Rear tambour door

[sebking]

Opened it and closed it this morning demoing the gas location to a friend and the door broke, split between the ali and plastic.

No way to fix so gaffer tape now used. What do you reckon - warranty ? It's been a bit broken anyway I think.

Annoyed.

 

[m4rky]

Definitely warranty - The part must be fit for purpose and be able to withstand everyday use

 

[sebking]

Will phone dealer on weds and discuss. Either way needs fixing grrrr

 

[california180]

The main problem with that door is that it is designed to not open fully to a right angle so that if left open by mistake the tailgate can push it out the way rather than cause damage.......but until you get used to it you automatically try to open that bit further :x

Chris

 

[sebking]

That bit is fine.

 

[NZgypsy]

Happened to me too. Door split when closing after having filled up the gas bottle. Replaced under warranty. The new door has a clear strap on the inside so that all the pressure is not borne by the rubber between the aluminium door strips.

All good now.

 

[sebking]

One for Wednesday. Gaffer good for now!

 

[sebking]

Been to local van centre and they are ordering a new door

In addition the Wardrobe door has a small crack on the edge by the handle and also there's a little crack on the lock surround on one of the sliding doors - also they say they will do under warranty.

for note the wardrobe door is £400! the Sliding door £450 and the rear tambour do £60.. ouch so get anything fixed why mr VW is paying chaps.

 

[smgcowfoldparts]

Yes the cupboard doors are very expensive indeed. Don't too many of them to be honest.

cheers

 

[SimplyDubs]

I've recently put gaffer tape on the inside of the doors as a precaution.

Kind of like the strap on the newer models.

Helps spread the load from joining strips between the slats.

Don't know if it really makes any difference, but it can't hurt ;-)

 

[sebking]

Am going to do the gaffer prevention on the larger door today. The rear is being replaced under warranty together with the wardrobe door and one cabinet sliding on 25th all under warranty

 

[sebking]

all fixed! three new doors

also picked up a set of mud flaps

 

[Stu]

A nice result

 

[sebking]

they forgot to order the mirror though! so need to pop back to sort but we've also never used that mirror! Nearly £1K to fix them, glad for that three yr warranty!

 

[sdes]

I've recently put gaffer tape on the inside of the doors as a precaution.

Kind of like the strap on the newer models.

Helps spread the load from joining strips between the slats.

Don't know if it really makes any difference, but it can't hurt ;-)

I know this is long dead as a topic, but as mine broke a couple of weeks back I was just looking and saw this.

Yes, the straps sound like a very good idea, almost as if the original VW design wasn't fit for purpose. Unfortunately mine is a 2007 model - but well looked after etc. Looking at the design of the door I would have to say "optimistic" is the best description of the door design. Super thin rubber holding the vertical slats together.

At north of £400 for a replacement, I'm not surprised there's not a huge demand for them!

Stephen

 

[motacyclist]

I know this is long dead as a topic,

Worth bringing up again though, I wasn't aware of this potential problem

 

[Erbster]

The sliding door on my MY17 Ocean has now come apart. I’m about to go away, so I’ll do the gaffer tape trick and speak to the dealer when we come back. It doesn’t slide very easily, so there’s quite a bit of strain between the sections, which only seem to be held together by heavy duty sellotape. I think the recent hot weather has softened the adhesive. Poor show.

 

[sdes]

The truth is that the VW design for the tambour doors is absolutely woeful. Traditionally there should be a tension element along the midline of the door section. The "tension member" for the VW tambour door is the tape on the inside of the door, and guess what, the door has a thickness, so where is the tension, around the extended side/outside.
VW should be ashamed that ten years after they first launched the California with this flawed design they haven't improved it - easier to fit LED running lights for the brochure photos and fake diesel tests than solve real issues I suppose.
The replacement door I bought about 18 months ago (when I previously posted on this thread) and must have been opened much less than 100 times has just failed.

 

[WelshGas]

It's like most things in life. How many such doors fail in practise compared to how many do not.? As long as the number is a small % then VW are not going to go to the trouble of redesigning, re-tooling and manufacture etc:
And I'm afraid that the number of Posts on a Forum are not a real indication unless very significant. I've not had any problems and both my doors open easily and run freely. Maybe it is not the door but the runners etc: or the way it is being used, packed etc: especially if, as above, the doors have failed twice in 18 months and the only common factor is the same vehicle etc:.

