How to open the hatch?

[Sweet Morphine]

Okay, so stupid question but checking with you all because I've had my 2016 Kia Forte5 EX hatchback for a few months now, and I'm totally clueless on how to open the darn hatch using those outside buttons above the license plate!

my key fob's being a pain and not working. i somehow managed to open it twice without the fob. but jeezas, I can't figure out what I did! and to top it off, there's no hatch button inside the car anywhere!

Please help me. what's the secret to manually opening this thing? this is drviing me crazy!

 

[big friendly giant]

Okay, so stupid question but checking with you all because I've had my 2016 Kia Forte5 EX hatchback for a few months now, and I'm totally clueless on how to open the darn hatch using those outside buttons above the license plate!

my key fob's being a pain and not working. i somehow managed to open it twice without the fob. but jeezas, I can't figure out what I did! and to top it off, there's no hatch button inside the car anywhere!

Please help me. what's the secret to manually opening this thing? this is drviing me crazy!

It ain't a dumb question at all, no worries man. Kia made that hatch button thaaat sneaky. So I guess you should try feeling above the license plate in the middle under the trim. It's gonna be the soft one like a rubber pad. Give it a firm press with the car unlocked and the hatch is gonna pop out.

 

[brandnewlife]

Yep @big friendly giant is right. this button will only work if your doors are unlocked. If the car is locked, this button won't do anything. Since your key fob is being a pain, you need to manually unlock the doors first like using a physical key

 

[The4teZon3]

I totally agree with the points made in both of those posts. You mentioned that you tried to open the car twice without the fob, do you happen to remember if the car was already unlocked at that time?

 

[OrangeCat]

Okay, so stupid question but checking with you all because I've had my 2016 Kia Forte5 EX hatchback for a few months now, and I'm totally clueless on how to open the darn hatch using those outside buttons above the license plate!

my key fob's being a pain and not working. i somehow managed to open it twice without the fob. but jeezas, I can't figure out what I did! and to top it off, there's no hatch button inside the car anywhere!

Please help me. what's the secret to manually opening this thing? this is drviing me crazy!

look, guys. to be sure, check your owner's manual. Seriously, it'll show you exactly where that exterior button is and the proper sequence
Also, get that key fob battery checked or replaced, that's often why it's not working!

 

[ecofortedriver]

Just a quick additional tip for anyone facing the same problem: to use the button above the license plate, make sure to unlock the car first. Then, press and hold it for about 2 to 3 seconds. You'll want to apply some firm pressure since it might require a little more force than you'd think.