Porsche or specialist for Cayenne towbar?

[gareth h]

I need to get a towbar on the Cayenne (2014 diesel s) to tow a car trailer, I’m a bit nervous about using one of the towbar specialists as the car is still under extended warranty, any advice / experience?
Thanks
G

[gred]

I was in the same position recently with our 2018 3.0d. OPC retrofitted tow bar, which works with the warranty. Neat install and excellent towing capacity. Just got a Thule bike rack as well as our old trailer.

[gareth h]

What sort of cost from the OPC?
Thanks

[David W.]

When I needed one on my 2016 model the local guys didn’t do them, can’t remember why so had to go to OPC and they fitted the plug in type which now stays on at all times.

[pete]

If you want to maintain your extended warranty, you need to be careful about the grey area relating to non-Porsche parts and the extent to which they invalidate the warranty. The wording was recently changed on the Porsche warranty to imply that only faults directly related to the fitment of non-Porsche parts would be excluded, but I suspect it will be a battle if you ever wanted to claim. They could say that anything drivetrain or suspension related could be exacerbated by a non-Porsche tow bar if they wanted to be difficult. Similar for work performed outside the OPC network.

For that reason, I had my OPC fit the Porsche Tequipment tow bar kit to my 2018 Cayenne. Unfortunately the only option on the 9Y0 is the electrically folding version, which cost me around £2500 fitted (the parts alone were over £1800!). I remember you can could get a simpler detachable version on the 958 so I'd hope the parts for that would be a lot cheaper, but I suspect the fitting would be similar, as you still need to cut the bumper and connect the special control unit.

[bigblock]

I was quoted £1700 for a detachable towbar from my OPC a few years ago. I had exactly the same Porsche/Weisssach kit fitted by my local specialist for £900. It simplifies things if your Cayenne is already pre-wired for the trailer socket which mine was. My OPC said that they couldn't retro fit the automatic towbar because my car did not have the control buttons fitted in the boot. I have an extended warranty and have made several claims since the towbar was fitted without any issues.