My 2011 Sonata GLS trunk won't open even with the key or button. How do I get into my trunk?

See > emergency trunk release in the owners manual .. Remove rear seat to access this feature. ▪️http://www.hyundaisonatamanual.com/sonata-67-emergency_trunk_safety_release.html▪️

i read where a few people had this problem.this is what one of them did,don't know if you want to try or or not?they should have did like Honda and put the back seat release button under the rear windshield.......on the older models... 1. Lower the rear seat arm rest. 2. Pry out the plastic panel. 3. Drill a 4" hole through the aluminum back of the seat. 4. Cut a slot in the material covering the back of the seat. 5. Reach in and pull one of the 2 rear seat release tabs. 6. Lower the seat. 7. Once the seat is lowered you can reach in pull the other rear seat release tab and lower the other seat. Then crawl in the trunk and use a screwdriver to pop open the latch.. Ended up having to replace the latch mechanism....

I have done this madness. Whoever designed a Rear seat EMERGENCY RELEASE.....presumably so you could get in the trunk… And then put that release in the very trunk that is locked.......SHOULD BE SHOT... And I'm not kidding. If you open your trunk and look near the top you will see two buttons on either side if you pull those .....it pulls a cable and releases the lock which holds the upper portion of your rear seats in place … One for the left one for the right....you could then lower the pieces down or pull them out and get in the back trunk. I crawled in there with a flashlight and played around with the locking mechanism and it finally popped open for no apparent reason and there was no apparent reason why It was stuck. This happened to me just after I went grocery shopping and had 200$ dollars worth of groceries sitting in the trunk, came home, hit the trunk button on my Fob....nothing ....tried my key ....nothing tried everything imaginable finally came to the site. I usually don't answer these type of things but it was so miserable I thought I probably should help out. if this happens to you, there really is not much to do other than loosen the rear seat ....and then I stuck a broom stick in an opening between the seats or to the side of one seat ....and made a miracle shot to push the seat release button and heard that magical pop. I have worked on houses cars motorcycles and done just about every difficult dirty job imaginable and this ranked in the top three most difficult jobs in my 30 years. I first tried to loosen the rear seats and to do that you have to wedge a socket wrench in as best as possible to loosen the bolts below the rear seat cushions and ultimately try to pull out the side piece and then stick the broom through but it took me a good three hours to do it because it is so difficult trying to slip that socket wrench through immobile seats that are very tightly put together i i'm not going to do something I have never done before. For the next four so the Cubs on this website it is absolutely stuck I would be willing to talk to you and see if I can walk you through it. Please don't abuse my generosity or I will simply remove this post. My cell number is 3109036828. If you text me that you're in trouble I will try to call you back. Please note I am on Pacific Coast time and I'm generally up from eight in the morning to about 10 at night. Good luck this is just a miserable problem and again who in their right mind designs the emer. Release for the rear seats ... Releases you would only pull so that you can gain access to an otherwise locked trunk and then places those releases in the very locked trunk you're trying to open! it's just insanity and almost makes the car a lemon just for thIS ONE defect. Note it might also be possible to make a hole in the rear dash right behind your rear seat headrest there is a small square opening and if you look down in it that cable is the cable for the rear seat release . I tried to pull on that cable to get it to release but the square doesn't give you enough room so you would have to cut a hole and go in behind it where the cable has exited the Square and is now running through the trunk and pull on it but there you're tearing up your rear dash– so it's probably better to try to use the miserable disassembling of your rear seats. And I can honestly say I hate knowing this answer because the whole process took almost 2 full days and I still haven't had the energy to put the car back together but I do know one thing when I put it back together I'm going to put tape or something else where the rear seats lock so that they no longer lock, which is only really necessary For child sears. No way I am doing that again.

I just got extremely lucky and was able to release my back seats in about 30 minutes. Eliminating my trial and error will allow you to do this in 1/2 the time. I suggest starting with the rear passenger side since that is the bigger seat and will give your easier access to the trunk. 1. Remove the rear headrest. 2. Remove the plastic square behind the headrest. We will call that the A Hole (that's also what we will call the person that designed this ridiculous system. 3. Remove the plastic square covering the middle seat belt strap. We will call this the B Hole. 4. Look through A hole and you will see a wire with gray insulation on it. This is the seat release wire. Shine a light through B Hole and you will be able to trace this wire towards the center of the car. You will see where it passes through an anchor and than comes out the other side without the insulation on it. This uninsulated wire is the one you want to pull/pry. I stuck a screw driver through the A Hole to accomplish this. The seat popped pretty easily. You will hear it pop and release. The driver's side releases in a similar fashion if you are unable to get the passenger side to work. 5. Once the seat is down, you will see a gray switch to the left of the trunk lock mechanism. This is the release. Simply slide the button to the side and the trunk will open. You can also trace the gray wire back to the knob and give it a pull to release the other seat if you need more room. I had my much skinnier son do this for me. 6. There is a valet switch to the right of the locking mechanism on the trunk lid. On my car this was in the lock position. I must have bumped it at some point. Switch it to the unlock position and your key fob release as well as the release on the dash of the car should work. 7. Reward yourself with an ice cold beverage for a job well done and for avoiding a costly repair bill.

Had this issue with my 2017. You can use the mechanical key and there is button/latch right beside it. Turn the key and push button at same time. It should open like that