[legacyguy]

I have a friend with a 2012 outback, and recently has been having issues with the rear hatch/wagon lid not opening. After taking it to the dealership they stated the mat was stuck causing the door to not open. Once removed it seemed to work but then the next day the problem continued. This issue is the at will not open all the way, and then won't close either (everything is in the latching position, not fully open). Long story short it wont open or close and now we are being told by Subaru that due to cold weather there is some sort of suction issue that is causing the weatherstripping to stick or suck it closed. (it takes 2 people (one pushing from the inside and one pulling from the outside to open it). I am not buying the whole suction or greasing explanation on a car with 10k miles on it. Any ideas?????

 

[NoobaruOutback]

Try popping opening that little square door/cap on the inside of the hatch, right where the latch system is located. Maybe something has come loose or has been tweaked and you can have an easy fix.

 

[subiesailor]

I have a friend with a 2012 outback, and recently has been having issues with the rear hatch/wagon lid not opening. After taking it to the dealership they stated the mat was stuck causing the door to not open. Once removed it seemed to work but then the next day the problem continued. This issue is the at will not open all the way, and then won't close either (everything is in the latching position, not fully open). Long story short it wont open or close and now we are being told by Subaru that due to cold weather there is some sort of suction issue that is causing the weatherstripping to stick or suck it closed. (it takes 2 people (one pushing from the inside and one pulling from the outside to open it). I am not buying the whole suction or greasing explanation on a car with 10k miles on it. Any ideas?????

Latch works according to your description. That leaves the hinges which if they are misaligned will do exactly this. Dealer knows how to fix it they are just being lazy.

 

[legacyguy]

Hopefully fixed

The most recent dealership is now saying the gears in the motor that releases the trunk lid are stripped and are ordering a new one. Thanks for all the help! I will keep you all updated as we find out whats wrong!

Also, on a side note sometimes it works perfectly without any issues so I think that this may be because the gears were only partially stripped?

 

[Bhennessy]

We also have the 2012 Outback and are having same issue. Periodic episodes where it will not unlock. We had the dealership look at it twice, once last year and now again. First fix they tried was to lubricate the mechanism. Lasted about 12 months. Now it’s happened again. Dealership guy crawled in back and manually tried to release it. Didnt work. Now being told we need a new mechanism. Quoted $500 dollars which blew my mind. The car has never been in an accident, and the hatch was never abused, or torqued. If others are having this problem chime in. This shouldn’t be happening after only 7 years. Stripped gears (or whatever the problem ) at this stage points to a product defect.