Will aftermarket hitch void warranty

west cork lad

Hi all. I have searched here for answers but only thread I found was from 2011 and it was more about the cost of hitch than warranty.
I have a 181 Octavia which has hitch preparation wiring. Skoda are quoting me €600 supply and fit. Third party quote €295 supply and fit. Skoda are saying third party hitch would void my warranty but I would not expect them to say anything different to be honest.
Would third party hitch actually void warranty?

Toyotafanboi

Technically, yes a third party modification will void your warranty.

In reality though I wouldn't worry about it, nobody will even bat an eyelid at it If you need warranty work and common sense applies too, if the car needs a turbo or a window reg how could they possibly be compromised by an aftermarket tow bar?

The only thing is if there is a lighting/ wiring issue you will be on your own with it.

mgbgt1978

The only issues I can see is Skoda trying to avoid Clutch/Gearbox Warranty problems down the line.
If you do happen to have a catastrophic Gearbox failure in a years time just get the Towbar removed before you go near your Dealer.
Or just have it out with them.....they don't manufacture Towbars, they simply use rebranded Brink, Bosal, etc.

edit; Toyotafanboi got in 1st with the wiring. In fairness, if it's wired properly when fitted there shouldn't be a problem with it later on.

CeilingFly

It can only void the warranty if the work requiring warranty claim has a connection to the third party work done.

teediddlyeye

For the sake of e300 on a 181 car I'd be inclined to go genuine tbh.

A third party kit will just be a bypass relay spliced into the rear lights and a wire run to the fuse panel.

Whereas the genuine kits on those prewired skodas have their own control unit that will recognise when a trailer is connected and change other settings on the car like deactivate the rear parking sensors and run the coolant fans more frequently as the engine will be under a heavier load etc.

a poster here a while back had a spurious one fitted and it ruined his weekend.
Be careful out there

west cork lad

teediddlyeye wrote: »

For the sake of e300 on a 181 car I'd be inclined to go genuine tbh.

A third party kit will just be a bypass relay spliced into the rear lights and a wire run to the fuse panel.

Whereas the genuine kits on those prewired skodas have their own control unit that will recognise when a trailer is connected and change other settings on the car like deactivate the rear parking sensors and run the coolant fans more frequently as the engine will be under a heavier load etc.

I am leaning this way to be honest. I rang Skoda this morning and of course the sales man I bought from has left. The other salesman said they would do something on the price as I bought car from them. I might wait until next service and do the lot then.


Many thanks for all the reply’s.

THEDONWALDO

OP, there is also a code that the dealer gets from the ETKA Parts Catalogue that must be entered when the OE towbar is fitted.

kirving

I would think too that once the car recognises that a trailer is attached, the Stability Control will be adjusted to account for it. Not sure if you have to specify trailer stability assist on a Skoda, but I imagine it's just a software setting that's enabled by the dealer at most.

Also, if you end up cutting a wire or damaging the trailer side harness, the OEM system should prevent and further damage to the car.

darragh o meara

Sorry to drag this up 3 weeks later. In regards to 3rd party hitches and wiring. You can get vehicle specific wiring harnesses from most installers bit they do cost a bit extra. I just got a hitch fitted by McCabe towbars and it included a plug and play canbus controlled wiring harnesses specific to my car which does everything the OEM one does ie. Bulb failure monitoring on trailer, deactivates rear parking sensors, changes braking characteristics of the car etc.. The harnesses was a plug and play unit and didn't involve hacking into the cars loom. On a brand new car it's a no brainer to spend the extra few quid for this type of wiring.

In my case, I wanted the car to stay original and not have a load of scotch loks hanging off the wiring loom.

Hebegeebee

To the Op - look up Westfalia towbar, they’re an OEM for VW AG. You can get them with or without control modules specific for your car (which I don’t think you need with the prep kit on the car) and wiring harness. This is easy to fit but will need to be coded to the car by either a dealer or someone with VCDS. It’s cheaper than going to the dealer but is still an original fit with no cowboy connection methods.