Auto tailgate closing - doesn’t respond to obstruction

[z00ber]

Hi all. Bought a second hand low mileage Superb 3 estate, SE L which has been specced with loads of extras. Very pleased, great car. I have a question/issue which doesn’t seem to feature in any manuals or in forums.

When closing the powered tailgate from the fob, the boot lid doesn’t seem to respond to obstructions and will force itself closed. It’s fine when closing with the button on the lid itself, seems to be fob only. Is this normal?

[CheshireBumpkin]

I know it takes one heck of a lot of obstruction to stop it on mine - however the close is instigated. I love the convenience, but think it's incredibly dangerous that the sensors are so insensitive.

[S00perb]

Dog tail docking insensitive? That would be bad

[CheshireBumpkin]

2 hours ago, S00perb said:

Dog tail docking insensitive? That would be bad

 

'Dread to think about it' insensitive - never mind just the poor thing's tail. Thankfully mine is an old girl who dutifully goes and sits at the back of the boot when I put her in, but if I had a young or unknown dog there's no way I'd put them in the boot loose - I'd have to use a cage.

[z00ber]

It’ll stop mid-close with just a light tug from a single finger under the boot rim normally, no issues at all with the sensitivity if it’s being closed from the button. It’s just using the remote which causes it to not respond. Just wondered if anyone knew of a security measure that’s in place or had any differing experiences. Am keen to avoid canine dismemberment, keener still to avoid it with my toddler. Keys will have to stay well and truly out of reach until resolved. I’ll chat with a dealer, thanks all

 

[CheshireBumpkin]

1 hour ago, z00ber said:

It’ll stop mid-close with just a light tug from a single finger under the boot rim normally, no issues at all with the sensitivity if it’s being closed from the button. 

 

 

That's interesting - mine I had to fight with two hands to get it to stop, and that's when closing with the button. Your comment suggests I have a sensor issue that I need to mention next time it's at the dealers.

 

Anyone else have any feedback on how sensitive (or otherwise) their boot is to obstructions when closed with the button? 

[FelisBengalensis]

Needs a fair bit of force on mine.  Certainly not a single finger stop!  Mine only closes on the button as I don’t have the ‘fob close’ function.

Edited 16 October, 2017 by FelisBengalensis

[knfruitbat]

Mine is different depending on how far down it is. Nearer to closed the easier it is to stop, don't think it makes a difference how I go about making it close. Near the top where it hits your head it gives you a really good hit before it stops, but at the bottom a freezer bag stops it from shutting. Would rather it bash my head than crush my kids fingers so going to leave it as it is.

[Smudgers]

Interesting subject that has been in my mind for some time.

So at the Goodwood festival of speed this year I decided that I would test as many cars as I could to see resistance needed to stop a closing tailgate.

 

Best Audi Q series - featherlight touch and it stoped

All the rest (Ford, Bentley, Vauxhall, Rolls Royce, Masserati, Range Rover etc) needed a similar amount of force to my car.

 

So I'm happy to report that Skodas operate the same as cars costing many times more

 

On the down side I think that the force required to stop operation is excessive. And I still don't understand why I can't close my sunroof when locking the car. People /  pets are far more likely to get hit by a closing tailgate than stuck in a unroof closing from tilt position (unless your pet is a Stick insect !!)

 

Surley someone  must make a torque sensor for the motor thats configerable.

[Zenbasses]

Always wondered why Skoda decided it was a good idea to ditch the sensors from the MKII and not fit them to MKIII.

 

My previous MKII's boot was really responsive to even the slightest of resistance and was thoroughly dog tail tested ...

 

With my new car I haven't managed to stop it yet on fear of applying too much force and breaking something....needless to say the dogs have to be told to lie down before closing....a bit of pain....

 

Really needs addressing and a min standard needs applying across the industry..

 

The lengths of safety testing a modern car goes through I am surprised it hasn't been addressed already.

[Zenbasses]

6 hours ago, Smudgers said:

And I still don't understand why I can't close my sunroof when locking the car

 

The one thing I miss the most about my MKII is not having the pano roof on my new car...but in the MK2 it most certainly close/open with the global opening/closing of windows via the key.

Edited 19 October, 2017 by Zenbasses

[Smudgers]

I had a MKII with same pano roof aswell - so its all very frustrating.

[Baffy]

Is there a fix for the tailgate not sopping when it senses an obstruction?

 

Mine has closed on back of my head and two occasions and doesn't seem to want to stop before pushing me down. I think i've possibly had key in pocket both times and assumed I must have accidentally pressed button on fob whilst leaning into boot space.  I also have the foot waggling sensor  - does this also activate closure?  Rest of car has been locked and so did wonder if tailgate closes automatically after a while.

[JR RS]

4 hours ago, Baffy said:

I also have the foot waggling sensor  - does this also activate closure?  

 

this will do it. 

Especially when u lean right up against the boot to reach something at the back, it can trigger the virtual pedal to close the boot.  as long as u have the keys in the vicinity/pocket.

 

i've done this a few times.  
so now i'm concious as to where my feet r placed when booting around.

Edited 16 May, 2018 by JR RS

[z00ber]

I never did get around to speaking with the dealer. Annoyingly I had a snag list which I completely forgot to put the boot issue onto.

Funnily enough I had another look at this yesterday, after I couldn’t stop it from closing after my little girl ran behind it. Tested it a few times and it seemed to vary in how it responded on each test. On each test the closure was activated from the boot button and not the fob (incidentally, I have leant over a few times with the key in my pocket and have released/closed the boot unintentionally. I’m interested in knfruitbat’s observation about how the sensitivity varies depending on height, I’ll do some more digging. Keen to get to the bottom of this