My trunk door won’t open, what do I do?

The lock on a vehicle’s trunk is similar to that of a car door lock, while they may have different mechanisms they function much in the same way. However, these can get stuck closed for a variety of reasons. When that happens it becomes a major inconvenience especially to sedan owners as the trunk is where the spare tire is stored. Being able to diagnose the direct problem of why the lock won’t open can be difficult, but with that said, here are a few things you can try to do to hopefully get it open.

Your trunk not being able to open can be attributed to several factors. This can be caused by either forgetfulness or by the lock of the trunk itself degrading over time. With that said, here are a couple of possible reasons why your trunk won’t be able to open.

Keys locked inside the trunk

We all have our forgetful moments and sometimes the reason why your trunk won’t open is that you accidentally left your keys inside of it or your keys fell inside and you didn’t notice. Either way, there isn’t much you can do about it without having to wait around for someone to deliver your spare key. If you are lucky, your car would still be unlocked giving you access to the trunk release found near the driver’s seat so that you can still recover your car keys. 

Broken trunk lock

In this scenario where the trunk lock itself is broken, there isn’t much you can do except bring your vehicle to a locksmith so that they can try and replace the broken lock. Otherwise, you can try and access the trunk release from inside your vehicle by lowering the second-row seats if your vehicle has that functionality.

Non-responsive keyfob

Another possible reason why you won’t be able to open your trunk is because of an unresponsive keyfob. While this is a rare occurrence especially for much older vehicles, newer models with this feature can prevent you from accessing the trunk if it fails and especially if there is no slot to insert the key to unlock the trunk. What you can do is try the manual release button at the front of the vehicle to see if it can open the trunk. Chances are this will work, but if it doesn’t then it’s off to the locksmith or service center you go to as this problem can’t be fixed easily without the proper tools and parts.

If your trunk fails to open, you can try these methods to see if you can get it to open up by itself without the need for a locksmith. When trying these out make sure that you don’t break the locking mechanism itself as it can lead to costly repairs. 

Check your trunk again

One of the first things you can do if your trunk won’t open is to try it again. In this scenario, the trunk latch may have gotten stuck due to dirt and debris getting stuck on it or from the trunk rubber sticking to the lid itself. This will require more force to open making you think that the lid is stuck. If trying to open your trunk again with a little more force fails then you can try to access it from inside your vehicle. 

Check for interior access

If you can’t open the trunk via its exterior lock, then you can try accessing it through the inside of the vehicle. Try using the manual release leaver which is normally located on the driver’s side of the vehicle. If this doesn’t work, try and see if your rear seats can be folded down or removed to give you access to the trunk. If this works you will need to crawl your way into the trunk and pull its release mechanism to get it to open. It is important to note that if the lock of the trunk itself is broken, this method may not work and a visit to a service center or locksmith will be required. 

Head to an auto locksmith

While you can try out DIY solutions to try and open up your trunk it is important to note that some of these may end up damaging your vehicle more. With that in mind, you should avoid trying to open up your trunk unless you have direct access to your vehicle. If you don’t and that your keys are in the car, we highly recommend contacting your car insurance provider or preferred service center for your vehicle to help you out with this situation. You can also choose to go to a locksmith if there is one available near your vehicle so that they can help you unlock your vehicle or your trunk. Either way leaving it to the professionals is still your best option even though their services can be expensive.