Anyone got dealer fitted towbar?

[Mamil]

I've just had the dealer fit the Landrover approved towbar to my Discovery Sport, but was disappointed to see the gaping hole left in the underbody panels with raw cut plastic edges, which apart from being real ugly, must let in the dust/grit/water.
At very least I'd have thought they could have cut a smaller hole - about half the size would have done it! But, considering the attention to design details and styling that goes into this car I'd actually have expected some kind of cover for the hole to come from Landrover with the towbar kit.
Has anyone else had a dealer fitted towbar, and would you mind taking a picture and posting it here so I can compare with mine?
Thanks.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/679.jpg

[Mamil]

Well, my dealer says it's 'normal', but I still think it's disappointing.
I'd still be interested to see if anyone else who has the Landrover towbar looks the same, and also be interested to see whether 3rd party fitters like Hayman Reese do a better job. So pictures please....

[AXB]

Ummm, that does not look great... I had mine fitted with a towbar by my dealer and (although I'm not in front of my car at the moment), I'm pretty sure it does NOT look like that. When I leave work today, I'll take a photo of mine and post if up for you.

[Mamil]

Thanks AXB, that would be a help...

[Mamil]

Ummm, that does not look great... I had mine fitted with a towbar by my dealer and (although I'm not in front of my car at the moment), I'm pretty sure it does NOT look like that. When I leave work today, I'll take a photo of mine and post if up for you.

Hi AXB, any chance of that photo, as my dealer is looking at mine next week and it'd be good to know if there's a better way of doing it. Thanks.

[Mamil]

Well the dealer checked it out and says that the size of hole is what LandRover asks them to cut when fitting a towbar. I tend to believe them about this because since posting the original query on here I've taken the opportunity of looking at the cutout on every DS I can find, including quite a few on the web in UK & US, and they are all the same. Except the 7 seater because the towbar sticks out the back rather than underneath due to the position of the spare wheel, so has an extra cover over it.

The dealer did, however, agree that the light grey cut edges of the plastic didn't look good, so have painted them black to match the rest of the plastic trim.

So, here's a couple of pictures....

Before...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/679.jpg


After...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/680.jpg


A slight improvement, and TBH there's not much more the dealer can do as this is how LandRover tell them to do it. I do think LandRover should come up with a better solution for fitting the tow bar though!

[Larry]

I saw this one today, not sure if it's the same tow bar, but this looks a lot neater (in my eyes at least).:D

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Thats a big muffler!:o

[Mamil]

I saw this one today, not sure if it's the same tow bar, but this looks a lot neater (in my eyes at least).:D

Hi Pedro, yes that's the arrangement for the 7 seater. They have to put the cover on because the spare wheel is in the way of fitting the tow bar (and the muffler too!), so the tow bar sticks out the back past the bumper! In the 5 seater version the tow bar and electrics are nicely tucked underneath, and the spare wheel is hidden, but the hole in the underbody is ugly. So, swings and roundabouts really...

[Mamil]

Thats a big muffler!:o

I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you for noticing :D

[LRD414]

Perhaps you could retrofit a 7-seat cover to yours. May need some modification but would be a much smaller hole.

Cheers,
Scott

[Mamil]

Perhaps you could retrofit a 7-seat cover to yours. May need some modification but would be a much smaller hole.

Cheers,
Scott

Good thought, but unfortunately it wouldn't work. The cover on the seven seater actually bolts on the back of the bumper, replacing the valence. On the five seater the valence stays and the tow bar is mounted below and further forward of it.

It's all about making room in the back for the extra seats. So where the five seater spare is in a well inside the boot, the seven seater one is slung underneath exposed to the elements. Also the five seater has a single transverse muffler feeding both tail pipes, whereas the seven seater has dual in-line mufflers to give room for the spare to sit between them. Unfortunately all this leaves little room for the tow bar on the seven seater so it's basically bolted on the back and hence the need for the cover! The five seater is actually a neater solution overall, but I wish they'd just finished the job and put a cover over that hole!

[SBD4]

Bugger that! Get a new panel and get it done to your liking. A nice stainless steel one is only 179GBP, the plastic ones should be cheaper:

Discovery Sport Exterior Accessories (http://duckworthparts.co.uk/landrover/copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_Discovery_Sport_Ex terior_Styling.html)

Now the hardware is in place the cosmetics should be easy to sort out.

