Several years ago, a friend bought a towbar for his Skoda Octavia estate from the local dealer. When the chap dropped it on the counter, he added that 'if the box had said Audi on it, it would have cost twice as much for the same thing'. Remember the song - the more it costs, the more it's worth!

A couple of months ago, I bought a towbar for the Astra 1.3tdci in order to mount an Atera bike rack. When I explained to the fitter that there was no way that I would attempt to tow a caravan with it, he remarked that I'd be amazed at what people will try and tow a caravan with!

It is true that the biggest problem with fitting a towbar on a modern car is breaking into the electrics. The Astra had to have a box of tricks attached behind a panel at the side of the load bay. I left it to a specialist fitter - who, I have to say, did a first-class job.

Runboy has it spot on - you need a particular type of towbar to prevent aluminium corrosion. I had an A2 and this was evident in the handbook.

An A2 would tow a small trailer with no problem.