I have a complicated relationship with standardization. On one hand, I love it. And think there should be a lot more standardization of car parts, especially for things like EV battery sizes, or perhaps how sometimes I long for the days when there were only two kinds of headlights, round or rectangular, and they were dirt cheap.
But then when I think about what rampant standardization could mean, I get horrifying visions of everything inexorably marching towards sameness, and that sounds like a nightmare. So I appreciate a world where problems have wildly different solutions. Sometimes, though, standards just seem to happen, and I think we’re at a point where a huge standard has definitely taken root, and no one is talking about it. Except me! I will remain silent no more! I’m officially decreeing the way we open trunks and hatches by feeling blindly around under the lip over a license plate hereby standardized!
That’s right! This has been happening, quietly for decades, right under our noses, and the time has come to just call it. This method of opening a hatch has won. It’s finished. So let’s take the time to note this, name it, examine it, and accept it.
First, let’s look at the World Before, when there were many ways to open the rear hatch or trunk of a car. Let’s just look at some examples from one automaker, Honda. Here’s a few samples of Hondas from the 1970s to 1980s, and where they had their trunk- or hatch-opening handles or latches:
Look at all that dazzling variety! Latches and handles of all manner of shapes, some metal, some plastic, some emblazoned, proudly, with the Honda logo, some chromed, some large, some tiny – it was really a time where anything went.
Of course, sometimes, a bit more rarely, you’d even see these on the fronts of cars:
And now, look at these Hondas from more recent times (and one from the 90s, when all of this really got started):
See that? All the tailgate latches are now in the same basic place: under the lip, above the license plate, sharing a space with the license plate lights. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that the incidents of people physically touching license plate light lenses has increased dramatically since the 1990s, and shows no signs of stopping, as we’re always letting our fingers roam and explore under those little lips, fingering the license plate lights, as we feel for the little rubberized or plastic buttons that will get our hatches and trunks open.
I’m trying to think of modern-ish exceptions to this rule, and while I think there are some, they’re quite few, and some of these exceptions have pretty large mitigating circumstances. For example, consider the Ford EcoSport, which we got here in America from around 2018 to 2022. This little crossover had its rear door handle integrated, strangely, into the right side taillight:
… but that was only because the hatch opens sideways, like a door, not a hatch. The Mitsubishi Mirage is another example, and I think it enjoys the freedom to have an actual, visible handle still because it stubbornly remains one of the cheapest cars on the market.
Pickup truck tailgates also tend to retain their prominent, visible handles, at least in part because license plates tend not to be mounted on truck tailgates.
Speaking of truck tailgate handles, I really feel like the Jeep J10 tailgate handle is worth remembering here because it was just a repurposed AMC door handle, in a beautiful example of AMC cheapskate-creativity:
View this post on Instagram
But for the vast majority of the current automotive world, the Hidden Handle (okay, let’s call it that) has won. And it’s across the spectrum of cars, too. Here’s the handle hiding under the chrome strip of a Rolls-Royce Cullinan and the same damn basic thing lurking under the lower lip of that Nissan Versa trim strip or under the lower edge of the tailgate on that Mercedes-Benz EQS:
The point is, the Hidden Handle has become near-ubiquitous. It’s everywhere. And, visually, it’s nowhere. Which leads to my big issue with the Hidden Handle:
Sure, it’s slowly and stealthily crept onto almost every car, but do any of us really like these things? Really? Don’t we all spend way too much time sliding our fingers under those often dirty lips and edges, feeling around for which little lumpy bit is the button to open the trunk?
How often have you tried to push on a license plate light to get a hatch open? How often have you gotten frustrated and craned your head low to look under there, to see if you can spot just where you need to get your fingers to make the damn trunk open? Wouldn’t you rather have a latch you can see and satisfyingly operate, especially if it’s interesting, or fun, or both?