[Mamil]

Bugger that! Get a new panel and get it done to your liking. A nice stainless steel one is only 179GBP, the plastic ones should be cheaper:

Discovery Sport Exterior Accessories (http://duckworthparts.co.uk/landrover/copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_copy_of_Discovery_Sport_Ex terior_Styling.html)

Now the hardware is in place the cosmetics should be easy to sort out.

It's not the clip on 'undershield' that's the issue - that doesn't need to be cut. It's the hole they've cut in the black plastic 'undertray' that's in front and below it. Not quite as easy or cheap to replace, although I'm sure it could be done, but requires taking the exhaust system off for a start!

In fact I've just found a thread on a UK forum where a guy has posted step by step photos of him fitting his own tow bar. He cut the bare minimum sized hole in the undertray - just enough for the tow hitch and light plug to stick through. Here's his picture of what it looks like...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/407.jpg

And to make it obvious what the difference is, here's that same photo with his cutout outlined in yellow, and the size of hole LandRover made in my car in red. I'm not saying that guy's cutout is pretty - it could still do with some kind of cover, but just goes to show LandRover didn't need to make such a large hole in mine!

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/408.jpg

Anyway, as time goes on I'm learning to live with my ugly rear end :D

[SBD4]

ah OK sorry, that's a very different story. I wonder if some kind of custom cover could be made up. I guess something like that really would be your only other course of action.

I've been considering adding a hitch to my RRS2 and would be very unhappy if the result is similar yours. I haven't looked in to it fully yet but have the expectation that the hitch can bee removed so that the rear end can be reverted to the original appearance when not in use just like on my previous D4. I'm sure that I am misguided in my assumption.

Your experience has wised me up to make sure I stipulate my expectations if I decide to go ahead.

The DS is a nice car and yours should not have been marred in such a way. I hope you find a way to resolve to problem, Good luck!

[Tombie]

Just paint the spare wheel compartment underneath with a satin black spray can and the shadow will make it disappear...

It looks much more obvious on a light vehicle than a darker one.

[Mamil]

I've been considering adding a hitch to my RRS2 and would be very unhappy if the result is similar yours. I haven't looked in to it fully yet but have the expectation that the hitch can bee removed so that the rear end can be reverted to the original appearance when not in use just like on my previous D4.

Hi SBD4, from what I've seen the DS is definitely the worst looking towbar of all the Landrover models, and the others have much better solutions. But still, I wouldn't take anything for granted, and I'd definitely ask to see what it's going to look like finished before you let the dealer near your nice shiny car with a jigsaw!


Just paint the spare wheel compartment underneath with a satin black spray can and the shadow will make it disappear...

It looks much more obvious on a light vehicle than a darker one.

Hi Tombie, yes I agree, and in fact I'd already thought about painting everything inside there with that bituminised car under body sealant - partly to make it disappear as you suggest, but also to protect it from the grit & spray that will now get in there!

To be fair, I should also point out that my photos above do exaggerate the ugliness of it as they're taken from a very low vantage point looking up. To redress the balance here's a picture of mine from eye-level, and you can see that it's not too bad, and in fact better than many cars with exposed underbody/exhaust/spare wheels etc. It's just that with all the thought that's gone into the design and aesthetics of this car I kinda expected a better solution from LandRover.

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2016/08/342.jpg

[Tombie]

Grit would have got behind it even solid. You'd be amazed what's under a bumper after a trip or 2. Now you can hose it out easily which is actually a bonus.

As for neat - see the mounts - only option would have been pulling rear off vehicle - not a good thing on a brand new vehicle...

The cut is neat and symmetrical.. doesn't look bad at all..

Wait until the Pedestrian plastic on the bonnet has seen a couple of Aussie summers (less likely if kept garaged) [emoji6]

[Mamil]

Wait until the Pedestrian plastic on the bonnet has seen a couple of Aussie summers (less likely if kept garaged) [emoji6]

:D Yes, that had crossed my mind...

All that black plastic trim round the wheel arches and sills doesn't age well in our sun either! Have you seen the state of some of those early RAV 4s :o