GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

The only way that I know how to release or open the glass on the rear hatch is by pushing the button on the key FOB. I've tried turning the key in different positions in the rear hatch itself with no luck. Surely there is some other means to release the rear glass other than the FOB ?

Would appreciate learning if there are other methods that I've either forgotten or never learned. This is on Gen 1 Vibe.

There's a glass release button next to the coin holder to the left of the steering wheel.

Here's how we do it in Florida:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiDnC-WlDEE

On your 2005, you can open the glass using the key in the hatch lock. The hatch lock works as follows:
- Turn counter-clockwise to unlock the hatch (the whole hatch)
- Turn the key clockwise to lock the hatch
- Turn the key clockwise past the lock position to pop open the hatch glass.

A few comments:
- Sometimes people who never use the key in the hatch find that over time, gunk gets in the lock causing it to not work well
- The extra push past the lock position to pop the glass takes a little more force than it does to turn between lock and unlock
- There is an error in the 2005 Vibe owner's Manual on page 2-12 where it says "To open the liftglass using the key, insert the key into the keyhole and turn counterclockwise to the second position." It should say " ... turn clockwise ..." Odd that the error is only in the 2005 Owners manual, I checked the 03, 04, and 06 manuals, they all correctly say clockwise.
- for what its worth, pdf versions of the Vibe Owners manuals can be downloaded from viewtopic.php?t=755 however, given the error mentioned above, it wouldn't have helped in this case.

Slammedniss and Joatmon are both correct.

Bookworm wrote: ↑Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:07 pm There's a glass release button next to the coin holder to the left of the steering wheel.

I never even noticed this button. But then having only owned 2nd gen Vibes until recently, I've never had a hatch with separate glass that opens! Wow, and it even works when pressing it!

tpollauf wrote: ↑Tue Aug 06, 2019 6:25 pm

Bookworm wrote: ↑Sat Aug 03, 2019 7:07 pm There's a glass release button next to the coin holder to the left of the steering wheel.

I never even noticed this button. But then having only owned 2nd gen Vibes until recently, I've never had a hatch with separate glass that opens! Wow, and it even works when pressing it!

That's one thing my wife has commented about preferring about the Vibe. The Mazda5 doesn't let you open the glass separately. it's really convenient when you need to carry a full load of groceries. You don't have to worry about them falling out when you open the door.

joatmon wrote: ↑Sun Aug 04, 2019 9:26 am On your 2005, you can open the glass using the key in the hatch lock. The hatch lock works as follows:
- Turn counter-clockwise to unlock the hatch (the whole hatch)
- Turn the key clockwise to lock the hatch
- Turn the key clockwise past the lock position to pop open the hatch glass.

A few comments:
- Sometimes people who never use the key in the hatch find that over time, gunk gets in the lock causing it to not work well
- The extra push past the lock position to pop the glass takes a little more force than it does to turn between lock and unlock
- There is an error in the 2005 Vibe owner's Manual on page 2-12 where it says "To open the liftglass using the key, insert the key into the keyhole and turn counterclockwise to the second position." It should say " ... turn clockwise ..." Odd that the error is only in the 2005 Owners manual, I checked the 03, 04, and 06 manuals, they all correctly say clockwise.
- for what its worth, pdf versions of the Vibe Owners manuals can be downloaded from viewtopic.php?t=755 however, given the error mentioned above, it wouldn't have helped in this case.

Thanks for this information, but there seems to be no second position when turning the key in the hatch lock. Turning in the first position is easy but I can only turn it one position in each direction even when using considerable torque on the key. I even tried cleaning out the lock too so if anyone else has success with using the key I'd welcome more feedback.

Jbenrod wrote: ↑Thu Aug 08, 2019 6:45 pm
Thanks for this information, but there seems to be no second position when turning the key in the hatch lock. Turning in the first position is easy but I can only turn it one position in each direction even when using considerable torque on the key. I even tried cleaning out the lock too so if anyone else has success with using the key I'd welcome more feedback.

If you're interested, you might try looking at the inside to see if is all connected.

First, to remove the plastic trim from the inside of the lower half of the hatch
- pop open the hatch, using any method that works
- grab and pull off the smaller plastic piece that covers the glass lock/connector for the rear wiper. Here's a pic of that part removed
-Close the glass and open the hatch
- use some screwdriver or appropriate such thing to pry the lower plastic trim off, its just held in place by a number of plastic push trim connectors, might be easiest to start at the bottom of the hatch, once you get it separated a little, you can just grab it and pull it off

Here's a pic of the back side of the hatch lock. There are two metal rods. One connects at the bottom of the hatch, is used to lock/unlock the overall hatch. The other connects up at the glass latch.
On mine, with the the key in the hatch lock (and verifying that i can turn the key to the lock position) if I turn the back of the lock counter clockwise (direction shown by red arrows) I can pop the glass open. It doesn't work for me without the key.

So, perhaps pop off the hatch trim and see if the back of your hatch-lock looks like mine. If its different, maybe that would explain why the 05 manual is different, but that seems quite unlikely.

If you can't turn the lock back to pop the glass open, then perhaps try disconnecting the glass release rod from the lock back, and see if you can push the rod towards the glass latch enough to pop open the glass.