tow bars
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 05:06In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
If you are intending to leave the car on UK plates, get the tow bar fitted in the UK and make sure your insurance covers you for towing. If you want to put the car on Italian plates, as sebastiano says, best forget it!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We had no problem with the change to Italian plates on our Citroen, which had a tow bar fitted, as we towed a caravan down. It has now had 2 revisions with no problem, so can you clarify?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
We went through the same thought process when we bought our car (in the UK). Having already registered a UK car here in Italy we knew that part wasn't a problem.
However, when it came to fitting the towbar, we ended up doing it in the UK as here we would have had to have it fitted by a registered fitter (who then issues a certificate) and then had it inspected by an engineer from the motor agency in Ascoli. It would have cost us substantially more.
We bought the car in the UK, had the towbar fitted there and then registered the car with it's towbar here in Italy. The towbar must be stated on your car registration docs here so check them once the car has been registered as sometimes it gets forgotten.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It's probably not a problem for most on here, but remember that if you obtained your licence after 1997 (I think) that you need to do an additional test to be able to tow anything - that is, the "E" endorsement to the basic letter on the plastic driving licence.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Just bought a s/hand car with tow bar fitted, does make the careless reverser think twice tho'! As for caravan towing - did it for a couple of years but never again.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=Geotherm;109076]We had no problem with the change to Italian plates on our Citroen, which had a tow bar fitted, as we towed a caravan down. It has now had 2 revisions with no problem, so can you clarify?[/quote]
Geotherm, when you registered the car with tow bar, were you asked for any documentation (receipt from garage who fitted the tow bar for example) before it could be changed to Italian plates and was there any extra cost incurred?
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks to all for the useful infromation and advice.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=chris renzo;109191]Geotherm, when you registered the car with tow bar, were you asked for any documentation (receipt from garage who fitted the tow bar for example) before it could be changed to Italian plates and was there any extra cost incurred?[/quote]
Hi Chris.
No they did not ask anything at all.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
It actually says on our Italian car registration docs that the vehicle may have a towbar but if it is not fitted as original, it has to be registered and inspected.
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Thanks. Will book the Panda in to-morrow and have said item fitted here before departing.....Watch this space!
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[quote=sueflauto;109116]It's probably not a problem for most on here, but remember that if you obtained your licence after 1997 (I think) that you need to do an additional test to be able to tow anything - that is, the "E" endorsement to the basic letter on the plastic driving licence.[/quote]
Actually, this isn't quite correct... It is correct that if you obtained your licence after 1997 the rules for towing are more restrictive, but it is definitely not always necessary to have the B+E license to be able to tow anything.
(Sometimes the companies that sell B+E training add to the confusion by stating that you need B+E to tow anything, for their own benefit).
You can find detailed information here:
[url=http://www.ntta.co.uk/]UK NTTA - National Trailer and Towing Association[/url]
but unless you are towing a pretty large trailer you are likely to be legal without a B+E extension.
yes,unfortunately they make a meal about these.it must be to norm and registered on the log book of the car/vehicle..otherwise it's another hot coals job.