I suppose the thinking is that with so many key fobs having trunk- or hatch-open buttons, the physical handle on the car just doesn’t matter as much. And that may be true. Until you need it.
I’m guessing these sorts of hatch or trunk releases are cheaper to install, as they don’t really need to be as robust? Maybe? I’m just not sure how they’re better than an actual handle or latch you can see.
Sure, designers may appreciate the cleanliness of not having to design or install another component, but come on, they could figure out some nice solutions, too!
I’m just bitter that this has sneakily become the default, and I wasn’t consulted. Not even once.
Oh well. I think this is likely here to stay, the Hidden Handle, so I really should make my peace with them. But I don’t think I’ll ever like them.
A Strange And Uncommon Automotive Detail: The Nose Handle
This Isn’t How You Put Books In A Hatchback, Dummies: Cold Start
There May Be More Behind That Weird Hyundai Ad You’ve Seen Than You Realize
If only we can bring back gas struts. I hate motorized tailgates, they are so damn slow. Past 2 family suvs have them and my e91 had struts+opening glass and it was so much better.
At least my wife’s Dodge Caravan has gas struts and an electric lift. And when it’s raining and I’d like to get the groceries inside a little faster when she pops the electric liftgate, I can just pull on the mechanical hidden release handle and the electric lift motor disengages, letting the struts raise it twice as fast. Most practical design ever.
Little details like these are engineering at its finest.
When I was a kid, I broke my moms electric ones on the earlier models. I didn’t get why it was so slow and would just force it down. Deep down, I feel like it deserved to break because I think its a horrible design and adding a failure point for no reason. Maybe that just makes me a bad person though, who knows.
i’m okay with electronic buttons/poppers. I have never had one fail on me but i’ve had two conventional door handles break on me in the last 4 years.
I’ve had multiple ones fail. The rubber on the pad wears out, or worse yet the whole part you pull on rips away from the vehicle because it’s plastic poorly bolted onto the car.
Sure, we can standardize this, but infotainment is a mish mash of haptic trash. Don’t get me started on PRNDLOL.
My car has two hidden buttons back there, a big one that you have to hit twice to open the hatch (the first time just unlocks the car) and a little one that seems to just lock the car again. There is no button in the driver area to open the hatch (a first for me in a car), and my fob has a button for that, which does not function.
For some reason, they insist that you be at the back of the car when that hatch opens. To contain the chaos! or something.
Hey sometimes if you don’t drive your car for a while that hidden hatch release can also hide a cocoon of spider babies that release on to your hand when you try to open the hatch. Just a thought, totally not something that has actually happened to me.
Had the same thing happen with a handle and a wasp nest (cold day, they were pretty chill about it…) so neither are an improvement IMO. Only way to improve it is probably to make it one of those you stick your fingers through instead of under so you can at least see what you’re getting into before you commit to it.
I know someone who got a car back from a collision repair. They did not complete the re-installation of one of the door handles. When she went to open said door, she tore her fingers up pretty bad on the exposed parts underneath.
The 3 series BMW still has a handle, even if automated. Italian cars (from Fiat to Ferrari) often don’t have any (!) handle or opening button, but you can open the trunk only with the key fob or from inside. Apparently for increased security but quite annoying in real life
You know, that’s one thing that’s never bothered me. You remember where it is on your car within a week of buying it, so you aren’t fumbling around under there to find it. It did get a little frustrating for me when I detailed cars, just because everything was always different for each car and you’re opening/closing things a fair amount.
As others have said, I really liked the pivoting VW logo that I had on the back of my old GTI and CC. My Sportwagen just has a regular electronic button above the license plate. My 1972 Super Beetle has a push button right on the trunk handle, but to unlock it you have to pull down a lever in the glove box. I ran some sturdy wire from the latch and under the front fender so I can unlatch it without getting in the car.
In a uniquely Porsche way, the tailgate on my Macan has a little button on the rear wiper arm. Took me 3 months to find it hidden in plain sight.
