VW ID.4

It’s a pity there isn’t an option to replace it with a manual (push) latch.

I saw a photo of a faulty actuator that looked water-damaged. If that’s a reason they fail, hopefully the silicone oil will be enough to repel water while the charge door is open.

I can't say if it will go but it is a common point of failure. The only thing you are avoiding by doing it in advance is potentially not breaking the plastic outer cover (body panel) but if you know what you're doing you can remove that without breaking it when it's locked closed. Mine broke the night before a long trip so I had to force it open, breaking the cover and the locking tab in the process

In any case, I found that there was no realistic way of getting to the actuator without cutting and breaking the plastic surround and hinge so I ended up buying the whole assembly actuator included. Others here have posted previously that they managed it but my opinion is that you need specific VW tools and clip openers and/or strong abrasion resistant fingers to do it. I had neither.

The assembly including actuator is about €120 (11A809857E) but the actuator alone is less than €20 iirc.

So in short, I'd leave it until it breaks, but watch a video to learn how the body panel can be removed. That way you'll know how to approach the problem if it arises and do the least amount of damage.

Also, if you're buying used, you'll know if it's been done if the sticker that explains what the charging light means isn't present. The sticker doesn't come applied to an OEM spare.

My Husand has an ID4 and 3 times recently the car door has just randomly refused to open with key fob?

Has this happened to anyone else? Its not the battery in key fob and just happens randomly.

The last time it happened we were there for a good 10mins in lashing rain as he had to manual try open the car which took a while.

I'd a few choices words about the car after that!

I've told him to get onto Garage as only a year old but sure I might aswell be talking to wall 🤨

Thanks, have emailed a few places. The place I brought my wife's Leaf to before seemed to respray the whole bumper, it was expensive enough and didn't look brilliant. Started to peal a bit at the edges after time also.

I'd definitely keep ringing around places. I managed to scratch up my old Leaf against a pillar and the repair estimates ranged from €500 to €1500

There's a whole bunch of ways you can fix it. I think the "proper" way to do it is to respray almost the whole front quarter of the car to blend in the different paint colours

However you could probably get about 90% there with a polish and then just filling in the exposed bit with the matching paint.

I think that's basically what the guy ended up doing on my Leaf (and was the cheapest option)

It isn't perfect, but 5 years later and it's still almost impossible to spot

What's the repayments like on that deal?

Liam is correct, 3.8 is the latest for the older hardware

It could still be running 3.7,it's worth getting it updated because otherwise the car might lose connectivity with the upcoming 2G/3G switch-off