plasma99

I'll reply to my own topic only because I have just fixed the latch and it might be helpful to someone else. There may be a better way of doing to but my method was to first remove the pull chord bolt. I left the plastic pull chord in place. I then unscrewed the two rubber gromets from the bottom of the trim (holes circled in blue). I then used a chisel wrapped in tape as a pry tool to detach the trim from the tailgate. I had to pry 6 clips away from the metalwork (4 at the bottom and 2 at the sides) to get access to the latch. You have to line up the pry tool with the clips and lever down. You can then remove the plastic latch cover. The latch is held on with 2 nuts (size 13). It can then be removed from the tailgate. You have to disconnect the electrical connection first. The problem with mine was that the piece of light green plastic circled in purple was underneath the white plastic lever. It needs to be above as in the photograph. Once corrected, the latch started working. No idea how it got in to that position that but it all seems to work fine for now.

Hi, I have the hatchback model and was wondering how to get access to the tailgate latch/lock which I think has failed. You hear sounds of a motor but no locking takes place. Having to keep the tailgate closed with string at the moment and receive the tailgate open warning every time I go over a bump which is very distracting. I have removed the plastic pull cord which was held on with one bolt. Are there other bolts which need removing before you can remove the trim from the tailgate? I have had a good look around but cannot see any. I used a pry tool to try and remove the trim but it simply would not release other than move a few mm. Youtube does not seem to have a video on the procedure. Thanks in advance, Peter

No issues starting from cold. It was Just restarts from stop. If I had to add a factor it would be that it tended to occur after a lot of urban driving and long waits at traffic lights. Ok so far with new battery. The whole process of restart seems faster, smoother and more efficient. Probably psychological effect.

Mine never deactivated start-stop. It just didn’t work properly - sometimes stalled on restart. It’s been ok since I changed the battery but have only run it for a week so far. I’m still nervous about it - it’s a system that needs to work 100% of the time else it’s not safe to activate at all.

It is an auto but I’ve had the same rear brakes for some time. Changing the BEM code - I guess I’ll need some accessories to do that?

Definitely doing enough mid-length trips. 52 mile round commute at least 3 times a week.

Thanks for the replies. I think after 8.5 years, I can treat it to a new battery. Any reco on a good make? Not sure whether to pay a bit more for Bosch. I know you have to buy the start-stop model.

I have been experiencing issues of my car stalling at roundabouts/traffic lights when engine restarts following a stop. It seems to be a bit random and difficult to reproduce but the frequency of events is increasing. This morning, it happened at a very busy roundabout. It stalled, restarted automatically and then stalled again a few times. The cars behind me were giving me some grief. I then selected neutral and restarted the engine manually. It stalled again but worked on the second attempt. Basically, I have lost all confidence in the stop-start system and now have to turn it off. Has anyone successfully resolved this? Could it be that I need a new battery? The battery is from new (8.5 years ago).

Yes. I discovered this when a friend of ours exited the car with a bleeding hand. We found the chrome on the interior door handle to be delaminating and sticking up with razor sharp edges. I have put tape over it for now. May replace with heat shrink tubing. Found the handles on the other three doors to be deteriorating a little but not enough to cause injury. Not hugely impressed tbh. I also have the problem on the dsg lever with chrome peeling away leaving a razor sharp edge. Can live with it for now.

I normally get a warning to top up before each service is due. It's the first modern car I have owned that requires topping up between services. However, it runs well enough and the oil consumption is consistent.

J.R., any chance you could outline the procedure for getting the cover off and exactly what to look for in terms of degradation? I would like to do my first inspection at 6 years.

I'm not adhering to the Skoda UK recommendation of a change every 5 years/50K miles but I don't recommend it if you are of a nervous disposition. I do think about it a lot when driving the car and do keep a close eye on the forums. Since I plan on keeping the car for the long term, I will probably change the belt after 7-8 years/70K miles since I will have to do one belt change anyway. If the water pump is the weak point, I will just keep a close eye on the coolant level. People claim they change it for "peace of mind" (oh, the cost is only the equivalent of only one costa coffee per week) but I regard it as a protection racket which I am going to try and not fall victim to. I don't think the Germans would recommend a 10 year/210km change/inspection unless they had solid data to back it up.

As someone who is trying to adhere to the continental 210000Kms cambelt change without time limit, I'm becoming increasingly alarmed by these stories. I'm probably going to bottle it now. German engineering? - what on earth has gone wrong? I've never knowingly experienced a water pump failure on any car I have owned previously. It looks like the water pump is far more likely to fail than the timing belt based on the experiences being reported on this forum. Is this what is driving the UK (5 year change) recommendation? Also, is the water pump designed not to "seize" fail which would cause a big problem to the timing belt. Does it just "leak" fail? Therefore, you can experience a water pump failure without doing too much damage to the engine, assuming you catch it early? I'm at 48K miles/>5 years and I'm really not happy about changing the water pump and belt right now. The new pump could fail after another few years and you end up paying for two big changes in quick succession. I'd rather keep a close eye on the pump and get the belt/pump combo changed midway through my ownership at about 7 years/70K miles. I just don't know now.

Never tried it but the manual provides an explanation:-

If the exterior release handle is faulty, a 3 second push of the middle "boot open" button on the key fob will release the tailgate. If that's not working, I have no idea how you manually open from the inside. Just been in the car to check and cannot see anyway of doing this. I suppose it's not impossible to imagine a situation where you might need to get out of the tailgate in an emergency without the means to electronically release so would like to know how to do it.