Tow Bar for the Tiguan

**Colonel** · 03-01-2018, 10:17 AM

I have recently taken delivery of my MY18 140TDI RLine with a factory fitted tow bar. Unfortunately Pin 2 of the 7 Pin connector is not connected or not coded through the ECU.

Can anybody tell me if it is possible to use Pin 2 (Reversing lights) via the ECU or has it simply not been wired from the ECU to the connector correctly.

**Regdop** · 05-03-2017, 11:40 AM

Just Thought Id way in on this discussion.... I got an OEM towbar fitted prior to delivery, it took a couple of days for the techs to get the coding right, but we got there in the end. I have included closeups so you can see how well it was fitted.... yes thet did cut a small section out, but from the photos I think you'll agree it looks pretty good. The last shot is looking up from the ground. Unfortunately I cant tell you what I paid for it as I bought it as part of my lease. I didnt get an itemised quote but went with a total of $56.5K which was ordered back in September.... Ive had it since Tuesday this week. I will write up some of my initial thoughts in the "....my experience so far" thread.
Cheers
Gary

**ewok666** · 08-03-2017, 01:47 PM

I've been told that the swivel tow bar was actually not legal in Australia. Not sure whether this is the VW specific one or swivel tow bars in general. Anyone got any information on this?

**marcuskmt** · 11-04-2017, 07:18 AM

Originally Posted by ewok666

I've been told that the swivel tow bar was actually not legal in Australia. Not sure whether this is the VW specific one or swivel tow bars in general. Anyone got any information on this?

Anyone know the answer to this?

**Gladbach** · 11-04-2017, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by marcuskmt

Anyone know the answer to this?

I heard the same thing but I haven't read anything officially confirming that it's the case. My understanding is that it doesn't meet Australian Standards. Australian standards are pretty strict, a lot more conservative to Europe.

**IsDon** · 11-04-2017, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by Gladbach

I heard the same thing but I haven't read anything officially confirming that it's the case. My understanding is that it doesn't meet Australian Standards. Australian standards are pretty strict, a lot more conservative to Europe.

Half correct.

First part correct. The reason we aren't allowed to fit the retractable towbar is because the Australian Standards Association say we can't.

Second part incorrect. Australian standards aren't necessarily strict, they're just different. The reason for them being different is to keep this worthless bureaucratic organisation alive. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a government body. It is a private company. It gets oxygen through bureaucratic delay.

Purporting to be the overseer of Standards, it's actually just a self perpetuating impediment to common sense that we are all paying for through increased red tape. By dictating a different standard than the rest of the planet we pay more for everything we buy, and are refused access to better designed and more practical solutions, not because they're unsafe, but because the ASA hasn't gotten around to testing it yet. To just sign off on something engineered in Germany would show the country that they are actually irrelevant.

This tow bar is just one example. Isofix car seats are another glaring example. The rest of the world has had Isofix car seats available to them since 1997. They are a vastly better car seat. ISO stands for International Standards Organisation (loosely). You would think anything that has been deemed to comply with an international standard would be ok here. Not so.

Up until very recently, last couple of years, it has been illegal to fit an Isofix car seat. If you did, and a copper saw it, you could be fined. Worse still, if your child was injured in an Isofix car seat, they would not be third party insured. Instead we were forced to feed seat belts through the back of the ASA approved seat, sometimes propping them up on towels to cater for the design of the seat itself. It was so convoluted that it was common knowledge a majority of these seats were fitted incorrectly. How many children's lives have been lost through this is undetermined.

Now you would think the ASA would just test Isofix seats and then give them the tick, not so, that would be too easy and open them up to criticism as to why it had taken them so long to get off their bloated arses and approve a better seat. Instead they mandated that Isofix seats were approved, as long as they also had a top tether. Small problem, no other country had adopted this standard and there were actually no seats sold on the planet that met this standard. The seat manufacturers had to tool up to produce these seats specifically designed to meet the Australian Standard. You can buy them now, finally, but you pay a huge premium for them. As a result most parents fit inferior seats because they can't afford to pay for these niche market seats. It's a travesty.

**ewok666** · 08-03-2017, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Regdop

Unfortunately I cant tell you what I paid for it as I bought it as part of my lease. I didnt get an itemised quote but went with a total of $56.5K which was ordered back in September...

Gary

Is that a price that includes the Sunroof, DAP and R-Line?