Touareg R Line - fitting tow bar - need help

When producing the T3/T4 variant VW went through an exercise of cost cutting on just about every aspect of the car. This included downgrading the cooling fan to the 650W variant unless you bought the towbar option in which case they fitted the 800W fan as part of the option. They even changed the hub design by machining off the centring ring to 'save weight' and then need to produce a whole new wheel fitting procedure to make sure the wheels are centred properly when refitting them!!

Well done with that one. My handbook states 'the cooling system may need to be upgraded' and unfortunately I had taken delivery of my car before I discovered just what that phrase really meant. I tried the same argument with my dealer after I found out and all I got was basically a 'tough, though you can swap it for another if you're not happy with it'.

I even uncovered a letter from VW customer service to another owner stating they did not need to upgrade the fan. I sent a copy of this to VW customer service who simply said I had to upgrade mine to retain the warranty.