Hi, has anyone else experienced damage to their tailgate before? I am not sure if its just general damage/rust or whether the tailgate catches the bumper when it closes maybe? any ideas?

We've got that on ours, which is mostly driven by my wife. I suspect on ours that it might be down to jewellery catching on it, wedding and engagement rings etc. I normally grab the door on the inside and/or hand on the number plate to close the tailgate.

By the way the other place to look on the tailgate is round the edges of the rear trim that has the release catch in it.

Mine did exactly the same. The black rubber scuff plate on the bumper seems to rise up slightly over time. Its often dirty and I think the grit slowly wore the paint away to the metal. I screwed the plate down more firmly and repainted the door edge. It now just clears the rubber. Jules

Mine did exactly the same. The black rubber scuff plate on the bumper seems to rise up slightly over time. Its often dirty and I think the grit slowly wore the paint away to the metal. I screwed the plate down more firmly and repainted the door edge. It now just clears the rubber.

https://www.freel2.com/forum/topic35267.html?highlight=tailgate

Mine is red too - is that a factor ?


oops double post Jules

Last edited by jules on 22nd May 2023 9:28 pm. Edited 1 time in total

All three are Firenze Red, hmm

Make sure the black plastic strip is properly in home position on the bumper bar. Not a few mm raised.

If it's not difficult to pull it off, clean underneath & push it back into place. It simply snaps off & on with a modest belt from fist. Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

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It's always worth lifting that sill protector and cleaning out from underneath,
Amazing the amount of crud there is,
it's just a straight pull up. DAVE.

yeah - I suspect dirt had "jacked up" the strip the few mm needed to cause it catch the tailgate. Jules

This is one I'll be on to straight away. Thanks to Jules, Lightwater and Dave47 for the heads up on this