[On the fence]

I went to my RV dealer looking for a travel Trailor. I do have the Trailor wiring installed on my car.

He informed me that I must add an electric brake control in my vehicle.

He was sayng that if I have this additional electric brake control added to my car it would void the warranty.

Does anybody have experience with this? What do you recommend?
Thanks

 

[Scubacruiser]

Installing an electric brake controller is not going to void your warranty. These vehicles are made for towing and the wiring for the brake controller is already under the dash.

 

[Fourdiesel]

Your RV dealer absolutely doesn't know what he is talking about. Since the factory installed your tow hitch and the electronics package to plug in your trailer - why in the world would anyone assume it would void the warranty to USE those factory installed items? Many states (or countries) REQUIRE a trailer brakes for any trailer over some weight value - this means a way must be provided to control the application of those brakes - that means a brake controller. The factory doesn't offer those because too few will be sold (and there are many different personal preferrences) therefore they just provide a plug up under the dash. Clearly they don't intend the warranty to extend to the brake controller itself but the rest of the car warranty will not be affected.

 

[Lefty99]

There is other threads on this forum regarding brake controllers, it would be worth doing a search, as although the install is basically plug and play, there has been a lot of people finding compatibility issues between the controller and the car, ( I believe a lot of this is due to the car putting the trailer circuit into low power "mode" when it senses no trailer, witch causes problems with some brake controllers designed to stay powered on)

I have installed a brake controller, and fixed this issue by putting in a power switch in line with the positive supply to the brake control, when there's no trailer I just turn the controller off, ( don't need the controller powered up with no trailer on ) with a trailer hooked up the brake controller works fine, as it is intended.

 

[ElAlki]

Hello, I understand that the wiring is pre-installed under the dash and that I'm not likely to find it myself, and I'm still not sure what my 2012 TDI would find compatible for a 19' trailer. Any wisdom on controllers and installers??

 

[Ebg18t]

Hello, I understand that the wiring is pre-installed under the dash and that I'm not likely to find it myself, and I'm still not sure what my 2012 TDI would find compatible for a 19' trailer. Any wisdom on controllers and installers??

I ended up using the Prodigy RF brake controller on my T3 and trailer since it didn't have to be hardware. I could just just plug it in when needed. It worked awesome. We have since sold our travel trailer and moved to a class A motor home. I still have the Prodigy RF if someone wants a used unit for a good price.

 

[TeatherWind]

I also use the prodigy rf because I didn't want to couldn't find a good mounting point that I wouldn't bang a brake controller with my knee. It works awesome.

 

[lgibson]

X3 on the Prodigy RF. No drilling on your Touareg. Great if you only have one trailer.