Dead car, need to open trunk

[Jimothy]

Guys I have browsed the threads I could find. Every image from the manual posted or from someone’s car is like zoomed in on a microscope. Where the HELL is this “access panel”?! Can someone take a zoomed out picture that shows like, ANY OTHER PART OF THE CAR?! Please help!!!! Car is dead from winter cold. I’m about to end up tearing every single piece of trim out of this car.

 

[Jimothy]

Oh lord never mind I found it. Looks like the dealer already bent up the attachments of the panel. It’s in an absurd location so I understand why nobody could get decent pictures…

 

[netsinah]

I suspect you're OK now Jimothy (welcome to the Forum BTW) and found not only the panel, but also the "pull loop" to manually open the trunk. For anyone else, there are a couple posts on this Forum, giving directions. Should it help someone who comes across this thread, here's part of one I made some 5 months ago, with a few minor changes:

I pried open the small interior panel behind the driver seat (left side of car), along the side wall. Fun task; it was very tight and hard to pull open on its right edge. Looked underneath for the "red pull loop" as shown in the booklet, for the manual trunk release. Couldn't see it, nor any other "loop". Asked my daughter to help, with her smaller hands and ability to reach in further and feel for the loop. She finally spotted it: it was BLACK and jammed against the right side (not in far) and one tug, easily opened the trunk.

The main point of this posting, is to let everyone know that it may not be a red loop (mine was black) and describe how I located mine, should that help others. Hopefully this won't be an issue for you.

 

[nelly111s]

I suspect you're OK now Jimothy (welcome to the Forum BTW) and found not only the panel, but also the "pull loop" to manually open the trunk. For anyone else, there are a couple posts on this Forum, giving directions. Should it help someone who comes across this thread, here's part of one I made some 5 months ago, with a few minor changes:

I pried open the small interior panel behind the driver seat (left side of car), along the side wall. Fun task; it was very tight and hard to pull open on its right edge. Looked underneath for the "red pull loop" as shown in the booklet, for the manual trunk release. Couldn't see it, nor any other "loop". Asked my daughter to help, with her smaller hands and ability to reach in further and feel for the loop. She finally spotted it: it was BLACK and jammed against the right side (not in far) and one tug, easily opened the trunk.

The main point of this posting, is to let everyone know that it may not be a red loop (mine was black) and describe how I located mine, should that help others. Hopefully this won't be an issue for you.

I guess with you being in Canada and the OP in USA , it’s too far for your daughter to help him?

 

[Jimothy]

My loop was also black. And is hidden deep up inside and toward the seatbelt. If I could have moved my seat forward I could have accessed it better, but of course you can’t move the seat forward without power! In addition because it was in my garage, I could only open the door about 30 degrees. As some other have stated, I ended up with bloody knuckles despite using trim removal tools, because of the awkward location of the pull

 

[Tomwa]

I'm actually somewhat tempted to put a cord attachment on that loop and have it accessible without taking the panel off. the level of effort to get to it is surprising.

 

[Blackthought_]

for US cars it’s behind the drivers seat on the right side of the back seat section. It’s tough to remove the panel but you need to pry it off and you’ll find a wire with a loop that will manually let you open the trunk

 

[Jimothy]

Hey Dave, once you’ve done it, it makes total sense. But for someone who hasn’t even looked behind their seat, it’s still totally unclear. I’ve wired subwoofers and dash cams and replaced speakers in various cars. The images on this forum and in the manual are borderline worthless. Just my opinion. Also how hard is it to have a release button somewhere that doesn’t require removing trim. I’ve owned 12 cars over the past 15 years and have never seen such absurdity

 

[Jimothy]

In fact even lotus calling it an “access panel” is deceitful. It’s a normal piece of car trim that we see all over the place. It is not designed to be accessible or to be removed more than once or twice.