Audi A7 tow bar issues

This story happened on: 23/07/2012

I have just taken delivery of a brand new A7 sportback. After discovering Audi wanted £2500 for an Audi tow bar I decided to go to Indespension and get them to fit it at a far reduced cost. I have used then a number of times and trust them. The bar they have quoted is a Witter with a 13 pin socket. They told me that I may need to take it back to Audi to get the rear park sensor programmed and some other stuff... I have now talked directly to my Audi dealer who have now informed me that the re-programming will take 3 1/2 hours at a cost of £395. I am furious and am now going to take my pride and joy to an Audi specialist rather than a dealer.... This to me must be getting close to Audi breaking competition laws and abuse of their dominant position..... Reading various forums this seems to be a common problem with Audi. Perhaps some pressure needs to be applied....

alphapete commented on 23/07/2012 22:02

Commented on 23/07/2012 22:02

This might be a warning ! check the price of the tow bar before ordering your new car.

HighFlyer commented on 07/08/2012 20:39

Commented on 07/08/2012 20:39

Hello, I had a similar experienc. With my Q7 in 2008. Audi wanted nearly 4k!

I had a local guy fit a detachable for about £800, not had any problems. However he didn't do the parking sensors. No big deal just ignore them ( you can manually turn the volume down and also reduce thea frequency of the alerts in the MMI) you may also have a dash button to turn them off.

 

A couple of weeks ago I went to a different independent tow bar fitter (I moved house since fitment) with a couple of questions, he asked me if the senshad system had been set up for towing, I said no. In the space of 4 mins he plugged in a tool no bigger than a mobile phone into the diagnostic port( under the steering column) selected about 6 options from drop down menus and hey presto, when I plug the electrics from what I'm towing into the motor, towing mode stability programautomatically activates andparking sensors deactivate at the rear.

I gave him 10 quid for his "trouble". 

 

There is a reason those dealerships/service departments look so flashy! 

Audi arfulfilling you with the sloppy stuff from the non pointy end of a bull! 

If you have any other questions/issues re Audi or VW give me a shout, I've learnt the hard way with a couple of things 

Otherwise all the best, they are good motors

kingslash commented on 25/06/2017 10:26

Commented on 25/06/2017 10:26

Hi Ive recently had a detachable one fitted £500 from northwest tow bars ,fantasy company ,I'm just wondering if I'll have any problems pulling my twin axle 😬Hope not ,has anyone with an a7 pulled 1 ?

thanks 

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