Just how unreliable are the twindoors?

[gwing2]

Hi folks,

 

I'm thinking of upgrading my very old Octy to a slightly less old Superb 2.  I notice there are several reports of problems with the twindoor mechanism, is this still a matter of chance or just going to happen as the cars age? And has anyone any idea if the problems are made worse by using it mainly in the boot or hatch opening mode?

 

Thanks,

Rob.

[drefaldwyn]

I'm afraid I don't have a definitive answer for you but given that the problems are the result of the breakage of the wires in the "boot" hinge area rather than in the "hatch" hinge area, I make a point of only opening mine in the hatch mode.

 

Dave

[superbrex]

Just sold mine after 4 1/2years, never had a problem

[Steffan]

Mine is from 2010 and as far i know it has never failed :-)

Fingers crossed

[Nathanio]

I sold my 58 plate Twindoor earlier this year with about 100k on the clock. It was still in fine fettle and working as it should. The drivers door one mind you went and required some soldering to fix!

[williamshatnerspants]

If its any help our combi had the electric struts on the boot fail at 60,000miles (an expensive fix too). I'd avoid electric boot options if I had the choice (and was keeping the car for the long term).

[BJM]

The problems are not simply related to the snapping of the wires in the boot / saloon section.

 

At about 100,000 miles I had this occur, followed shortly afterwards by one of the locking mechanisms failing.

 

At that time for the proceeding 2 years / 55,000 miles the was (and still is) used for small parcel delivery & collection work, and as a result the boot and/or tailgate mechanism was being operated 40 - 60 times per day.

I suspect that this level of usage is way beyond what would be expected of a car in "normal" use.

Since the repairs I have been far more careful about "planning" removing parcels from the boot.

 

To repair the wiring (VAG make a replacement part-harness which can be spliced in, my mechanic pointed out that individually extending and soldering in 10 or 12 separate wires would be far more expensive in labour time) cost £214.

To replace the rear operating motor was £130

(I don't do crawling about in boots, I'm too old for that sh!t   )

 

My experience suggests that the wear and failure rate relates to amount of usage of the boot, not the age of the car.

In a car used in domestic usage situation the boot is not normally operated more than once or twice a day and is likely to last the life of the car. 
Unfortunately when buying second hand the amount of usage would be impossible to check.

If you don't intend to use the car commercially, go for it, but factor in the possible costs.

It's not a deal breaker for an otherwise excellent car.

[Superb170]

There have been a few problems noted on the forum relating mainly the wiring as mentioned above.  I had no issue on my last (2011, sold after 3 years) but has the struts replaced on the boot on my current one due to one of them failing after about a year.

[silver1011]

2011 Superb Twindoor with 108,000 miles.

 

I open my boot in both saloon and hatch mode at least once a day. No issues here.

[terrytowelling]

Repeated flexing can eventually cold harden conductors to the point of failure so unless they use special cable which I suspect they don't it's only a matter of time

[BJM]

Repeated flexing can eventually cold harden conductors to the point of failure so unless they use special cable which I suspect they don't it's only a matter of time

No it isn't, that's my point.

Time, age, mileage etc have nothing to do with it, it is down to frequency of usage which unfortunately can't be established. Also it isn't just the copper core that breaks from work hardening. The PVC insulation also breaks up leading to short circuits which produce the strange lighting effects and error messages that are frequently the first indication of a problem.

[terrytowelling]

"Repeated flexing" is frequency of usage

[BJM]

"Repeated flexing" is frequency of usage

but not "a matter of time"

[terrytowelling]

Yes it's a " matter of time" as it takes time to do a lot of flexing for it to go faulty which it will sooner or later. The wires only have a certain amount of life when being flexed

Edited 1 October, 2016 by terrytowelling

[Hoverurb]

My 2010 twindoor had the wiring break, cost under 2 euro in parts and an hour or two to sort. Its not a major problem and an easy fix even if you fit a complete new loom section.