Bit of help please, the wife's 2007 Roomster Scout tailgate will NOT open. 

 

I can hear the solenoid whirring when the catch is pressed, and again when the middle button of the key is pressed,  BUT it remains firmly closed. 

 

There's nothing caught in the mechanism.

 

The emergency release procedure does nothing

 

There's a flipping dog guard and parcel shelf fitted ... so access ain't great when you're 6'2" !

 

Any suggestions please?

So removing the trim and checking wires where the taligate loom goes into the body revealed no damage, in fact the whole of the tailgate was so clean inside I could have eaten my dinner off it - not bad for a 13yr old car ??

 

The issue appeared to be the tailgate lock, the actuator switch and the number plate lights were all as new.

 

A lot of spray cleaning and grease helped a lot, but occasionally it still sticks - so a new 5J0 827 501B is required 

Lovely to see how clean inside the tailgate is, not at all like my Yeti ! 

Nice photos 🖕

Yes they seem to be a weak point on many cars.My daughters second hand ford fiestas failed at two and a half years.Putting in in under warranty for repair the Ford dealership  rang back to say the battery and windscreen wipers were shot and needed replacing.She agreed to the £40 for the wipers but bulked at the £200 for the new battery.Asking my advice I told her a battery should last more than two and a half years.Using my small  battery tester and later a friends professional tester we confirmed the battery was good for some years to come. She had taken out a enhanced service and mot contract and on ringing the Ford helpline they refunded all her money for this.

Go forward a year my other daughter put her secondhand kia in for service at a main Kia dealership.Guess what on collection they said they had put in a new battery at a cost of £200 .My daughter told them it was new battery.Their reply your husband fitted it wrong! To which she replied no you fitted it new under warranty a year ago, on purchase of the car. The said they could find no record of this.I told my daughter to go back to them and ask them to look under sales warranty.She got her £200 back.

Is this a nationwide dealer scam or just a coincidence?

I know I have gone off thread here put it was just an opportunity to get it off my chest.

bobspark - scammers, they're everywhere!

I had the same with Toyota a few years ago, while I was waiting for a (warranty) service on my elderly mother's car which had under 5k from new.

I watched them pull the same "discs and pads urgently require replacement, we won't let you drive away like this" a few times - they were too stupid to realize I was watching this happen to other customers. 

So ... when it was my turn I asked to see the parts they had taken off the car. I asked the manager to attend with a ruler, I took photos of him holding the ruler against the pads and sent them to trading standards with my signed statement for prosecution. 

 

So the used part arrived yesterday, I took the opportunity to fill it with white lithium grease before fitting.

 

All back together within 10 mins and working again, which is nice 

My daughter went for an MOT, they said the discs and pads were worn out, she rang me and I turned up at Q******t with a vernier and asked them what the Manufacturer's recommended wear limit is on the Discs, lot of bluster and end of argument, but how many people agree to replacements.

I had a puncture on a Sunday (sidewall) the only place open was the aforementioned Q******t,  I rang them, got a price, made an appointment, and turned up, I ended up having a blazing row with the staff over the hard sell techniques they were trying to pull, this was all in front of other victims (Customers), I said if I employed them they would both be sacked, but on reflection they were just doing what they'd been told to do.

If you employed them you would be praising them, paying them a bonus, puting their photo up as employee of the month, encouraging them to screw even more customers next month or it would be you getting the sack

 

Minimum disc thickness is usually stamped on the hub boss or rim of disc.

Edited 22 April, 20206 yr by J.R.