okay....so how do you get the ski bag folded back in?

[sethdallob]

I took my brand new used Phaeton for a 2000 mile road trip between SoCal and Colorado last week, and brought a couple pairs of skis in the ski bag (5 seater). Now, I can't fold the damn thing back in between the two doors. Any hints or tricks? Right now, I just have it sticking out into the trunk.

[ArtWarshaw]

You just have to fold it very carefully from the inside. Close the door in the trunk first. I had the same problem
Art

[PanEuropean]

Hi Seth:

I unfolded the thing once, and faced a similar challenge to get it folded back up... it is a little bit like Japanese Origami.

It is quite easy to take the whole ski bag assembly out of the car - the bag and the frame that surrounds it detaches (without needing tools) from the rectangle that it fits into - I think there are a couple of spring catches. It might make the task easier if you just detached the whole thing and brought it inside the house and figured it out there.

Michael

[jimay]

Look closely at it and follow the wrinkles in it.

Seriously.

The first time I saw the thing pop out, I thought of the first joke ever told.

You know the one.

When Adam said to Eve "Stand back, I'm not sure how big this thing gets."

[PanEuropean]

Quote, originally posted by jimay »

Look closely at it and follow the wrinkles in it...

Believe it or not, that's exactly how I figured out how to fold mine back up. And, after I got it folded back up, I figured that I had better not let that genie out of the bottle again...

Michael

[PanEuropean]

Just a follow up here - this is perhaps the easiest way to get the ski bag folded up again: Take the darn thing out of the car, and give it to a 6 to 11 year old child (one who is at the developmental stage that Erikson calls 'industry vs. inferiority'). Not only will you get your ski bag folded back up, you will also keep the child busy for several hours, contribute to their fine motor skill and spatial reasoning development, and teach them why they should not play around in the back seat unfolding the ski bag in the future.

To remove the ski bag, you will need a Volkswagen Trim Removal Tool. This is essential.

How the assembly fits together (overview)


How to get it out
Open the trunk and release the cover by pressing the latch.


Stuff the trim removal tool behind the bezel, where the tangs are
It is easiest to get one side loose at a time.


The whole thing then flops out into the trunk


There is no 'give' to the frame it mounts in, but you only have to press the tangs in about 2 mm to release them

[Jim_CT]

Michael,

Could you please rehost the ski bag removal photos for this thread?

Thanks,
Jim

[PanEuropean]

Hi Jim:

Done...

Michael

[cai]

The trim removal tool looks like a plain old collar stay. For the youngsters around this forum, a collar stay is a piece of plastic, metal, bone, or wood that one sticks into the end of a shirt collar to keep it straight. I am glad to see that they serve another useful duty. Like cuff links, these items are slowly disappearing from my normal daily life since I do not dress-up that often anymore.

cai

[Victor R]

This ski bag issue seems a common problem with these cars. Both of the ones I bought came with the ski bags extended into the trunk. Very unaesthetic, I must say. For my grey five-seater, I had my son fix it, as he is young enough to climb into the trunk and stick his head right there to follow the folds and put the bag back. That worked well.

Unfortunately, he was gone to college when I bought the second car with the same problem. I was unable to squeeze my old bones (and my 6'4", 285 lb [sigh] frame) readily into the trunk, so I wound up wadding the bag up more than actually folding it. Naturally, that didn't hold and it popped open again into the trunk. What I then figured out was that one could do this much easier from the back seat, by inverting the bag into the passenger compartment and folding it along the seams while sitting comfortably, listening to fine music, during the process. While there was still some "wadding up" element entailed at the end, I was able to enclose the bag again and it has held closed since.

Just a thought for those of us not excited about disassembling the entire unit just to fold the bag back...

Victor

[Victor R]

By the way, cai, I am quite familiar with collar stays and, yes, the trim tool most certainly looks like one, though I would bet it is much thicker and stiffer (no implication intended here..) than a typical collar stay.

Victor

[johnt26]

I still use stays but that trim tool is about 6 inches, maybe a Shaq collar stay!

[Jim_CT]

Thanks for the quick response, Michael! I have to carry some bed posts that are 84" long. Should be interesting...Jim

[Jim_CT]

Have to try folding it again.

The Phaeton has great utility. I transported all the parts of a queen size shaker pencil post bed from Alexandria to home (about 300 miles). The 84" long posts fit into the ski bag, along with the other long parts. The headboard, rails and other smaller parts fit in the passenger seat, with a bit of finagling.

Won't beat GoBuster's record but it worked well.

Jim