auto tailgate

[MJW]

Mine will sometimes not open on first keyfob press. Is this linked to whether the car is unlocked or not?

I just press it again and it will open. tailgate opens first time everytime from the cabin button.

Same here. I personally think it makes no difference whether the car is locked or unlocked. Sometimes the first press while the car is locked will work & other times mutiple attempts while I am right next to the car won't work. Would have been quicker to just walk up & open it manually. If it is intended to be able to operate while the car is locked then this function should work 99% of the time, not 50% as is my case. Besides that I do wish it had a soft close. I can see the hard close being an issue once the mechanism & locks where over time.

[Riker]

I will second, third, fourth & fifth Hillbillies comments about the manual. Read it as everything you need to know is in it..

Re tailgate opening with remote when car is locked..... When locked you need to press the remote button down longer than you would otherwise if the car was unlocked. That means keep holding down the remote button until the tailgate begins to open. It is a safety & security feature I learned about when talking to a VW head office tech manager. A normal push of the remote button will only disengage the tailgate not open it from the dead lock as some of you have written about.

[Guest001]

I will second, third, fourth & fifth Hillbillies comments about the manual. Read it as everything you need to know is in it..

Re tailgate opening with remote when car is locked..... When locked you need to press the remote button down longer than you would otherwise if the car was unlocked. That means keep holding down the remote button until the tailgate begins to open. It is a safety feature I learned about when talking to a VW head office tech manager. A normal push of the remote button will only disengage the tailgate not open it from the dead lock as some of you have written about.

Thank you for that, makes my post a bit more valid.

[nyc863]

I will second, third, fourth & fifth Hillbillies comments about the manual. Read it as everything you need to know is in it..

Re tailgate opening with remote when car is locked..... When locked you need to press the remote button down longer than you would otherwise if the car was unlocked. That means keep holding down the remote button until the tailgate begins to open. It is a safety & security feature I learned about when talking to a VW head office tech manager. A normal push of the remote button will only disengage the tailgate not open it from the dead lock as some of you have written about.

That sounds so simple but there must be more going on.

Looking down at the key if you press tailgate unlock and see one red flash nothing happens. (unlike with door lock/unlock where one red flash is enough). This is the same whether the car is locked or unlocked. So already you have to hold your thumb down to make something happen, to get two red flashes, not one.
If I do get two red flashes, something happens.
Sometimes, that something is opening the tailgate, other times, it is not opening the tailgate just a mechanical noise.

If I close the gate, lock the car (press Lock), wait, then open tailgate (two red flashes) it opens immediate, it doesn't do any safety or security thing. I just tried it. The behaviour is identical if the car is unlocked.

Whether or not the magic safety "I need to be persuaded to open" thing happens after a long delay being locked, I'll have to experiment with later however I've decided right now that whatever bizarre system they've put into place and poorly documented, is counter intuitive and annoying.

Is it possible your vw tech manager was trying to avoid looking into an issue? just a thought..

[MJW]

I will second, third, fourth & fifth Hillbillies comments about the manual. Read it as everything you need to know is in it..

Re tailgate opening with remote when car is locked..... When locked you need to press the remote button down longer than you would otherwise if the car was unlocked. That means keep holding down the remote button until the tailgate begins to open. It is a safety & security feature I learned about when talking to a VW head office tech manager. A normal push of the remote button will only disengage the tailgate not open it from the dead lock as some of you have written about.

I read the manual from cover to cover when I picked up the car & don't recall anything mentioned about the auto tailgate functionality & correct opening/closing process when car is locked/unlocked. Nor did the manual mention that you don't have to keep the key depressed when starting the car. I will have another scan through but as per my previous comment, sometimes I am beside the car with my thumb buried into the middle button for 5+ seconds & it is simply not recognised.

The normal lock & unlock buttons are very precise & there is no doubt to me the opening of the tailgate is suspect to say the least.

Anyone remember the original B7 VW ads when the guy is running to the back of his Passat wagon in the rain & presses the button & is saved getting wet by the tailgate as it opens in time? Let's just say I would get wet more time than not.

[Guest001]

I read the manual from cover to cover when I picked up the car & don't recall anything mentioned about the auto tailgate functionality & correct opening/closing process when car is locked/unlocked. Nor did the manual mention that you don't have to keep the key depressed when starting the car. I will have another scan through but as per my previous comment, sometimes I am beside the car with my thumb buried into the middle button for 5+ seconds & it is simply not recognised.

The normal lock & unlock buttons are very precise & there is no doubt to me the opening of the tailgate is suspect to say the least.

Anyone remember the original B7 VW ads when the guy is running to the back of his Passat wagon in the rain & presses the button & is saved getting wet by the tailgate as it opens in time? Let's just say I would get wet more time than not.

Tailgate info is on page 60 but as you say does not differentiate between lock states.
I also think the distance you are from the car can make a difference Why I dont know but it seems to.

Maybe a long press upsets it as that is used to set the height

[MJW]

Tailgate info is on page 80 but as you say does not differentiate between lock states.
I also think the distance you are from the car can make a difference Why I dont know but it seems to.

