Nissan tow-bar then it should be even easier for them to fit...

canada16

I work in motor claims, and I get more complaints and rip offs from main dealers than we do for local garages.

Local business rely on word of mouth, and tend to do a better job.

The mechanics in nissan are no more qualified than another mechanic, they just so happen to have a brand name.

stevieboy

Do it yourself?

Fitted mine last weekend, piece of cake. I'm not a mechanic but I know how to use tools, plus i'm fine with vehicle electrics (ok, so i'm a mechanic without the certificates).

I wouldnt pay £316 for a towbar and fitting. A decent Witter can be fitted from towequipe for way less than that if your not sure of what to do. Probably a safer bet than a dealer or local independant to be honest.

Mrs Toast

canada16 wrote:

I work in motor claims, and I get more complaints and rip offs from main dealers than we do for local garages.

Local business rely on word of mouth, and tend to do a better job.

The mechanics in nissan are no more qualified than another mechanic, they just so happen to have a brand name.

Funnily enough that's always been my experience. My local Nissan dealer (not the one I actually contacted) have always been fairly useless. A year or so ago my car packed in - I could bump start it, but couldn't start it normally. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but this fairly major fault occurred less than a week after it had been recalled and worked on - they fixed the central locking, and something to do with the ignition.

They had it in for five days, and I was getting annoyed because they weren't keeping me updated. I think the last straw was when I phoned them up, and they said, "We've run it through all of the diagnostic computers, but they can't find anything wrong. We know there's something wrong though, because the car won't start."

They had to replace an entire block of electronics and the starter motor. They told me that it would cost £680 to fix, but fortunately I was one week within the three year warranty. They nearly botched that up too - the one guy said that the warranty had expired, because he misread the 'D' for diesel on the form as a 'P' for petrol.

I've always taken it to a different garage since then. who have always been very good and a damn sight cheaper. Which is fortunate, because Micras are shite. Over the past year and a half, it's...

* Been recalled twice, for issues with the central locking and ignition

* Had the aforementioned electronic problems/starter motor issues

* Had to have the entire wiper linkage replaced

* Had to have the rear wheel bearing replaced

* Had to have the EGR valve replaced (another very common with 03-07 diesel Micras and Renaults)

...which I'm all a bit bitter about, given my car is only four years old and I'm still paying finance on it as well. Never had this trouble with my Corsa. Sometimes I wonder if I'd be better off putting the towbar on the bikes and pulling the car along. -_-

Sorry, slightly sidetracked the topic with a rant!

In short, I'd much prefer to use my regular garage, but I didn't know if something like a towbar should be left to the authorised dealers who deal with Micras day in and day out. Someone I work with said that to have a towbar fitted on a Micra, they'd probably have to start cutting into the bumper, and that that an incorrectly fitted towbar could make my car dangerous and un-roadworthy. The aforementioned colleague is a bit demented though...

Do it yourself?

Fitted mine last weekend, piece of cake. I'm not a mechanic but I know how to use tools, plus i'm fine with vehicle electrics (ok, so i'm a mechanic without the certificates).

Alas, I know very little about car maintenance. I've often thought about getting the Haynes manual, but I think I'd be too scared of ballsing it up and either making my car a death trap, or making a mistake that costs loads of money to rectify.

Cheers for the Towequipe links, I'll have a look!

dave_hill

Err....surprised no-one's mentioned this but...

How about an independent towbar specialist? There are such things, just look up "towbars" on yell.com.

Failing that your local caravan dealer will be able to advise...

Ghengis

Just had a tow bar fitted to my 2007 Nissan X Trail by an independant tow bar fitter. This company was recommended to me by a neighbour and a work colleague. However when it went into the Nissan dealer for a rear bumper respray (after a sheep attack while out cycling in the Cheviots) they removed the bumper and were horrified by what they found. The towbar numpties had run the electrics through a vent in the rear quarter inside the bumper. This vent is used to equalise the air pressure in the cabin when you put the blowers on or close the doors. The vent is covered by a rubber flap to prevent the ingress of fumes from the exhaust. The routing of the cables meant that the vent was permanently open allowing poisonous fumes into the car. The Nissan dealer felt that they wouldn't be happy replacing the bumper before this was corrected. The towbar company paid the dealer for the labour to change the routing. Also they used scotch clips to connect to the wiring loom which the dealer said would invalidate the warranty. This I would dispute but they soldered it in and made a far better job than the towbar fitter. Again the towbar company covered the costs. Cheap the towbar company may have been at £170 about £200 less than Nissan but the workmanship was terrible. You pays yer money etc.....

