Can power tailgate be 'downgraded' to Manual

[hecklerx]

Hi there

 

I'm looking at ordering a SEL 150 or 190 Exec Estate with the following spec, however I'm not a fan of powered tailgates - do you think there is any chance of the car being built with a manual tailgate instead?

 

Colour maxi dot trip computer, 
Front parking sensor, 
Rear view camera, 
Smartgate mobile phone interface, 
Heated washer nozzles, 
Heated windscreen, 
Towbar with electric swivel function, 
Backrest release, 
Front/rear floor mats, 
Gearshift paddles, 
Net partition, 
Parcel shelf - retractable, 
Tri zone climate control, 
Variable boot floor, 
LED interior light pack - Superb, 
Metallic - Quartz grey, 
Leather - Black, 
18" Pegasus alloy wheels, 

 

Cheers

Rory

[chadlington]

Hi there

 

I'm looking at ordering a SEL 150 or 190 Exec Estate with the following spec, however I'm not a fan of powered tailgates - do you think there is any chance of the car being built with a manual tailgate instead?

 

Colour maxi dot trip computer, 

Front parking sensor, 

Rear view camera, 

Smartgate mobile phone interface, 

Heated washer nozzles, 

Heated windscreen, 

Towbar with electric swivel function, 

Backrest release, 

Front/rear floor mats, 

Gearshift paddles, 

Net partition, 

Parcel shelf - retractable, 

Tri zone climate control, 

Variable boot floor, 

LED interior light pack - Superb, 

Metallic - Quartz grey, 

Leather - Black, 

18" Pegasus alloy wheels, 

 

Cheers

Rory

 

Not quite the answer you're after but in that spec, given you'll need to add heated front seats to get the heated windscreen, is the L&K that much more expensive? You'll get interior LED, heated screen, trizone climate control, pegasus alloys, colour maxidot?

[Nick_H]

I had a play around today with one for the first time.... I loved it lol !! Whats not to like ? Apart from it going wrong and costing hundreds to fix lol !!

 

I also wasn't sure but it opened and closed at a good rate of knots.

 

I'm planning on defeating any safety measures and getting the Mother inlaw to try it ..... :-D

[hecklerx]

Not quite the answer you're after but in that spec, given you'll need to add heated front seats to get the heated windscreen, is the L&K that much more expensive? You'll get interior LED, heated screen, trizone climate control, pegasus alloys, colour maxidot?

 

I think heated seats are standard on the Exec SEL and Pegasus are a no cost option  . There is still quite a jump to L&K, around £3.5k, and the options price (for the ones I've selected which are standard on L&K) amount to approx £1000.

[hecklerx]

I had a play around today with one for the first time.... I loved it lol !! Whats not to like ? Apart from it going wrong and costing hundreds to fix lol !!

 

I also wasn't sure but it opened and closed at a good rate of knots.

 

I'm planning on defeating any safety measures and getting the Mother inlaw to try it ..... :-D

 

Yep it's the potential future repair cost for a feature which I find completely unnecessary. Also I like the flexibility of deciding how far I'd like my boot to open each time I use it!

[Nick_H]

I think theirs an option to set the tailgate to only open a certain amount that you can specify. No good of course if you want an infinitely variable tailgate :-)

[Gizmo]

A bit of food for thought:

 

There is a £3,620 price difference between the SE L and L&K, but once you add the options you require this comes down to £1,550 plus you also get the extra std spec FOC:

 

LED exterior light package (LED rear tail lights high, registration plate illumination and boarding spots) 

LED interior light package (LED ambient lighting in 3 colours, front and rear reading lights, footwell lighting, door handle illumination and vanity mirror lighting)

CANTON sound system (10 loudspeakers, central speaker, subwoofer and digital equaliser) £600

 

Electrically adjustable front seats Includes lumbar support and auto dimming door mirrors with memory function (£550)

Heated front and rear seats (£200)

Dynamic chassis control (DCC) £750

Lane assist (£850 includes BSD)

Park assist (£590 - £240 dearer than just front and rear sensors)

Virtual pedal (£150)

KESSY (£400)

TV Tuner (£850)

 

Which all added up = £4,590, so basically £3K worth of options free (options are rarely worth anything come trade in time, so the L&K you would lose £1.590 worth of added options, the SE L you would lose £3,660 worth of options)

​Granted you may not ‘miss’ any of these options, but IMO they are worth paying that bit extra to get them.

 

The downside is you cannot have black seats (brown or beige only)

[Gizmo]

I think theirs an option to set the tailgate to only open a certain amount that you can specify. No good of course if you want an infinitely variable tailgate :-)

 

Correct you can stop the tailgate in any position you want.

 

IF the electric tailgate fails out of warranty then just replace the gas struts with std ones (the electric part is via an electorally operated screw mechanism in the struts)

[Nick_H]

Gizmo.... Yeah I did consider this... No matter what I tried however I couldn't sell the Mrs on brown or beige leather.... Believe me I did try !!!

[Zillio]

Gizmo.... Yeah I did consider this... No matter what I tried however I couldn't sell the Mrs on brown or beige leather.... Believe me I did try !!!

Yeah they not the best colours, I hope the brown looks better in the flesh than some of the shots I have seen.

[Nick_H]

It does ! I was looking at a blue l&k at Rainworth today. In the bright light the brown looked almost black. I thought it looked great !

[panmat]

It does ! I was looking at a blue l&k at Rainworth today. In the bright light the brown looked almost black. I thought it looked great !

Does anyone know which blue?

[Jaytip]

I think the brown looks really classy.

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[InfiniteDreamer]

I think the brown looks really classy.

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Nice that's what will be in my L&K

[hecklerx]

Correct you can stop the tailgate in any position you want.

 

IF the electric tailgate fails out of warranty then just replace the gas struts with std ones (the electric part is via an electorally operated screw mechanism in the struts)

So in theory I could get the struts replaced and then put the electric ones back if I ever sold the car?

Cheers

Rory

[Gizmo]

Yes I can’t see why not.

 

What do you not like about the electric tailgate though?

[hecklerx]

It's the lack of flexibility mainly i.e. not being able to partially open the boot.

Edited 29 August, 2015 by hecklerx

[Gizmo]

You can open the boot as high or as low as you want, the beauty of the electric version is if you do not want it open all the way then it will stop wherever you want (unlike a std tailgate that is open or closed)

[hecklerx]

Ah I see, you stop it from the remote or do you have to reach the button on the lower edge of the hatch?

[Gizmo]

You can stop it either way, you can also program the height you wish it to stop at (useful in an overhead restriction)

 

IMO if you want to limit the amount it opens then the electric tailgate is actually beneficial over the std tailgate.

[Gizmo]

Fast forward to 27mins for the tailgate:

 

[hecklerx]

Cheers!