They should be fine. I bought some ebay specials a few weeks ago for £196 for the pair. Local garage fitted them during a service. Tailgate now good as new, no more beeping for manual forcing!!

Just thought I would add my experience with replacing electric tailgate struts to my 2012 Combi. The originals had lasted 12 years and had gradually given up.  First not working in the cold but only in the warm.  Then not working at all requiring manually lifting and closing the tailgate.   

 

 Like others I arrived at eBay with plenty to choose from ranging in price from £113/pair to more than double. Most came with a 1 year warranty, the one seller who was double the price was offering a 10 year warranty.  Having read the small print the warranty was with the seller and not the manufacturer.  The T's & C's stipulated that they had to be fitted by a registered garage, fully receipted etc etc.  There was plenty of small print giving the seller a way out if the terms were not met.  One that basis I decided to take the punt on a pair at £116.  I choose a seller with a long history of trading (10+ years) and good feedback. 

 

I must say they were easy to fit taking no more than 30 mins for the pair and worked straight out of the box.  No coding required, no fault codes to reset, easy peasey.  Only time will tell if they are a good buy, but after a month they are working just great.  I can't remember them being as quiet even when I bought the car when it was 3 years old.  As far as I am concerned a success story.  

 

As I said an anecdotal experience for those undecided as to which way to go.

This seems the topic to ask ... during this weekend's trip, I've noticed for the first time drops and liquid all around the tailgate area. First I thought it was water/condensation, but instead it is oily ... am I to be added to the list of unfortunate victims?

@leolito All I can say is that my struts never leaked any oily substance. As I said in previous post they just gradually deteriorated. 

6 hours ago, Junips99 said:

@leolito All I can say is that my struts never leaked any oily substance. As I said in previous post they just gradually deteriorated. 

 

Same here

Thanks people... next couple days I got some time free off-work and was planning to clean up well the area with some degreaser, and watch it over the next few weeks ... will update if something happens!

Mine failed suddenly in the summer. Another member on here (Paulski) who lives locally to me kindly plugged his laptop to the car and the problem was literally there in black and white. 2 new cheap ebay replacements, which took me less than an hour to fit, and everything was as good as new. All working well nearly 2 months later.