Rear hatch / liftgate unreliable to open?

[jasonjs]

Has anyone else been having trouble with the rear liftgate not opening reliably? I haven't seen much mention of this in the forums, it feels like one of those things that probably doesn't affect most vehicles and can probably be mitigated mechanically by a service visit, but the root cause feels like a software issue to me.

On my Gravity, the rear liftgate is failing to open about 50% of the time (in the same way the frunk used to fail to open).

It seems like it tries to actuate the unlatch and swing open simultaneously, before the unlatch is actually complete (I believe this was the same issue as the frunk had, prior to the fix in 3.6.0). So the car thinks it's taking too much force to open and has hit an obstacle and it gives up, leaving it partly ajar.

Ideally, this seems pretty fixable in software the same way the frunk was fixed in 3.6.0: first completely unlatch, then swing open.

 

[Buttamilk]

My Gravity has similar issues. I’d say 10% of the time, it has a hard time opening when it’s parked on level ground. When it’s parked on an incline in my driveway, it happens about 95% of the time.

I’ve had this issue since day one, regardless of the firmware version. It’s currently at the service center for the recalls, and I asked them to include this issue in the job order as well.

 

[Neilnaples]

I’ve had this issue for one year. It’s always annoying and never opens on the first try. I’m finally in the Seattle service center after 3 months of waiting for my appointment time. Front hood strut replacement, HUD replacement, rear liftgate adjustments, battery decals, seat issues, etc etc. hopefully this fixes everything. They provided a loaner and explained it will take maybe 4 weeks to fix everything. Overall car still drives great. It’s fast and charges well. Honestly my brand new Porsche cayenne turbo also has issues. So it’s not just lucid. Complicated cars have complicated issues. No manufacturer is immune. Looking forward to getting it back in October…

 

[VLumina]

Mine started doing this in May. I figured out that it only happens when the car is parked on a downhill slope, nose down. The Seattle service center couldn't reproduce the issue because they did not test it on an incline. I think my notes about the slope got lost. Now I have a mobile service appointment. Hopefully I can reproduce it in front of the tech.

 

[VLumina]

The mobile service tech fixed this issue for me by replacing the trim piece at the bottom edge of the trunk with a plastic one. The original had a metal portion, and he said the metal flap was catching on something. He said he could order a new metal piece for me, but 90% of the time it ends up having the same problem. The plastic one matches the frunk trim and is a lot less noisy when it opens... In addition to opening on first try

 

[DeaneG]

Hey, now I need a new-style plastic trim piece! Even though my metal one has been working fine.