malagaman

If I have a towbar fitted, complete with a homologation certificate, do I have to take it to the ITV centre straightaway for approval or can I just wait until the ITV is next due ?
Thanks.

fionamw

Hopefully someone'll tell you the correct legal position, but I found that I was misadvised regarding the towbar, side bars & capota (pickup hardcab thingy) on my vehicle. You mention approval. Make double sure what you get has ALL its paperwork for PRECISELY the model fitted and that that model is appropriate for your vehicle. I bought the vehicle new, had the bits attached, (main dealer so in theory no probs) & was told it was aok though at ITV it would need ok'ing.... fast forward January when the first ITV due. Took the paperwork in but they turned it away, I had to go back to the dealership, get absolute finest detail, size, spec, max towing weight of towbar etc. Then after two visits & countless minutes waiting, they added it to the matricula (actually typed in & printed on the matricula cert) & everything was now correct. HOWEVER whether I'd have been in bother had I been stopped by the police in the intervening two years, well...........
good luck

malagaman

Thanks for that. This is the problem I find that there are so many differing views on vehicles, ITV etc and as you found even the dealers get it wrong!
On my last vehicle which I bought from a dealer, I had a 'A' bar fitted by him and at my next ITV I just presented the paperwork and they too typed the details onto the reg document and nothing was said but, like you, who knows what would have happened in the interim period.
The really annoying thing is that it's such a simple job to fit a towbar but you have to have it fitted by an 'expert' over here and subsequently pay through the nose, and then, apparently, pay extra road tax for the privilege!!

Fred James

I had a similar situation with bullbars fitted to our 4x4. they were fitted by the dealer when the car was new.

At the last ITV they resulted in a failure as the law apparently changed about 2 years ago. The guy at the ITV was extremely helpful and even rang the dealer to advise him that we would be visiting him. We went to the dealer, he took photos of the installation, sent them off to the manufacturer in Madrid. A week later he received a formal certificate from them and gave us another certificate signed by himself to confirm that they had been properly fitted.

The total cost was €50 and another visit to the ITV station resulted in pass and the details were entered onto the Ficha Tecnica.

scampicat

Our car failed it's matriculation ITV because we had no 'papers' for the towbar which had been fitted in the factory by Seat eight years before.

So we had the towbar professionally removed.

Then the car failed because we hadn't got any papers to say it had been professionally removed.

malagaman

Doesn't that just about sum this place up.

poolboy

yes the ITV update your ficha tecnica for about 5e. They don´t even inspect the work just update the papers when you present the towbars´s papers.

I bet without the update you aren´t insured to tow as insurance companies will say it is not fully legal.

For 5e or so I´d do it all properly then if you are ever stopped you are ok.

Cats-R-Us

We had a tow bar fitted to our 4x4 when we bought it (Jan 2008 - it was a free gift incentive). We took all the fitting documents to our local ITV station a couple of days after we got the vehicle. They examined it to ensure the electrics all worked properly. Entered the info on our car documents and charged us 29.38 euros. Can't remember now but the strange figure is probably due to IVA being added.

fionamw

I get the distinct feeling all ITV stations work to their own rules/agenda. My towbar wasn't checked for electrics, merely the underside for I suppose security of how it had been fitted. They didn't charge me for adding the towbar/capota/etc to the ficha. They didn't charge me for the initial fail followed up by minor check ITV re the extras. The main dealership was gobsmacked they even queried the original paperwork I had submitted - said the ITV stations Malaga & ?somewhere else nearby? Had had loads of similar vehicle owners, same scenario, no probs - I went to Antequera & was (apparently) the first to encounter difficulties.
However valid point about insurance potentially not being honoured if the paperwork isn't up to scratch from the outset. Wish I'd known, just glad I didn't have to test the theory

Nige

A tow bar fitted in Spain (and probably other countries!) has a small seal showing model number etc put on by the approved supplier.
One fitter outside Malaga is called LA FUENTE. They have a good web site that shows all the differing types of 'enganches' available. You can search your car make etc to find it. Don't know why I am saying this but it may be of help.
http://www.lafuente.eu/enganches

malagaman

Thanks for that Nige, I've now found the answer to my original question on that site, it has to be inspected within 15 days of fitting.
Thanks to all who replied.

http://www.lafuente.eu/index.php?faq...menu=&seccion=