There are many aspects to towing, and a huge difference between what CAN be towed under off-street ideal conditions, what SHOULD be towed under normal highway and weather condtions, and what you are ALLOWED to tow under various State and national laws.
I've towed a 2000lb boat on a heavy trailer with a '69 Westfalia van -- but only on the flats and not far. Had to get everyone at the launch ramp to help push the van and boat up the ramp, as it couldn't pull that much angle...not an ideal tow vehicle, you'll agree. ;0 )
Curb weight on an 03 TDI wagon is just over 3k. Some states require that the (non-tractor) tow vehicle be at least twice the weight of the tow, like Oregon (so I've been told). In the UK it looks like the ratio is 2/3 vehicle and 1/3 tow.
http://www.caravanningnow.co.uk/caravanning/faqweight.htm
Limits on the Class I hitches sold for our cars here in the US is 2000lbs.
Questions like the above generate many different answers -
http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=235370
Having towed an 800lb+ utility trailer with a fully-loaded 03 Jetta wagon, I can say that it won't back the trailer up a reasonably-slanted driveway without smoking the clutch. It can pull that grade going forward unless you go too slow, then you smell clutch but no visible smoke.
And towing in Germany is a very different game, with extrememly strict inspections of equipment. From the above link -
http://forums.iboats.com/image.php?u=116459&dateline=1211403012
Re: Tow rating of a VW Jetta TDI wagon?
I keep our cars in as new condition as I possible can, and I still shake in my shoes, everytime I go to the German TUV (Safety Inspectors).
One small problem, one false word, and they pull your car off the road and take your plates. I just got my 13 year old car through it again “ohne Mangel” (no problems), it tested as new, from a safety, structural, and emissions standpoint. A week before I had already prepared myself for selling (giving it away) it to eastern Europe if it didn't pass.
The Polizei (Police) set up mobile weigh stations on the Autobahn (highway) all the time, and pull vacationers over to check their vehicles, papers, and trailers. If all is not perfect, you don't move it from the spot.
People here tow with these vehicles because they have no other choice. Not because it is a good idea.
The versions sold here also have bigger brakes, larger radiators, oil coolers, heavy duty suspensions, other computer/black box programming. The list of differences just goes on and on. This is all because of the no speed limit Autobahns.
People here drive at very high speeds for hours at a time, this requires the vehicles to be set up to different standards when compared to the same models sold in America. At 110mph you are running in the middle lane of a three lane highway, with the fast lane reserved for those pushing at times upwards of 150mph, and the right lane reserved for trucks & cars with trailers.
Even when taking all these differences into consideration, these vehicles are just not made for towing anything but small trailers. People have these small trailers because they can't have pick-ups.
They are nice vehicles, but they all have specific functions they were designed to do, and at the moment, there is not a non-commercial vehicle on the German market that was designed as a towing vehicle.
