Tow blow

Jun 7 2009 by Ian Robson, Sunday Sun

A ROW has broken out over a car tow bar fitted more than five years ago.

Fitting was arranged by the dealership where Mike Smith bought his Skoda Fabia vRS in 2004.

But he was recently pulled over by police and taken to a weighbridge, where he was told the car was not approved for towing.

That’s when he asked for my help in the dispute.

He is now in negotiation with the dealership to resolve the problem.

Mike told me the tow bar was fitted by sub-contractors on behalf of the previous owners of Silbury Skoda, Cramlington, Northumberland, to clinch a deal on the £12,000 car.

Mike, a retired teacher, said: “I was looking for a car with a tow bar for my retirement because my hobby is kit cars and I needed to tow a trailer.

“I liked the Skoda Fabia vRS, but there was no tow bar as standard.

“At one point I was not going to buy it but they found someone to fit a tow bar, so I decided to go ahead with the deal.”

There followed many years of happy motoring as Mike, now 65, indulged his hobby.

All that came to a stop when he was pulled over and taken to the weighbridge.

He said: “They said the car was not type-approved for towing. They said I was within the spirit of the law if not the letter because the model below mine is approved.

“They decided not to prosecute, but I can’t use the car for towing anymore.

“As I see it, the garage was responsible for creating this situation and they are responsible for putting it right.”

Mike, formerly of Whitley Bay, North Tyneside, moved to Wiltshire on his retirement.

He wants to be put in the position of having a car which can legally pull a trailer.

I wanted to speak to both Skoda and the dealership but, first, I investigated what internet discussion forums said about the Skoda Fabia vRS.

One said: “The vRS is not type-approved for a tow bar. Not that it stops people fitting them.”

Another said: “Yep, you’re right.

“ If you check the V5, the registration document, you will see there are no weights in the towable mass section.”

A spokeswoman for Skoda said the case was a mystery. She said: “The problem we have is that we have never authorised a tow bar to be fitted to this model.

“It’s a sporty model not in production at the moment, although there will be a new version next year.”

Silbury Skoda was owned at the time by North East dealership Colebrook and Burgess.

When I first spoke to Colebrook and Burgess managing director Andrew Maidwell, he said he was looking into the complaint.

He said: “Mr Smith is referring to something that happened years ago and I need extra information before I can comment.

“We will make sure the matter is resolved, but I just need time to put the facts together.”

It was later confirmed that the tow bar was fitted by sub-contractors on behalf of the dealership.

At the time of writing, Andrew and Mike are talking it through with both parties hopeful of an agreement.