Was going to comment the same. Our macan has it on the wiper hub, not the arm, but the confusion was the same.
3 months! So the free trial period ended before you got to use it and now you have to pay for the subscription?
The only issue I have is if it’s a little high to both twist your hand under, and still have leverage to comfortably swing the hatch open. Or if it’s unnaturally low like that Benz; Kia Sportage used to be that way too. Otherwise I have never thought much about it, and think it’s a cleaner look in most cases.
It wasn’t too long ago you’d still need a key to open the hatch from the outside every time or go all the way back inside the car to pop the hatch, the first 2 gens of Chrysler vans had no exterior release handle as I recall.
Lack of a good way to pull a trunk or hatch back down to close has always been more of a frustration when that’s not present. Options are limited to dirty fingers or maybe grabbing the exposed metal frame of the trunk, if not carpeted.
So opening the trunk/hatch has been standardized – I’m okay with that.
Meanwhile there seems to be a novel way of operating a transmission/drive selector introduced every few weeks – none of which work as well as the good old PRNDL on a nice chunky column or console-mounted lever.
I really don’t have an issue with pushbutton shifters considering they’re nothing new and a console-mounted lever is a hilarious waste of space for an automatic. Every time I use it in my Volvo I think to myself, ‘you really need this giant stick to go between P, R, N, and D?’ As long as the buttons are well-placed and well-labeled, I think they’re an improvement.
Agreed 100%. I have a ’23 Colorado and the shifter is a huge waste of space. I’d much rather have extra storage space and more ergonomic cup holders.
Except that the button is a switch that activates a motor that moves a lever. When that motor goes belly up, you will not be able to switch gears.
The other problem with it is that it takes a second or two to change the gear. It’s faster to move the lever by hand.
The heck with automatic transmissions, anyway. A manual is a real driver’s choice, unless driving a limousine with a picky passenger.
Meh, my parking brake is already a motor that moves a lever. If that goes belly up I’m definitely not going anywhere.
rip ms. chao
That was a touchscreen shifter—what a horrendously awful idea.
To open the trunk on a Volkswagen Arterton, you push in the top of the VW badge which pivots on its horizontal axis (so the bottom pivots out). They also hide the backup camera under the bottom of the badge. The camera only peeks out when you reverse so it doesn’t get dirty.
Clever, yet overengineered. The German way.
Same with several recent MB models.
It was the same way on the CC, although mine didn’t have a backup camera (bit of a problem in a car with horrible rear visibility).
What was the movie where a baddie tried to open the hatch, and there was some kind of contact poison? That’s what I always go to…
The Jackal
I just enjoy seeing a photo of my Honda Fit now that they have been banished to overseas markets.
Also, the lock to the hatch is to the right of the latch, so double fumbling.
I’ve always seen it the opposite way. If you have such a great existing alcove like a license plate opening, why ruin the tailgate with a hideous grab handle that is discordant with all the other styling elements? The Pacifica is another holdout because its license plate lip is too high to give good leverage for a handle mounted above it for non-powered liftgate models. I’ve always thought it looks stupidly out of place and tacked-on.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/2021_Chrysler_Pacifica_Touring-L%2C_rear_7.11.21.jpg
Of course the coolest option is hidden push-buttons like Peugeot used to do within the ‘0’ of their model designations. Hyundai have done something similar on the latest Sonata, though unfortunately it’s just a capacitative panel rather than an actual physical button.
https://i.imgur.com/27pKC3O.jpg
I don’t think I really care about hidden button vs handle, however I really care about not having a key hole in any of those pictures other than the Mirage! I once parked my RX8 for the winter in a shared garage so I got it to about an inch of the wall, climbed out the passenger side, locked the car, disconnected the battery and closed the hood. about 5 months later I go back to the car and realize there’s no key hole on the passenger side door. The car is parked too close to the wall to get the key into the drivers side and try to hook the hood release. I stand there for about 10 minutes considering how screwed I am before I realize I have an amplifier in the trunk, if I can feed it 12V from another battery I can power the car just enough to use the key fob to unlock the doors and get to the hood release. If it was any of these cars I really would have screwed myself that time.
