Replacing missing Skoda Fabia estate trunk cover lock piece

by alex

I love my Skoda Fabia estate 1.6 TDI (5J, 2010 facelift): it has plenty of room, was not expensive, it has a nice VW engine, all the extras I need and good fuel consumption.
Unfortunately one of the pieces holding/locking the trunk cover in place when it’s extended fell of and this seems to be a fairly common problem with the Fabia estate. It’s really annoying because it involves removing some of the car’s panels. It is, however, not a difficult procedure and you can do it at home and avoid going to a repair shop.

Trunk cover before replacing piece

Trunk cover before replacing piece

Lock piece missing

Lock piece missing

The retractable trunk cover is held into position by two plastic pieces, one at each side. Unfortunately these pieces have a tendency to fall from their place. In this case you can either take the car to a garage, or fix the problem yourself. You probably won’t be needing a new piece (it should be somewhere between the panel and the body work) but if you do decide to buy a new piece (which I did), the parts number is 1Z9 867 925 D 47H (the old parts number seems to be 1Z9 867 925 C 47H – this is the SAME piece).

The piece

The trunk cover lock piece

The piece

The trunk cover lock piece

You will need the following tools:

  • T10 bit (torx)
  • T15 bit
  • T25 bit
  • H5 bit (hexagonal), a big flat screwdriver or simply a coin
  • 10 mm wrench
  • Panel removal tools (not really necessary, but useful)
  • Flat screwdriver or pin removal tool

You will need to remove 3 panels, or 2 panels and pull a bit the panel where the piece is supposed to go, if you’re lucky.

Although you won’t probably take long enough time to drain the car’s battery, I recommend you start by removing fuse number 23 (15A) in order to turn off the trunk light.

Start by removing the bottom panel by the trunk lock.

Bottom panel

Bottom panel

You will have to remove 2 pins and 2 nuts (10 mm). The pins consist of two parts: an inner and an outer one. The inner piece needs to be pulled out before you can remove the entire pin. You can achieve this by easing a flat screwdriver under the pin head or by using a pin removal tool (the screwdriver works really well, so there’s no need to buy the tool, in my opinion).

Pin

Pin

Then remove the nuts near the bottom of the panel using, for example, a ratchet wrench. The panel is still attached to the bodywork by metallic clips, but just needs to be pulled out (if you have those panel removal tools, it will make the job much easier).

You need now to remove the grey side panel by the window. It is attached to the bodywork by some metal clips and nothing else. You just need to pull it out (don’t be afraid to use some strength, these panels are not that fragile). Again those panel removal tools may come in handy. It may happen that one of those metal clips will remain attached to the bodywork. If that’s the case, simple pull them out and re-insert them into the back of the panel.

Small side panel

Small side panel

Metal clip

Metal clip

You are now in position to remove the screws from the big side panel where the piece is supposed to fit. You will need to remove the following objects (note necessarily in that order):

  • The nut holding the lights, using either a big flat screwdriver, a H5 bit or a coin
  • 1xT10 screw (holding some sort of hook into position)
  • 3xT15 screws (one where the trunk cover fits, another beneath the side panel you removed and the other beneath the bottom panel you removed)
  • 1xT25 screw (beneath the hook)
T15 in the trunk cover insertion

T15 in the trunk cover insertion

T15 at the top

T15 at the top

T15 at the bottom

T15 at the bottom

T10 and lights' nut

T10 and lights’ nut

Hook

Hook and T25

There will still be a pin near the seats that you should remove in case you want to remove the entire panel. This may be necessary in case you want to look for the missing piece. In case you have a new one which just needs to be clipped into position, you don’t really need to remove the entire panel but simply to pull it away from the bodywork. In this case you don’t need to remove the pin.

Now, simply pull the panel away from the bodywork (again, it is be held into place by some metallic clips) and attach the trunk cover lock piece.
That’s basically it! Put everything back in reverse order.

Trunk cover after replacing piece

Trunk cover after replacing piece

P.S. I am not responsible for any damage your car incurs in following this guide. If you have absolutely no idea of what you’re doing, you’re better off taking the car to a repair shop.

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