2009 TDI towing

bigdreama · November 12th, 2008, 15:58

My wife and I are considering a new TDI JSW and I have a small single rail trailer that I tow my BMW motorcycle on. The dealer salesman said the new TDI's had a towing capacity of 1400 pounds. I looked at the literature and the website but I saw nothing about a posted tow rating so I e-mailed VW directly. I specifically asked about the 2009 TDI Jetta Sportwagen and here is their response:

Quote:

Dear Steven,

Thank you for visiting the Volkswagen website. We appreciate your
inquiry regarding the capability of using your Volkswagen for towing
purposes.

Volkswagen does not recommend a passenger vehicle be used to tow.
Please note, if you wish to tow something behind your Volkswagen, you
may do so at your own risk.

For further assistance, please contact the Customer Care Center at
1-800-822-8987 Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Thank you for your submission!

Wanda
Volktalk

So, this is not a deal breaker for me but it is disappointing.

Ol'Rattler · November 13th, 2008, 00:51

Did you try looking in your owners manual? My 06 owners manual allows towing, although for some stupid reason, they list the towing capacity as something less than 1/2 of the same car with a gas engine.

Most likely, my guess would be that a class 1 hitch would work fine on a JSW.

CountryBoy · November 13th, 2008, 05:56

EDIT: Correct information in post below. Removing my INcorrect info.

kynimrod · November 13th, 2008, 05:56

Steven,
Being an owner of an TDI JSW, I havelooked in my owners manual and it stated that it can tow 1500 lbs with the manual transmission and somewhat less with the DSG(auto). I put on a class I hitch and have towed my 17' Boston Whaler just fine. In my humble opinion you will be just fine towing a 400 lb motorcycle and 250 lb trailer.
DO IT! this is a no brainer.

TD

LRTDI · November 13th, 2008, 08:57

I go over to VW Uk sites for info we can't get.

They have the catalog online

http://cdn.volkswagen.co.uk/assets/c...a-brochure.pdf

Unbraked 730kg stick 740kh dsg
Braked 1500KG stick, 1700kg DSG

dhtiell13 · November 13th, 2008, 10:56

what does putting a hitch on your car do to your warrenty?

dr61 · November 13th, 2008, 13:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdreama

My wife and I are considering a new TDI JSW and I have a small single rail trailer that I tow my BMW motorcycle on. The dealer salesman said the new TDI's had a towing capacity of 1400 pounds. I looked at the literature and the website but I saw nothing about a posted tow rating so I e-mailed VW directly. I specifically asked about the 2009 TDI Jetta Sportwagen and here is their response:
...
So, this is not a deal breaker for me but it is disappointing.

There are many posts about this (try Search). The Owners Manual for 2009's specifies towing data (although there may be a misprint). It appears that VWNA wants to discourage towing, but these cars are designed for light towing and many owners in Europe tow with them.

For instance:
http://forums.tdiclub.com/showpost.p...postcount=3829

bigdreama · November 14th, 2008, 14:28

Thanks for the responses fellas. I think that I will just abide with VW's wishes while under warranty and not do any towing.
After that, we should have more data about towability.

grantdcol · November 14th, 2008, 14:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdreama

Thanks for the responses fellas. I think that I will just abide with VW's wishes while under warranty and not do any towing.
After that, we should have more data about towability.

That's certainly an option, but why would towing affect your warranty?

Does carrying a car full of overweight adults void it? Does filling the trunk with concrete bags void it? Does carrying too many bikes/snowboards/kayaks void it?

If there is any issue at all, you put the owner's manual specifications in their face and tell them to fix it. That simple!

I would not tow much of anything behind a passenger car, but a motorcycle is an extremely light load.

barshnik · November 14th, 2008, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigdreama

Thanks for the responses fellas. I think that I will just abide with VW's wishes while under warranty and not do any towing.
After that, we should have more data about towability.

You only got half the answer with your email question to VW. If you want the other half, you need to stay on hold for an indeterminate amount of time to reach a live customer service representative. I did that a month or two ago.

The first words are 'VW doesn't recommend towing with any passenger vehicle that did not come equipped with a factory tow hitch'. That is the half you got back. The live person will tell you that you can tow without affecting your warranty, and give you the tow limits (1000 lbs without trailer brakes, 1500 with trailer brakes, 175 lb max tongue weight.)

There are errors regarding towing in the '09 manual, VW is supposed to mail out an addendum to all '09 TDI owners sometime soon.

John F

Matt65 · November 14th, 2008, 17:24

Still using my 06 to tow with no problems. Regularly pull a ~600lbs ATV, occasionally a 1300 VTX ~800lbs. Frequent trips to Home Depot/Lowes.

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread...ghlight=matt65

gixxer1000 · November 15th, 2008, 10:50

I pulled my trailer and bike without any issues. And I'm sure they upgraded the 09 with a better clutch and flywheel. So you shouldn't have any problems. The hardest part is to hook up the trailer lights. Good luck!

Pelican18TQA4 · November 15th, 2008, 12:07

My Dad regularly tows a trailer with two motorcycles without any problems in the almost 100,000 miles he's put on the car. This is with a MkIV Golf TDI. And to add to that, a lot of the time towing the two bikes has also included three people and their luggage in the car. VWoA is lawsuit-weary, as are most U.S. companies; this is the main reason that VWoA discourages towing. Probably the reason they don't offer a factory-installed hitch in the U.S. too. R.O.W. Jetta/Golfs can be ordered with hitches from the factory and these cars are structurally no different than U.S. cars, nor do they have any modifications (other than wiring and other ancillaries) to accommodate towing.

velociT · November 15th, 2008, 17:54

Tow it, don't worry about it.

jvance · November 16th, 2008, 09:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pelican18TQA4

My Dad regularly tows a trailer with two motorcycles without any problems in the almost 100,000 miles he's put on the car. This is with a MkIV Golf TDI. And to add to that, a lot of the time towing the two bikes has also included three people and their luggage in the car. VWoA is lawsuit-weary, as are most U.S. companies; this is the main reason that VWoA discourages towing. Probably the reason they don't offer a factory-installed hitch in the U.S. too. R.O.W. Jetta/Golfs can be ordered with hitches from the factory and these cars are structurally no different than U.S. cars, nor do they have any modifications (other than wiring and other ancillaries) to accommodate towing.

There is an anti-sway ESP mode that is activated when towing. I'm not sure that's available on US spec cars.