Hi guys first post on here though I have been a long term viewer. My gas struts failed so I had to replace them. Instead of going to the stealers I opted for sgs engineering struts. They have never been right and are in my oppinion too powerful near the full extension.

Now the nipple on one side has come loose again, went to retighten it and now I have nowhere to tighten the bolt into.

My question is there a nut on the inside which holds it in place? If so how do I get to it to refit the nipple? I'm pretty sure it doesn't bolt into the car body itself.

We have an 8 week old baby and we desperately need to use the boot (well my other half does)

Yes there is a captive nut on the inside for it to bolt to.

And how do I gain access to refit it? I've taken the trim off inside and can not see a way of getting to it. I'm assuming it's fallen into the depths of the panel now, so I expect I'll have to get a new one and ideas where from??

Its a captive nut. Its swaged into the body. The idea is you dont need to tighten it.

Off to the stealers I go then, hopefully it's covered under the 12 month used car warranty?!?!

May want to consider putting the original struts back on rather than replacement items. Don't want to provide any "outs" for warranty claims. The captive nut coming loose seems relatively common, Imagine it is a PITA to refit something.   There was another post listing only a few days back AFAIR.

Quick update: just popped to my local dealers, they disagreed that there is a captive nut on the inside of the bodywork. luckily I still have my spanner in the boot so I removed the other side and showed them.

Apparently it's not covered under the used car warranty BUT if I booked my service with them then they would do it for free. Bit odd. Major service booked and hopefully headache resolved. (wouldn't normally use a dealer but car has full skoda history)