Bonnet strut rubbish?

[Garth]

Is everyone's bonnet strut rubbish at lifting the bonnet? I have to physicaly pull my bonnet all the way to the top. The gas strut does hold it once there, but it just doesn't have the power to open it by itself. As I'm adding heavy sound proofing to the bonnet, it's only going to get worse.

It could be that mine is old and worn, but before I buy a new one, I wanted to make sure they're not all that this!
 

[S2 Ant]

Mine opens the bonnet ok once i've lifted it an initial few inches without any issues.
What year is your car? It might just be that its old and tired now and needs replacing

[stealthwolf]

Mine needs an initial lift before it raises the bonnet automatically but it should be able to lift the bonnet at least half way and up.

[DaveB@Vagbremtechnic]

Least you've got one!

Rocco is devoid - had a better bonnet stay on my old vauxhall chevette

[Garth]

What year is your car? It might just be that its old and tired now and needs replacing

Look at my avatar on the left  

Thanks guys, looks like I should just buy a new one then 

[Richn83]

Garth mine is 05 and is exactly the same as yours, will hold it fine but wont lift it without assistance.  While it manages to lift it without it falling down on my head I will be happy but if your adding sound proofing then I guess it might give up the ghost!

Interested to know why your adding sound proofing, have you modified the engine making it louder? as mine is as quiet as I would want at motorway speeds (I can hear other peoples cars more than my own) and I like the occasional turbo noise.

[Gene Hunt]

Mine opens the bonnet ok once i've lifted it an initial few inches without any issues.
What year is your car? It might just be that its old and tired now and needs replacing

.........same with mine on an 05 plate.

[Garth]

Interested to know why your adding sound proofing, have you modified the engine making it louder? as mine is as quiet as I would want at motorway speeds (I can hear other peoples cars more than my own) and I like the occasional turbo noise.

I find my Golf is noisy a hell at motorway speeds! My other car is a BMW 330i which is silent on the motorway so I really notice the difference when I'm driving the Golf. I spend A LOT of time on the phone handsfree when driving and find I always have to slow down to hear the other person properly due to road noise.

The majority of the noise is tyre rumble (even with brand new F1's) and wind noise, but there is still quite a lot from the engine as well. I'm sound proofing the whole car to reduce it so hopefully it'll make a big difference!

[mortygttdi]

Garth I've got a newish bonnet stay you can have I think it came from a 08 gti you can try it for nothing mate.

Darren

[Garth]

Garth I've got a newish bonnet stay you can have I think it came from a 08 gti you can try it for nothing mate.

Darren

Thanks mate, that'd be great 

[ub7rm]

Garth mine is 05 and is exactly the same as yours, will hold it fine but wont lift it without assistance.  While it manages to lift it without it falling down on my head I will be happy but if your adding sound proofing then I guess it might give up the ghost!

....

Same here

[MPS]

Exactly the same problem on mine! You physically have to push it up less it'll just hang there! (The Bonnet, of course) 

[Chris]

aslong as mine stays up when open in not fussed  

[MPS]

Just had a look on ETKA and the replacement strut is roughly £30. Not bad, I've found VW parts tend to be either horrendously expensive or unexpectedly cheap!

[RedRobin]

.
When I had the oem steel bonnet the strut did its job but needed a bit of physical assistance. Removing the sound proofing/lining helped a bit. However, the Rocco didn't have a gas strut and that was a pain in the arse!

Not really a fair comparison but my carbon bonnet is a real joy and light as a feather with the gas strut.