Maybe a long press upsets it as that is used to set the height

Cheers Hillbilly. So a 2-3 second press is the ideal? What distance do you suggest before pressing the button?

[Guest001]

Cheers Hillbilly. So a 2-3 second press is the ideal? What distance do you suggest before pressing the button?

Well I tried it an hour ago from about 4 m away and it opened right up with a short press It says to set height a 3-4sec press so I guess a bit less than that would work Not something I worry about If it doesnt open press it again. Fixes it. What do you measn about not depressing the key to start car You have to push it right in on mine but I dont have Kessy

Corrected prev post as should have been page 60 for info on tailgate

[MJW]

What do you measn about not depressing the key to start car You have to push it right in on mine but I dont have Kessy

You are going to love this function! Put your foot on the brake pedal, & push the key into the slot as far as it can go & immediately let it go. The car will start. Would have been handy for the manual to advise that. Did you also know that you can lock the car once you get out & the drivers door has been shut even though your passengers doors or tailgate is not yet shut. You will hear the locking mechansim engage & once all doors/tailgate is shut the indicators will blink. Again another feature that isn't properly explained & very handy IMO.

[Guest001]

You are going to love this function! Put your foot on the brake pedal, & push the key into the slot as far as it can go & immediately let it go. The car will start. Would have been handy for the manual to advise that. Did you also know that you can lock the car once you get out & the drivers door has been shut even though your passengers doors or tailgate is not yet shut. You will hear the locking mechansim engage & once all doors/tailgate is shut the indicators will blink. Again another feature that isn't properly explained & very handy IMO.

Thought that was perfectly normal As with a normal key just turn it to start and as soon as it kicks let it go Yes noticed that about locking. Also if you unlock car and dont open a door it will relock in a very short time.

If you lock keys in the car and it deadlocks you are stuffed unless you have the spare key

[MJW]

Thought that was perfectly normal As with a normal key just turn it to start and as soon as it kicks let it go

What I meant was you don't have to hold the key in until it starts. If you just press & let go, provided your foot was on the brake pedal then the car will crank over automatically without the need to keep the key depressed.

[wind]

What I meant was you don't have to hold the key in until it starts. If you just press & let go, provided your foot was on the brake pedal then the car will crank over automatically without the need to keep the key depressed.

It is the combination of brake being pressed + key being pressed together that does it. Does not matter which one you let go first/last as the engine start is automatic once you have achieved the combination of brake pressed and key pressed.

With a diesel, I find that when doing a cold start or first start in the morning there is a second or three delay while it gets its act together (i.e. glow pug gets warmed up). So what I do is keep the key pressed in all the way and then when the glow plug light goes out I dab the brake pedal and let go of both brake pedal and key - the engine cranks and starts on its own. Once the engine is warm (or has been sitting for less than a couple of hours), starting it is pretty much instant.

If I do not wait for the glow plug light to go out, then it will not start at all (a little something that I got used to pretty quickly). So have to wait until the glow plug is ready (light goes out) to start.

[booba]

Also, if you switch into a gear too soon the car will cancel the starting.

It is the combination of brake being pressed + key being pressed together that does it. Does not matter which one you let go first/last as the engine start is automatic once you have achieved the combination of brake pressed and key pressed.

With a diesel, I find that when doing a cold start or first start in the morning there is a second or three delay while it gets its act together (i.e. glow pug gets warmed up). So what I do is keep the key pressed in all the way and then when the glow plug light goes out I dab the brake pedal and let go of both brake pedal and key - the engine cranks and starts on its own. Once the engine is warm (or has been sitting for less than a couple of hours), starting it is pretty much instant.

If I do not wait for the glow plug light to go out, then it will not start at all (a little something that I got used to pretty quickly). So have to wait until the glow plug is ready (light goes out) to start.

[Riker]

nyc, was it possible the tech manager was stuff'n me around, no. I didn't have any issue that needed looking at I was just asking him random questions. He was at the dealership teaching the dealer principal & service manager something or other so I asked questions.

Regarding the feature for the tailgate opening when locked, I just tried it again on my wagon. Car locked, press down tailgate button for 2-3 seconds first it disengages then it opens, release thumb off button as it opens. In the Passat advert where the guy is running to an opening tailgate in the rain that IMHO is spot on & would work for me on my wagon if I ever needed it. Possibly a matter of timing, who knows & it is possible that it reacts differently on some Passats & not others..... When you locked the car one press activates the deadlock, a second press deactivates the deadlock but the car remains locked. Odd.....

Re the manual, I should have said all the major stuff is in it. When you play around with a major feature that is when the other features hiding within it are revealed. It is those features hiding within a feature that are often not in the manual. Sometimes finding extra features within a feature isn't at all intuitive but once you stumble across it is one of those times you say to yourself "ah, that makes sense".... I have spent hours playing & often said that to myself.

Re pushing the key in then letting it go straight away to start the car, someone here mentioned this a few months ago in another thread. Dealer mentioned it to me during the handover spiel.

We will forever stumble across new things we didn't know the day before & I expect this was in the minds of the VW tech boffins in Germany when they designed all this stuff. Gotta keep the owners interested...