Aftermarket towbar
 

Recommended or not?

All being well I collect a 3 month old XC60 next week. Ideally I'd like a towbar fitted, however I am a little wary of aftermarket fits.

Is it an easy fit to a prepared chassis and electrics, or is there much drilling and wire cutting required?

TIA

Proprietary towbars bought from a reputable manufacturer will be designed to fit the built in mounting points, and should not require any drilling or cutting of the car body; you will, however, most likely need to cut the bumper cover.
As for wiring, I would strongly recommend using a Volvo wiring kit, which simply plugs into the existing wiring harness and do not require any joining or splicing of wires. Modern wiring is so complex that modifying the harness in any way is not advisable.
You may also need to visit your dealer to have a software update.

Thanks, so all things being equal, probably better off to grin and suffer the cost of a dealership fitting it? The additional cost providing some comfort.:teeth_smile:

I will be undertaking a similar endeavour when my V90 arrives in March. My previous 2 cars (of VW/Audi group flavours) have had aftermarket towbars fitted without any issues. I will echo what others have side and opt for the manufactrure specific wiring harness rather than a generic one. This will allow the car to recognise when a trailer is attached and alter the parameters of the various safety systems accordingly. The towbar installers were able to perform the software modifications on my previous cars. I dont see why it would be any different with Volvo's.

I should say that I probably am going to get Volvo to fit it as I quite like the ease of deployment retraction of the OEM setup.

Unlike VAG cars, for the Volvo software to be updated the car has to be connected to the Volvo servers in Gothenburg; whilst you don't have to get this done at a main dealer, there are very few places outside of the dealer network that have the live Vida access required to make this happen. The licensing cost is not inconsiderable, so I doubt that it would be cost-effective for anyone other than main dealers and Volvo specialist independents to pay the costs involved. As a result, I suspect that the only options are as mentioned above - I can't see any towbar fitters having the access sadly. :(

I am thinking of a tow bar too. The volvo dealer where I am is family run and workmanship has been spot on for previous tasks, so I am inclined to go with the dealer. Appreciate it may be a little more, but if anything is not right, I know they'll do all they can to help.

Can I ask who you use in Edinburgh as I found the old Volvo dealer John Martin Group to be pi55 poor and they have now lost the franchise. It has now been taken on by the John Clark Group. Having bought two cars from two different John Clark outlets both turned out to be a letdown.

I have dealt with Cleland Volvo in Galashiels, for a Volvo select purchase and servicing and I can’t recommend them enough. Very helpful, competent and efficient. Not exactly on your doorstep but worth considering.

Terry.

I agree totally; I have been dealing with Clelands for over 24 years and have always been treated with respect and courtesy.
At almost 60 miles away, they are twice as far as our nearest main dealer, but the service they offer is worth the extra distance.

Most. Olvo tow bars (for the previous shape xc’s at least) are made by brink, buying a bring towbar is buying a Volvo one (well buying a Volvo one is buying a brink) but genuine electrics dealer fitted every time other wise warranty could be out the window and assuming an auto box there is a towing mode iirc enabled when load detected.