Ghengis

While I'm on, which towbar rack are you looking at? That's why I had my towbar fitted and I can't decide which one to get. I quite fancy this Atera STRADA 3 to 4 bike carrier (UK lights) no. AR2603 from Roofbox Company but boy it's expensive. Again though you get what you pay for. Anyone got any experience of these?

Mrs Toast

We were thinking of getting the Thule 9503 Ride-on, or the Thule 946 EuroWay - not really looked into any other brands yet.

Although we generally only carry around two bikes, it'd be nice to have the option of carrying a third for our friends. We're still looking into specific racks though, we want to make sure that whatever we get can cope with the geometry of our bikes.

toasty

Indeed, a design which could carry Commencal Metas but was completely incapable of carrying Lapierre Zestys would be ideal.

nicklouse

my favourite tow bar mounted rack.

dave_hill

When my dad had a towbar fitted to his Skoda, he took it to the main dealer to have it done - they actually told him to take it to an independent fitter. The same happened with my mate's Volvo V50.

The problem isn't usually with the fitting, it's the wiring. The new 13-pin electrics don't help either, although depending on how old your car is many now come pre-wired with a socket for the towbar electrics to plug into.

If your car is under warranty, then a main delaer is obviously the best bet, but once it's out then it's horses for courses.

stevieboy

I originally bought a Thule 9502 from Skidrive but wasnt impressed with the cheapness of some of the features. I sent it back at my own cost and upgraded to the Thule 944, a much better rack. The quality is on another level and the tilt function doesnt require you to reach around the bikes.

Only £165 from skidrive too, everywhere else they are £220+

Steve

little wiser

hi i have got the thule 9503 used a couple off times and been great with two bikes on, cannot use the tilt function though as boot hits first bike but this is a known problem, do think with three bike on may be a bit fiddly (move seats etc), but over all been superb bikes dont move around into each other and easy to attach and load.
oh one more thing my rack seems to angle upwards slghtly when bolted up (90nm), also check your nose weight that is allowed to your car mine is 50 kg (also a nissan), and add 3 bikes up plus rack so you dont go over.
Hope that makes sense.

TiBoy

It sounds like your local Nissan dealer may be the same as the one my wife had the misfortune to have to deal with when her Almera had a problem (we live just outside Banbury), very poor service and would not get a car from them if they were giving them away (yes they are that rude). Sweet revenge was when a company who represented Nissan called to do a survey on our experiances, don't think it did any good as I still here bad comments about them.

deadliest

Toasty wrote:

Indeed, a design which could carry Commencal Metas but was completely incapable of carrying Lapierre Zestys would be ideal.

I presume that the debate is still ongoing ?

Im certain I read somewhere that if your wife fell off whilst testing bikes that the husband was at liberty to buy a new bike for the aforementioned partner ?

deadliest

Mrs Toast

deadliest wrote:

Toasty wrote:

Indeed, a design which could carry Commencal Metas but was completely incapable of carrying Lapierre Zestys would be ideal.

I presume that the debate is still ongoing ?

Im certain I read somewhere that if your wife fell off whilst testing bikes that the husband was at liberty to buy a new bike for the aforementioned partner ?

To be fair, he has said that he'll pay a good chunk towards a new bike for me. It's just that the Zesty is very expensive - it wouldn't be so bad if I could get the 314, but the women's one is only available in the 514. I'd happily try the 42cm bloke's 314, to see if I'd like it, but they only had it in a 46cm model at the demo days. I'm a bit cursed in that respect - I'm actually quite comfortable on bloke's bikes...if they come in a frame small enough for a 5ft 2 individual. I suppose I can't really blame them for not being in abundant supply, according to the 'How tall are you?' thread, I'm one of three people who are 5ft 2 and under. The other two are kids who are still growing.

TiBoy wrote:

It sounds like your local Nissan dealer may be the same as the one my wife had the misfortune to have to deal with when her Almera had a problem (we live just outside Banbury), very poor service and would not get a car from them if they were giving them away (yes they are that rude). Sweet revenge was when a company who represented Nissan called to do a survey on our experiances, don't think it did any good as I still here bad comments about them.

Ah, my problem was with Nissan in Warwick. To be fair, they were never really rude, just a bit...gormless. I was surveyed too a couple of weeks later, I let them know what I thought....

little wiser wrote:

also check your nose weight that is allowed to your car mine is 50 kg (also a nissan), and add 3 bikes up plus rack so you dont go over.

Cheers, hadn't actually checked that! According to Towequipe, my car has a noseweight of 75kg.