Can you use strap-on Bike Racks on an ID3?

[Alastair]

Hi all,

In the many posts about bike racks, I've only seen people talking about tow bar or roof mounted bike racks. Can a strap-on rack be used at all, or will something flimsy break? I've not yet taken delivery of my used ID3 so I don't have an easy way to find out in advance. PS I only need to carry a single non-electric bike, so it's not a lot of load. Has anyone tried this yet?

Many thanks,
Alastair

[Utumno]

I wouldn’t. The ID.3’s boot is pure lightweight plastic.

[G43FAN]

and you can't use a roof mounted carrier either. VW don't approve the use of any roof bars.

[Deleted User 192]

Only a tow hitch carrier is approved for use.

[Alastair]

Thanks for the quick replies. I suppose I was really asking "Is the tailgate strong enough to take strap-on bike carrier?" and Utumno's comment about it being plastic sets the alarm bells ringing, together with the 'no you can't' advice on the Roofbox website.

This is annoying as my bike is only worth £250 and a strap-on carrier for a modern ICE Golf is £50-100, so paying £1,500 to have a tow hitch retro-fitted to my ID3 plus the cost of a new bike rack gets me to £2,000+ which equals a lot of cheap bikes!

It's going to be cheaper to buy a bike at our regular holiday destination and leave it there with friends until the following year. Nice one VW!

Thanks

[morrishey]

I was going to suggest, as single bike, to just drop the back seats and chuck it in there (maybe with the front wheel removed), but I guess as a holiday journey the boot will be occupied with other stuff

[Smitten]

Thanks for the quick replies. I suppose I was really asking "Is the tailgate strong enough to take strap-on bike carrier?" and Utumno's comment about it being plastic sets the alarm bells ringing, together with the 'no you can't' advice on the Roofbox website.

This is annoying as my bike is only worth £250 and a strap-on carrier for a modern ICE Golf is £50-100, so paying £1,500 to have a tow hitch retro-fitted to my ID3 plus the cost of a new bike rack gets me to £2,000+ which equals a lot of cheap bikes!

It's going to be cheaper to buy a bike at our regular holiday destination and leave it there with friends until the following year. Nice one VW!

Thanks

With so much weight in the battery I guess they have used a plastic tailgate to reduce overall weight and balance out the car or perhaps it was just cheaper. It's quite common. I have a 2018 car with a plastic tailgate.

[fordfocusman]

I did successfully use a basic Lidl/Aldi strap-on carrier to carry two standard hybrid/touring bikes. Just to see if it could be done. I was a little anxious, suspecting that the whole contraption might come flying off half way down the motorway. I travelled about twenty miles each way with no problems. The carrier strap attachments fitted ok. You have to lift the tailgate to create enough of a gap to allow the hook-type strap attachments slot over the top edge of the tailgate. The jutting out lip of the rear bumper takes a lot of the weight of the carrier, reducing the pull of the top straps on the tailgate top piece, which I agree looks flimsy -like it might be just glued on!!

Was I happy to get home in one piece - yes. Not sure I'd recommend it as general practice.

[Alastair]

fordfocusman - Great, many thanks for the info.

I had another look at the tailgate on another ID3 and can see that you might get away with it if you were really careful fitting it, didn't drive over any potholes or go too fast, but I'm not sure I'd drive at motorway speeds for a long distance.

I also checked several other similar EVs and found that plastic tailgates are common these days. This ties up with the WhatCar 2021 review of bike racks here https://www.whatcar.com/news/best-bike- ... 021/n23284 which points people to tow bar racks as the preferred solution.