C3 Pluriel Towbar Fitting

[lupin]

I need to fit a towbar to my newish C3 Pluriel - just for pulling my little two-wheel Erde trailer around taking garden refuse to the local tip. My local Citroen dealer quoted about £450 for fitting a basic towbar with single electrics, which seems a trifle excessive. Even a towbar fitting specialist in the local paper wants about £350 for the job. By contrast, I can buy a C3 Pluriel towbar kit on the internet for only £125 including single electrics fitting kit, which uses existing holes in the chassis/floor, and doesn't require any cutting. I'm perfectly happy about bolting the thing on, but a little apprehensive about tapping into the car's wiring system to wire-up the electrics. Apparently a "multiplex" wiring kit can be supplied with the towbar for an extra fifty quid, which is supposed to be a much safer solution than the standard wiring kit for modern cars with computer controlled electrical systems.

Does anyone have any experience of towbar fitting, and how easy it is to connect up the electrics? Is the multiplex kit worth the extra money? Will DIY fitting of a towbar it invalidate my warranty? All comments welcome.

[ham's c4vts]

i had a demountable tow bar fitted to my c4 vts, which cost around £450 from my citroen dealer, as the car was brand new and thought if the knacker anything then they sort it. try a different citroen dealer as i found my local one was around £100 dearer then the one in the next town!

i could of got one off net and fitted it myself, but if i fitted electrics my self then i ran the risk of damaging electrical item.

why not fit the bar and take it to have the electrics fitted, you'll save a bit of cash doing that. :D

[Johndouglas]

I've been fitting my own towbars for thirty years and I recently fitted one to my C5. It was the easiest I've ever done because all new bars have now got to conform to an EU standard by using built in mounting points. Any of the producers of towbars supply full fitting instructions and the job can be completed in a few hours. It helps to put the rear end of the car on ramps. Whilst the fitting of the towbar has become easier, the electrical side has become more complicated because of multiplexing. Use a Smart 7 bypass relay, taking the feed directly from the battery with an inline fuse.