In my ongoing search for a good TDI...I'm seeing many Q7's that do not have the tow package, yet the rear bumper lower-central cover is missing? Why would this be? Just curious.....

 

Have you seen what they sell for? No, really...have you, LOL! It's all about the Benjamins, baby!

I was looking to get one as our first car came with a hitch, but that lower fascia cover was missing. It's not terribly unusual for aftermarket installed hitch to be missing the lower cover, but it's fairly simple to cut it out to fit, if you have it. On the factory-installed hitches, they came with the 'fitted' cover (a different part#, of course), pre-cut for the hitch.

 

Oh I do understand about the $$$. But a lot of these TDI's I'm seeing do not have a hitch, so why would they have that little central cover piece in the first place - which is always missing? Do people pry them off hoping to see that there is a receiver in there...and just never put the little cover back on?

 

The cover itself is self-evident; you reuse the same rear bumper cover, so it's just to hide the hole necessary to mount the receiver (tow hitch), and make it look nice back there. Why it would be missing on a 6-12yrs old car with no hitch receiver mounted...who knows. It's got two retention twist-locks on one end, and two locating tabs on the other side, and if you don't pay close attention to rotate those retention 'locks' to their full-stop position, it can very easily work itself loose and fall off.

They are also very expensive little trim pieces, easily removed in seconds, weigh almost nothing to ship, are in demand, etc., etc., and to buy the one premolded for the receiver hitch cutout to make it look clean when not in use, it actually costs more.

FYI, I'm going to be selling my Curt 13220 receiver hitch (Class 3; rated for 600lb tongue weight, 6000lb capacity) that came mounted on car. It was only used for a bike rack or a cargo-tray attachment by prior owner, as evidenced by no light kit installed for towing, and it's in like-new condition. This will be a cash & carry only; no shipping (DFW/TX) I'm adding the OE trailer lighting to car and it just makes sense to upgrade to a higher receiver rating while I have the rear bumper cover/ fascia removed to get that routed...two birds, one stone and all that. And, if you want to trade a rear bumper lower cover towards it, I'll make you a sweet deal. PM me direct if interested: $150 OBO Availability: March, 2022...I'll post this up proper and locally too, when I get it off car, so this is just a heads-up if you looking for one and willing to come get it.

 

My car never came with a hitch but the piece was there. When I put the hitch on, Audi had lines where to dremel it to fit. Was very easy to do.

 

The most annoying thing ever... People who literally part out there car before selling it.. It was notorious on the Touaregs with air suspension. The T came stock with a fill hose and gauge, so you could use the rear fill port under the rear passenger seat, rarely seen after the first owner. Then they sell the rear cargo cover, emergency tire change gear.. Sheesh!

 

Regardless of what happened to the cover, it's only annoying if you don't have a hitch receiver mounted, which fulfills the exact purpose of the removable cover. I've actually got one of those OE covers floating around garage from install of OE Audi hitch kit on our '15.

Cutting the cover down to fit around the hitch receiver just for vanity's sake has just not been a priority since then. I say don't worry about the cover and install a functional hitch receiver rather than buy that bit of plastic, so you gain a very useful option...problem solved. It's all about your point of view; I see added utility and future adventure awaits...you just see a missing cover.

 

Hello 10Q7TDI_Prestige....yes I see your point and agree. Just about every TDI for sale out there that does NOT have a the tow package - has this piece missing. In my search for a TDI one of the requirements is tow package. I may find a nice clean low mile example without a hitch at a good price, I will certainly add it on later.

Speaking of adding a hitch - did you have any issues adding this to a Q7 that did not originally come with it?

 

No, install is really pretty straightforward (watch the online videos as prep). I've bought the parts piecemeal, since one car had the hitch already, and then also bought the entire Audi ' complete tow kit' for the '15, which literally includes EVERYTHING required to get started. It does require you have access to VCDS, as you have to add the new trailer lights module to the car's Green Menu, then go modify muliple control modules setup to synch the car that you installed the towing kit, so it will be able to auto-sense the trailer lighting hook-up and then adjust their functional parameters specifically for towing.

For me, this is the reason to purchase the OE tow kit, as the car optimizes multiple functions (air susp, braking, anti-sway, proximity sensors, lane-change assist (blind-spot warning system), etc., when you plug in the trailer lights, and, of course, the hitch-receiver is very beefy, a heavy-duty solid shank tow-ball 'hitch' is included, and the 7-pin trailer plug and protective rubber receiver plug, as well as longer mounting bolts (required for the OE hitch only) are all included. It's all in there, and comes with a warranty. Basically, if you didn't just stumble onto a great deal and tried to replicate what you get in the OE tow kit, you'd be spending just about the same $$ amount. I bought my OE tow kit from BAV website, as they sell it at a good discount from Audi dealer pricing, and during holiday periods they offer you discounted shipping rates. I paid right at $815 delivered and got it in few days. If you leave it in your cart and do nothing with it, they will offer you discounted shipping rates to close the deal at other times too, etc. Be aware the listing description for the OE Audi Tow Kit does not give a complete parts listing...it is very complete. An accessory item most will require is the LED trailer brake lights adapter by Curt...less than $20. It plugs into the car's 7 pin (RV output), and provides output for standard 4/5 pin trailer lights harness. Note: If you leave the Curt LED adapter plugged into car, it will still think a trailer is hooked up to it, so be sure to remove it if not in use. LOL, too much information...