My battery was dead in Luton Airport Long Term Car Park when I came home from holiday. I opened the door using the keyhole on the driver’s side handle. (Right Hand Drive). All the other doors remained locked. 

I couldn’t pop the bonnet handle In the passenger’s side footwell because it was
blocked by the passenger door which has to be opened first to get access, but because of the dead battery would not open at all because it was locked. 
The AA man came and had to forcibly bend the bonnet handle enough to be able to open it and Jump start the car.

He said it happened a lot in that car park because the nearby jet noise set the alarms off so much that the batteries ran down.

The bonnet handle on the left side at the footwell is obviously fine in a left hand drive car which has the emergency keyhole in the handle on that side, but not when the car is right hand drive with the keyhole in the handle on that side. 

This is obviously a design fault and I’ll have to switch off the car alarm every time I leave the car now in case it happens again, unless anybody else has a solution.

 

 

A exterior 12v feed to the console socket would have been sufficient to unlock the doors, no?

Edited 28 November, 20196 yr by Berisford

10 minutes ago, Berisford said:

A exterior 12v feed to the console socket would have been sufficient to unlock the doors, no?

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

32 minutes ago, ballcock said:

This is obviously a design fault and I’ll have to switch off the car alarm every time I leave the car now in case it happens again, unless anybody else has a solution.

I'd have thought is was by design but without thinking through the consequences - as you've found out.

I had exactly the same problem when my battery failed. 

 

Sometimes brute force is the only option

 

My AA man was well aware of the issue.....having experienced the problem many times. 

17 minutes ago, john999boy said:

Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

The OP was, I thought, asking for possible solutions?

11 minutes ago, Berisford said:

The OP was, I thought, asking for possible solutions?

I was agreeing with you.

Sometimes, especially when you've just encountered 'the problem' and hence being flustered, certain (very good) solutions are not thought of in preference to what is presumed to be the correct one.

 

My last post was referring to the handle being disabled as a security feature so that the bonnet couldn't be opened without that door being open - think smashed window not making it possible.

Thanks Berrisford.
That sounds a sensible solution.

I’d have thought the AA mechanic who came out would have thought of that but he didn’t.

Pushing 12v via a cigarette socket could risk damage to the canbus system and I'm not surprised the AA won't risk that. What they do know is that a good yank on the handle works ....and if it goes wrong they are only having to sort out a broken handle or cable.

Thanks 33q.

I think I’ll just go with disabling the alarm if I leave the car close to where the private jets are  leaving and arriving alongside the Luton Airport Long Term Car Park.

53 minutes ago, 33q said:

Pushing 12v via a cigarette socket could risk damage to the canbus system and I'm not surprised the AA won't risk that. What they do know is that a good yank on the handle works ....and if it goes wrong they are only having to sort out a broken handle or cable.

 

I'd agree if the socket was a 'smart' device and could shut itself down after a predetermined time or if it shut down with the ignition but that baby is live all the time and I'm 99.9% sure it has a simple direct circuit/route to the battery.............I'll look into it in case I find myself in the same predicament.

18 minutes ago, Berisford said:

 

I'd agree if the socket was a 'smart' device and could shut itself down after a predetermined time or if it shut down with the ignition but that baby is live all the time and I'm 99.9% sure it has a simple direct circuit/route to the battery.............I'll look into it in case I find myself in the same predicament.

You are correct the 12V socket has nothing to do with the canbus and a lot of owners use the socket to keep their battery topped up using solar or smart chargers.

It is possible to realease the handle and pull it forward to clear the door trim the handle is in two parts, you have to remove the handle to remove the trim panel  but there is enough on the splines to slide it out .

3 hours ago, Berisford said:

 

I'd agree if the socket was a 'smart' device and could shut itself down after a predetermined time or if it shut down with the ignition but that baby is live all the time and I'm 99.9% sure it has a simple direct circuit/route to the battery.............I'll look into it in case I find myself in the same predicament.

 

Yes, the cigarette socket is live all the time.

I have a voltmeter permanently connected to it, so I can monitor the battery no-load voltage through the side window when the car stays parked for several days following a few short trips.

All well saying feed thru 12v socket but that means having to carry around a power source and making sure it's always topped up.

