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Quote: Originally posted by woodman2 on 13/2/2018

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Quote: Originally posted by tabatha on 13/2/2018

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It's a 64 plate!

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Mine is an 11 plate.

I have had confirmation from the National Trailer & Towing Association, and the C&CC that my vehicle should never had had a tow bar fitted.

The absence of a weight shown on the VIN plate is game set and match as far as they are both concerned.

Still waiting for a response from the tow bar company.

As it happens we were going to change the car anyway, but this has just sped things up a bit.

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Quote: Originally posted by katycymru on 13/2/2018

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Quote: Originally posted by woodman2 on 13/2/2018

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Quote: Originally posted by tabatha on 13/2/2018

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It's a 64 plate!

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Mine is an 11 plate.

I have had confirmation from the National Trailer & Towing Association, and the C&CC that my vehicle should never had had a tow bar fitted.

The absence of a weight shown on the VIN plate is game set and match as far as they are both concerned.

Still waiting for a response from the tow bar company.

As it happens we were going to change the car anyway, but this has just sped things up a bit.

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Gutted for you. What I find puzzling is that it appears that it wasn't type approved due to a fluid reservoir being just behind the bumper and taking up the room, yet you've managed to have one fitted.

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Quote: Originally posted by LlaniDavis on 14/2/2018

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Remember that having a tow bar fitted does not mean you are going to tow. I know people who have had one fitted so that they can fit a bike carrier, and have never considered towing.

The DVSA statement is quite specific, if the weight plate does not have the relevant section marked then you cannot tow, and there are many vehicles that fall into that catagory.
If you did get stopped then it would be expensive; you risk a heavy fine for towing with a non-approved vehicle, and another for invalidating your insurance, and at worst the possible loss of both the car and the caravan. Even if the vehicles were only impounded you would get a large bill for their recovery and storage.

It appears that the OP's car has not been Type Approved by Merc for 2 reasons. 1, because the fitting of the AdBlue tank on that model gets in the way of the tow bar mountings, and 2, because they consider it a sports model so the suspension is not considered suitable.
If the OP can prove they told the salesman they wanted to tow with it then they have a legitimate claim against the dealer.

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Quote: Originally posted by tabatha on 14/2/2018

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That's outrageous woodman2. Their sales brochures clearly state their towing capacity.

I just spent the last hour emailing Customer Complaints at Milton Keynes.

Have you looked at Mercedes Benz owners forum?. I have had some excellent advice from members on there. I only joined on Saturday when all this trouble started. Take a look, the guys on there know their stuff.

It looks like i'll be joining the Mercedes Benz former owner forum soon.

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