RAV4 2023 Tail Hitch for towing?

[Scottydog007]

Does anyone have suggestions for a tail hitch for trailers, or for my case a cycle carrier?

Now in to past on other vehicles when a cycle carrier was added and plugger in, a trailer symbol would come up on the dash board showing all was good. But for my RAV4 Excel 2019 I paid a lot of dosh £700 to have Toyota’s own tail hitch installed and never got a symbol on dash, so basically it was nothing special. Are their other good hitches I should be looking for?

cheers in advance for any suggestions.

[Mike2222]

Not sure I understand the question. I would have thought the presence or absence of dash indicators or changes relative to having a trailer/towbar attachment eg cycle carrier plugged in would be down tk the car - ie the car either has an indicator or it doesn't. It won't be a feature of the type of hitch/towbar. 

 

Thus either your expectations are flawed, or the preamble about dash indicators is irrelevant and you're asking for reviews of third party/non-Toyota towbars/hitches? 

[Mike2222]

FWIW I have the Toyota "factory installed" (although I think it's actually done at the dealership, after car has gone thru burnaston) detachable towbar. Like yourself, there doesn't appear to be any dash/infotainment impact of having a cycle carrier plugged into the electrics. Annoyingly, it doesn't even disable the rear parking sensors when reversing, meaning I get a instant red proximity warning, tho a single press of a button on steering wheel does temporarily mute this

[Scottydog007]

22 hours ago, Mike2222 said:

Thus either your expectations are flawed, or the preamble about dash indicators is irrelevant and you're asking for reviews of third party/non-Toyota towbars/hitches? 

If that is the case, why do I not just get an off the shelf towbar costing £250 less. What is the advantage of getting a standard Toyota part.

Possibly some vehicles sense a tow bar is plugged in and so show a symbol and RAV4 doesn’t. Shame. Or I would have thought the Toyota one would possibly have a sensor built in to turn off reversing sensors, at least.

[Scottydog007]

21 hours ago, Mike2222 said:

FWIW I have the Toyota "factory installed" (although I think it's actually done at the dealership, after car has gone thru burnaston) detachable towbar. Like yourself, there doesn't appear to be any dash/infotainment impact of having a cycle carrier plugged into the electrics. Annoyingly, it doesn't even disable the rear parking sensors when reversing, meaning I get a instant red proximity warning, tho a single press of a button on steering wheel does temporarily mute this

So I had this also for my 2019 RAV4, I had it fitted at the dealer before taking away. And I forgot about how when putting car in reverse the sensors are still active so you get a continue bleeping. The car prior to that was a Freelander Land-rover that I bought second hand, then bought off the shelf tow hitch and this turned off reversing sensors and put a trailer symbol on the dash to show trailer lights were plugged in well.

[Mike2222]

1 hour ago, Scottydog007 said:

Possibly some vehicles sense a tow bar is plugged in and so show a symbol and RAV4 doesn’t.

Yeah, it's annoying but just a design quirk/oversight. You're right, this appears to vary by car manufacturer, with some having sophisticated trailer modes etc (or even basic ones which can recognise when the trailer electrics are connected). Toyota doesn't seem to bother, altho I'd be curious to know if that is different on say a land cruiser or hilux etc

 

Just another minor irritation, a bit like how the choices of available options is just weird (ie 360° camera only available on HEV not PHEV, and no heated steering wheel at all in UK). 

[Mike2222]

1 hour ago, Scottydog007 said:

why do I not just get an off the shelf towbar costing £250 less

This is a very good question, and largely comes down to personal choice. Relatively nebulous factors like the perception of possible increased resale value from having an "all Toyota" vehicle, and possibly elements of "goodwill" from Toyota should there be any non-warranty issues in the future. Also perhaps the ability to say to an insurer that it is not modified because the towbar was specced at order so is "factory fitted" (even tho we know it is a dealership thing). 

 

In all probability, so long as using a reputable fitting company who provide appropriate insurance/guarantees with regards any accidental damage during fitting etc, it's probably a bit moot. I shouldn't think having a non own-brand towbar could possibly have an impact on warranty (because it would have to be proven that the towbar/installation caused the specific problem). I also think most "branded" towbars tend to be made by brink or similar, just like most own brand roof bars are re-badged versions of Thule etc. So functionally they should work identically in most cases. 

[philip42h]

55 minutes ago, Mike2222 said:

the towbar was specced at order so is "factory fitted" (even tho we know it is a dealership thing)

My understanding is that the "factory fitted" towbar should have been fitted at the Burnaston factory (for UK deliveries). However, at some point there was a shortage of towbars to fit, so, after a while, they stopped cars queueing at Burnaston and released them to the dealer to have the towbars fitted - potentially some time after delivery.