The dealer told me that adding a tow bar is a modification that requires a fresh MFK
In the vehicle's registration certificate, box 31, the towing capacity, it just has ****** instead of a number so I assume they will give me a new certificate with the correct value for the vehicle (2000kg) after the MFK
The dealer specifically told me that I should have the fitting done by a garage in Switzerland, he thinks I will have problems with the MFK if somebody does it in another country. Does anybody know what this means in practice? Do I have to present a copy of the receipt or engineer's certificate or anything else for the MFK?
He told me I can choose any after-market tow kit for the vehicle, I can buy it anywhere and bring it to him and the the labour is about CHF 400. I suspect the same job in Germany or France is less than half that price. It is about 2-3 hours work for somebody who knows the vehicle well.
No its just another attempt to trick expats into Swiss rip offs for garage work. I had mine fitted in the UK and then got it controlled out here after. No one asked for Any paperwork . All they did was test the strength of the tow bar And look underneath the vehicle took about 20 minutes.
My experience (Vaud) was similar - but even quicker, less than 10 mins in and out!
I bought the OEM after market kit. When I went to the test station I showed that I purchased an OEM part (in Germany).
The tester quickly looked at the fitting (a simple bolt and plug job) and then just re-issued the carte gris with the new details included (payment slip follows of course!)
I've messages a dealer in Zurich (RRG) several times over the last year, and basically never got a quote from them.
At one point, I was asked to bring the car in "so they could see it"; which is when I gave up.
At the same time, I started using a dealer in Germany to service the car, so wasn't so keen to have them fit the towbar as I want the garage that does it to deal with the paperwork as well.
Certain more recent models (Audi, BMW, Volvo) require a software update to the car's electronic system when you add a towbar which means a dealer installation is required.
Our Volvo XC60 upgrade was just over Fr 1k and they took care of the MFK / expertise.
They bought the parts, made the install, and handled the paperwork to get a new fahrzeugausweiss (car id doc) with the update info. The workshop is organized and clean. Even if I knew nothing about the place before...it looks like they know what they're doing. So far, 1 year of using the towbar to carry my bike, no rattles...yet
Also got a 20% discount on Thule products. Cheaper than online shops.
About modifications to the car software, they void the warranty. The parking sensors go wild when I go on reverse, but car still has warranty
Could it be related to the tongue weight of the trailer? This is the weight the trailer imposes on the car. US English, don't know if the bar that connects the trailer to the car has another name in other varieties of English
Let's assume 15% of 690kg are on the tongue of the trailer. That's already 103.5 kg. What's the weight (vertical load capacity) of the tow bar on your car? Maybe that vertical load capacity is what limits the capacity of the car. Regardless of trailer having brakes or not.
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Another issue is brake controlling units. That's a piece of hardware that communicates with your car computer, process some data and sends electrical signals to the trailer. Usually, this is aftermarket equipment unless it's a vehicle sold for towing. If the brake controller was not installed, there's no way the trailer gets the electrical input to activate its brakes.