Date:    Thu, 24 May 2007 06:30:33 -0700
From:    John Bange <jbange@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Rear Hatch Alignment Blues...

On 5/24/07, mordo <helmut.blong@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Speaking of which, has anyone else noticed that the top edge of the 
> hatch does not match the contour of the roofline? I assume it's part 
> of the design but it looks odd when you sight along the gap.

Yeah, I notice it every time I walk down the steps to where I park.
Nearest I can figure, shaping the door to match the roof line would've
required putting an arc in the structure that was too expensive, so they
just went for the straight line.

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Probably the tooling issue is the most likely explanation however I also
wondered if it was in fact deliberately there to catch and direct more
water from the roof down and into the internal rain gutter around the
rear hatch. This would then reduce the water running down and over the
rear window during heavy rain....?

BTW, my wife only recently noticed that oddity on the rear
hatch.....after 15 years of ownership ;-) Being only 5'2" she does have
an excuse but she was walking down some steps to where she'd parked the
van and got a rare view of the roof line. She was concerned that
something had damaged and distorted the hatch of at least the alignment
thereof and was very relieved when I could tell her..."no, VW just built
them like that..." At least she is as concerned about the welfare of our
VWs as I am...:-)

Cheers,
Steve O
NSW Australia
'92 Transporter WBX Kombi
'00 Transporter Double Cab
'03 Transporter Double Cab (work truck)
'78 Land Rover Series 3 109 soft top ute (ex-Aust.army)
'07 Passat Variant TDI (on order from the Fatherland - hopefully here in
June)