 

[Max-Felix]

I risk the wrath of some (especially who posted above with broken parts) but yes, the Cali is built 'light' and so much could be improved but if operated with care, sympathy and in the correct manner as they are designed the doors are perfectly up to the job IME....

 

[larrylamb]

The sliding door on my MY17 Ocean has now come apart. I’m about to go away, so I’ll do the gaffer tape trick and speak to the dealer when we come back. It doesn’t slide very easily, so there’s quite a bit of strain between the sections, which only seem to be held together by heavy duty sellotape. I think the recent hot weather has softened the adhesive. Poor show.

I had my rear tambour door replaced under warranty. It wasn't a big job and when I inquired as to the cost out of warranty the parts were in the region of £75. Keeping the guide rails clean and using a silicone spray helps with free movement.

 

[sdes]

I suppose I would argue that not all, or even most, of the doors need to fail for the design to be regarded as flawed, just a significant proportion, I think we are seeing that. (And of course, VW don't mind provided they make it through the warranty period because then its just extra bubbly for the Xmas party.)

If it was a safety issue, which clearly this isn't, it could just take a single incidence for recall.

I completely agree that some of the California elements are built "light" and are not abuse-proof, but the cupboard doors should be suited to being opened and closed regularly as part of normal use, it is a door after all.

As an industrial designer myself, with a specialism for mechanisms, I'm pretty aware of how to open and close doors etc in a "sympathetic" manner, and that is what I do. (and, at the risk of sounding arrogant, how to design a tambour door for that matter - they definitely had the B team and the accountant looking over their shoulder on this one!)

I guess our van, being one of the old non-warranty rustbucket 2007 models, and at 140k miles, has had much more use than most, but particularly since having to replace the door 18months back, we've been incredibly careful with the new one. Silicone oiled the tracks top and bottom to reduce friction to the minimum during install etc. make sure never to over-pack the cupboard so things don't rest on the door (another design fault really), but the 0.2mm thick "living hinge" still tore/failed - it was cold, so I guess it had diminished elasticity at the time.

Anyhow, pleased to hear there are plenty that haven't failed, I'll try to be happy for you!

 

[jts46]

My 2006 cali arrived with it split (fastened with gaffer tape) replaced on first service has been fine since.

 

[Ian789]

Just had mine replaced under warranty. 67 plate. Even with care the last 2 sections came apart from the rest. Noticed the tape didn't extend to the edge of these section so maybe a weak point. Fixed with no issue at local VW. Sure the doors on our 56 plate california had different tape. Had no problems with the tambour doors in the 8 years we had it.

 

[sdes]

The bit I didn't mention about the design....that tape, it wasn't on the original door - certainly wasn't on my 2007 model. Only on the replacement rear cupboard door that I bought were there a couple of pieces of tape poorly adhered to the inside, 20 pence worth perhaps at hight street price.
It is a "bodge fix" for a flawed design, a bit like putting a bit of string behind a low quality zip so when the zip fails, at least its not a catastrophic "wardrobe malfunction"....does anyone imagine that VW's design intent was to have a tambour door with a couple of bits of gaffer tape to provide structural integrity in a £60k vehicle?
Nope, but its a lot cheaper to slap a bit of gaffer tape on there as it goes down the production line than to re-tool the multi-thousand dollar twin shot injection moulding tool for the thermoplastic elastomer part of that assembly that is too weak.
A better physical, although aesthetically flawed, fix with their gaffer tape, would be to put it on the outside of the bend where it would actually do some work in normal use. As it is, on the inside of radius, it ends up normally in compression rather than tension and as anyone who has tried pushing rather than pulling on a piece of gaffer tape knows, that's not what its best at!
It is a "belt and braces" solution, when the elastomer rips, it limits the size of the gap that opens up, (provided it sticks of course, which it didn't on the replacement I purchased), so hopefully the owner doesn't notice or complain, a bit like the diesel emissions, and VW stay profitable, albeit with limited ability for their ex CEOs to travel freely in the US ;-)

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/busines...arrant-former-vw-chief-winterkorn-dieselgate/