Power tailgate unresponsive to foot gesture
 

The tailgate on our new e-Tron doesn't respond well to the supposedly "hands free" foot gesture. I've tried swinging my foot at various locations under the bumper but I get a response perhaps one time out of ten. At this point, we're just using the tailgate latch or key fob to open the hatch rather than looking like idiots dancing around behind the car.

The vehicle came with the tow package (which I wouldn't have otherwise ordered) and I'm wondering if the placement of the receiver and mounting hardware is in some way interfering with or blocking whatever sensors are used to detect foot motion. Has anyone else, with or without the tow package, had any issues with this feature?

You could be correct about the tow package. If anything the open/close sensor is overly sensitive and can be easily triggered by accident.

There's another thread on the hyper-sensitive hatch opener IIRC. Here's what happens: If you've already opened the tailgate and then step up to the rear bumper, such as to load things into the back, the sensor interprets the motion of your first foot coming under the bumper, quickly followed by your second foot, as the "double kick" needed to close the hatch. This can be an unwanted surprise when your arms are full of stuff you wanted to load in the back and then the hatch suddenly starts closing. You hear the warning beeps first, so at least there's a warning. After it happens once or twice you learn not to move or shuffle your feet too much when you're standing at the rear of the car for fear of triggering the hatch.

We have the tow package on ours, and I think the sensor is actually too sensitive. I can't count the number of times the gate has tried to close on me when loading/unloading the car or just moving around behind the car (getting gear on for skiing and such).

Good info, thanks. In my case the sensitivity is exactly the opposite of what you guys are experiencing since I can hardly get the tailgate to respond to any foot motion at all. I'll take a look under there to see if I can locate the sensor and see if anything is blocking it but it sounds like this may be something the dealer will need to deal with.

It's probably a Colorado thing. We are known to be sensitive.

I stand right in the middle of the back of the car and give a good "kick" up under the car and it works for me every time. Make sure you are getting your foot/leg under far enough.

The other thing I noticed is not to stand too close behind the car. If you (or someone else) is too close it does nothing to avoid hitting anyone. If I backed into a spot with a curb I have never been able to successfully open it with the gesture as I would have to be too close to really put my foot under there.

I've tested multiple locations under the bumper (center, center-left, center-right) and tried to find an optimum distance and foot motion to no avail,. Anyone watching me would wonder why that idiot is standing behind his car and flailing around with his leg.

As I posted initially the tailgate will open maybe one out of ten times so it's not that the opener is completely non-functional but there seems to be no particular magic move that I can count on to work. My wife's previous car (Mercedes) had the feature and it worked almost every time without fail. If there is nothing actually wrong with the sensor and a perfect motion and distance is required to get the tailgate to open then that's just too finicky to be useful. Since others have said that their cars are actually too sensitive, though, I'm hoping there is a mechanical issue of some kind that can be fixed or adjusted.

P.S. Just found some other threads on the subject that say a step back motion after kicking your foot is the key. I'll have to give that a try....

Ah ha! That's what it is! I have had the hatch close on me a couple times and I couldn't figure out why. This makes sense (though I wish I could customize the behavior -- it would be nice to be able to configure the kick sensor for "off", "open only", or "on". I don't mind at all using the close button, but the kick-to-open is really handy. I've never intentionally used the kick-to-close.

I would take it to the dealer. The kick function works for me perfectly every time. I stand in the center a few inches from the car and gently kick. That’s it. I do not have a tow hitch installed. Good luck.