So, it happened to me as well. I tried opening the boot, which opened halfway, and that was it; it can only be opened/closed manually. Hooked it up on diagnostics, and it said "Hall sensor in motor 2 for rear hatch: Open circuit/short circuit to B+". Indicating that one of the wires broke, as it is a common issue.

Now the question: Is there a way to access this wire, disconnect it, and remove the entire strut(motor), without the need to remove the entire plastic side, as it has a lot of work? Is there maybe a manual somewhere on how they do it in service? I didnt have much luck googling.

Thanks.

(p.s. picture is from the internet)

I have the same issue and done some research and found this for the Octavia but it's the same as the Karoq should help you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toYYxcLvA6w

Also found these on eBay https://ebay.us/m/ue1LNE so ordered them should be here in the next 2 days

Skoda Price £565 each

I will keep you posted

Cheers Steve

Edited 16 February16 Feb by stecon29

Unfortunately, for Karoq is much more complex to remove it to access this connector. It's really poorly designed. Entire side has to be removed. Took me ~2 hours to disassemble and assemble. But I managed in the end. Soldered the broken wire, and it is working again.

1 hour ago, eyeofsauron said:

Unfortunately, for Karoq is much more complex to remove it to access this connector. It's really poorly designed. Entire side has to be removed. Took me ~2 hours to disassemble and assemble. But I managed in the end. Soldered the broken wire, and it is working again.

Thanks for the heads up, do you any other pictures of where the connector is and what sequence you removed/replaced the trims

Cheere

1) I have removed the back seat. For me, it's modular, so I can just unhook one seat and remove it.

2) I have removed the handle. Slide the plastic cover from one side with the help of a plastic wrench in order to avoid plastic scratches and damage. The same for the other side.

3) I have removed the lock carrier. Just pull it and it should unclip. No screws there.

4) Remove the bottom C-pillar trim panel. This one was a bit tricky. I have managed just to unhook the upper side and slide it enough to access the screws for the next part.

5) Now, all screws should be accessible to remove the luggage compartment side trim panel. After unscrewing and unhooking it, you can slide it over a seatbelt (as you probably don't want to remove that either).

6) The last part is removing the trim panel of pillar C. After unscrewing and unclippingthe lower parts, I couldn't remove it from the headline or sky, as we call it in my country, so I just used my inflatable bag to expand it enough so my hand could reach the connector.

After this is done, you can access the connector, the only one there, and simply unhook it and pull out the defective strut. You can easily find out how struts are removed from the knobs (hint: just pull the wire).

Connector:

One picture summed up the order:

Edited 17 February17 Feb by eyeofsauron

Thanks for that it will greatly assist when I get my replacement struts hopefully arriving tomorrow will let you know how it goes

It's worth getting the workshop manual for your car. I have one for mine and it's come in handy numerous times - far beyond the initial problem it was bought to fix!

On 17/02/2026 at 20:32, eyeofsauron said:

1) I have removed the back seat. For me, it's modular, so I can just unhook one seat and remove it.

2) I have removed the handle. Slide the plastic cover from one side with the help of a plastic wrench in order to avoid plastic scratches and damage. The same for the other side.

3) I have removed the lock carrier. Just pull it and it should unclip. No screws there.

4) Remove the bottom C-pillar trim panel. This one was a bit tricky. I have managed just to unhook the upper side and slide it enough to access the screws for the next part.

5) Now, all screws should be accessible to remove the luggage compartment side trim panel. After unscrewing and unhooking it, you can slide it over a seatbelt (as you probably don't want to remove that either).

6) The last part is removing the trim panel of pillar C. After unscrewing and unclippingthe lower parts, I couldn't remove it from the headline or sky, as we call it in my country, so I just used my inflatable bag to expand it enough so my hand could reach the connector.

After this is done, you can access the connector, the only one there, and simply unhook it and pull out the defective strut. You can easily find out how struts are removed from the knobs (hint: just pull the wire).

Connector:

One picture summed up the order:

Just to update I manged to fit a new strut to the right hand side it took me around 1 hour thanks to these great instructions all working again, turns out it was a broken wire so I have kept the old strut and will repair it when I get chance so we have a spare one if needed

Buying the ones from eBay and fitting it myself saved me around £1100

Glad to hear that. Cheers 🍻

I wonder if it might be an idea to limit the opening height of the tailgate, to alleviate possible strain on the cabling?

Not sure, could help maybe. I believe the angle on OEM strut cable rubber is designed poorly, with an angle that creates unnecessary tension on the cables. I saw that some non-OEM replacements do not have that angle. So I think they thought it was a feature, but in the end turns out to be a bad design.

E.g:
OEM:

Not OEM:

Edited 21 February21 Feb by eyeofsauron