 

Perhaps I'm being niave but if the recovery guy managed to bend the lever past the trim isn't that the solution?

 

Has anyone thought of asking Skoda what you do?

AA man called to an airport to a car with dead battery, my money is on him having a power source.

 

AgedBriar. I have done exactly the same, I even know now to wait till the glowplugs have done their stuff and the voltage rises back again before cranking the engine when the battery gets down to 12.1volts, it will always start but it avoids fault code city and the dashboard lighting up like a christmas tree.

 

I need a new battery, correction, I had a new battery until I left the sidelights on all night and made the mistake of trying to start it when it was too far discharged, bought the voltmeter too late to save this one but it wont happen again and it will help me nurse the maximum life from it.

 

The battery management system saves me if I leave the interior lights on or the bootlid open but not from sidelights being left on, probably a safety measure.

Not a new issue I'm afraid. This same design flaw was first introduced back in 2015 with the launch of the MkIII Octavia...

 

 

Skoda obviously didn't see it as significant enough to fix it on future models.

 

The AA and RAC have been bending the handles for years. Some more sympathetic crews have used their diagnostics equipment to generate just enough power to operate the central locking.

My initial reaction was why not lean across from the drivers side and just open the passenger door. Didn't realise this wasn't possible.

 

tom

With dead battery all the other doors can’t unlock. I tried!

Does seem strange why they fitted it to the passenger side on the Karoq, when they went to the effort of moving it to the drivers side on the Kodiaq.

The last time I was in Arnie C Inverness Skoda I couldn't help but smile when one of the salesmen went to open the bonnet of a Superb estate finding that when he opened the passenger front door there was no lever to pull because it was on the drivers side, it should be the same for RHD Karoqs.

Maybe they’ll redesign it for RHD Karoqs sometime. (I like my Karoq very much and didn’t need anything bigger like the Kodiac)

Eventually got a reply back from Skoda UK regarding the flat battery and bonnet release lever being on the LHS scenario, the reply was most heartening:

 

I have discussed your email with our Technical Support Team who has confirmed your observation. The vehicles are Manufactured in the Czech Republic and the manufacturer takes into account that the majority of the countries are left hand drive.

 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any other queries. Thank you for contacting ŠKODA UK and have a Merry Christmas.
 

Kind regards

Customer Relations Manager
ŠKODA UK | Selectapost 34 | Sheffield | S97 3FA
Tel:  0333 0037504  

 

 

Yeah right, Merry Christmas Skoda CZ

 

 

Good old Skoda customer services, fresh out of university, so much to learn!

 

All Skoda models are built overseas, presumably therefore in locations where the traffic drives and the steering wheel is on the right.

 

Yet on UK-bound Kodiaq's the bonnet release is on the same side as the steering wheel (right hand side), and on mainland Europe models the bonnet release is moved to the opposite to match the steering wheel (left hand side).

 

Seems Skoda were over budget during the Karoq's development and something had to give, the bonnet release location was a Friday afternoon job or they forgot to sack the bloke who made the same mistake on the MkIII Octavia.

 

I find Skoda UK's woeful response more annoying than the location of the lever 😂

 

Edited 24 December, 20196 yr by silver1011

Last Thursday when returning to Heathrow I got to the car (wifes Karoq - first time I had used it for the airport) - car opened - loaded luggage.

 

Got in pressed the on button - Christmas tree of lights and no sign of it wanting to start.

 

As car had unlocked was able to get bonnet open

 

Went to office - borrowed jump pack - able to get car started on third attempt.

 

Left it ticking over for 10 minutes - disconnected the jump pack...

 

Closed bonnet...

 

Car would not move - (DSG) - one of the low battery voltage alarms had disabled the transmission....

 

So called Skoda Assist (AA) and he was suprised car unlocked - we jump started it again and left it tick over.. he was aware of the issue with the bonnet handle and said the same - in most cases it can be bent enough to open..

 

He read codes - reset transmission one and advised take it to the dealers to be checked out why battery discharged.

 

Drove 137 miles home..

 

Dropped it int to the dealers next day... they checked it - diagnosed issue was the dash cam... because I had connected it to fuse 40 (12V sockets) - the battery management had not been able to shut the power to it down....causing flat battery..

 

So moved to fuse 47...

 

So 12V sockets are definately permanent live.