V50 Electrics : V50 towing electrics

[JIM C]

Best of luck and keep us posted.
Thanks

[Clan]

i think it is about 1.3 hours to do the electrics inc Software when doing the towbar , but you have done all the work , an hour should cover it surely so around £160 ish ??... what are they charging an hour ? there is the dreaded VAT of course ..

[fitfurnowt]

I don't know what the hourly rate is but I'll be cheeky and ask when I ring round.

[fitfurnowt]

I've spoken to two more dealers today to get prices.
The first I spoke to wanted
£68.30 for the trailer module to which they would fit the wires from my trailer socket (routed into the car).
£22 for 3 software updates.
£65 fitting including the time for updating the software.
All + VAT
Total = £182.47
I'm expecting the labour to come out a bit over what they quoted as they said it takes 40 mins to load the software and £65 total sounds a bit cheap.

The second dealer said that they would only fit both the electrics and the towbar, they would not fit the electrics on thier own. For that they would charge £425, don't know if that included VAT.

Which makes me wonder how the first dealer arrived at their price of £370 for fitting the electrics only.

I also spoke to a well regarded independent auto electrician in my home town. He said they could fit the aftermarket relay and would solder the wires in place, though they would always recommend using a dedicated unit. The risk of knackering the system isn't worth it. He also mentioned the warranty and was quite happy for me to get Volvo to do it. (Ken Ward, Clitheroe, thanks for your honesty)

So I've booked the car in at the first dealers. Lets see how I get on. Thanks once again to all those who have posted.

[JIM C]

Good news, glad its all sorted out.

[Clan]

excellent , my guestimate wasnt far out

[John Cone]

Hi Guys, new to this site. With reference to the Volvo V50 trailer electrics. I have just plugged my trailer in and i have no rear lights on the trailer. If i plug the trailer into my Ford Focus it's fine. On the Volvo i have indicators, fog lamp and reversing lamp. The only thing that has happened since i last used the Volvo to tow the trailer is that i have had a new battery fitted, would this cause a problem regarding software please? Fuse F14 trailer supply is fine.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by John Cone

Hi Guys, new to this site. With reference to the Volvo V50 trailer electrics. I have just plugged my trailer in and i have no rear lights on the trailer. If i plug the trailer into my Ford Focus it's fine. On the Volvo i have indicators, fog lamp and reversing lamp. The only thing that has happened since i last used the Volvo to tow the trailer is that i have had a new battery fitted, would this cause a problem regarding software please? Fuse F14 trailer supply is fine.

No, changing the battery wouldn't affect anything , The towing module has been around since 2004 and never known of a faulty one . Has it ever worked in your possession? It is possible someone has fitted it and not taken it to volvo for the towbar software .

[imjohnson]

I have had similar. I have actually fitted two of these units to two different cars (both D3's). Both cases I fitted the tow bar and genuine electrics and got the software loaded by my Volvo dealer.

The first one worked perfectly until the cars demise. The second one worked fine for about 12 months then "lost" its programming. We went off with the caravan for a weekend and the first day was fine. When hitching up for the second day there were no lights at all, tested car and caravan and decided the car was at fault so had to leave caravan behind to be collected later. Took the car back to Volvo who loaded the software again and have had no further problems in the 2 years since, though not been able to test it this year yet!

[John Cone]

It was fitted by my Volvo dealer when i bought the car. As i said before it has been working fine until earlier today when i plugged it in and no side lights.