I call them Snuff Handles because to use them you just need a pinch below the lip.
Real snuff doesn’t go in your lip at all. What many Americans call snuff is nothing like the real thing.
True, it’s closer to chewing tobacco than actual snuff that gets snorted.
I don’t have a strong opinion here.
But I have a very strong opinion that most minivans should have a double rear door instead of a giant hatch —which opens just to the right height for me to bang my head against—
I would say that, while no longer in production, the Toyota/Scion iQ could be considered “modern-ish” and it has a button/pull like the “RIP” example in the lead art.
How do we collectively feel about the combo hatch handle / backup camera hidden inside the VW badge on MK7 Golfs?
I think it’s awesome. I love the satisfaction of flipping that VW badge back to open the hatch. I love watching it spring open when the car is thrown into reverse. It’s such a rational way of hiding both the hatch handle and backup camera that it circles back around to zany.
I for one appreciate the classical functional-Teutonic nature of it. I enjoy multipurpose stuff like that.
I enjoy pointing out to recent model owners that the big Mustang badge in the center of the trunk lid is actually a throwback to the ’60s models which used it as a gas cap cover. After I tell them this, many express sadness that it’s just decorative on their car.
If Ford is willing to build a proper electric Mustang coupe, they should absolutely have a center Mustang badge doubling as a charge port cover.
Great idea but bad execution. Doesn’t retract quickly enough so it’s always open or trying to retract when I want to open the boot which is incredibly annoying and you lose the satisfaction of using an otherwise very solid handle.
Came looking for this. The backup camera part is overtly complex and I’m sure won’t be cheap to replace were it to fail. But damn if it doesn’t keep the camera lens from getting dirtied up.
Looks like ~$760 (tax and shipping extra) for new OEM replacement for the badge/camera module, orrrrr you can gamble on the $84 AliExpress special.
I think I would probably go junkyard diving for that one, just a few screws and a wire harness to unclip.
Same re: junkyard searching. Or learn to live without it again assuming it’s just the camera mechanism and the latch still works. VW’s used it so long, if it were a frequent issue I think it would perhaps have popped up by now, but also if it does become common enough I’m sure some of the VW-focused parts & accessory sites will start picking up working ones for resale where they can.
I am for it, for all the reasons you listed, and also I have a MK7 Golf.
The ones like the Mitsubishi Mirage tend to break over time, specially if you live around places like Michigan. People tend to open and lift the hatch from the handle at the same time. I prefer when it’s a button that just release the hatch and you lift from another spot.
My Focus has a good setup like that – just a small indentation in the bumper top so you can grasp the bottom edge of the trunk. Not bad, aside from not having a keyhole back there, despite the car being key-operated.
Just another thing that the Jeep Wrangler (and the bronco) takes heat over when being reviewed by Car rags, but in staying with the antiquated and archaic design, they’ve made them the best for the actual “enthusiasts”
Big, solid, fail proof handle, with a small enough door that can swing open without you needing to move out of the way. One side proudly carries a full size matching spare. The other side can be accessorized to no end with everything from tool pouches to kitchen tables.
Its a beautiful design, it is infinitely adaptable, and needs nothing more than a latch and hinges to operate.
Disregard Modernity.
Embrace Tradition.
I think it’s mostly due to it being an electronic button for convenience (and cost savings) and that most hatches now are motorized and don’t need muscle power to lift so why bother making a handle.
My father’s 2023 Jeep GC gets annoyed at me when I try to manually close the hatch. At least that’s how it feels as I pull down on it, until I stop and push the button instead. All right all right you win!
They should just go all out and get rid of all latches and locks since they have already created the option for thieves to enter and steal your car with a cheap wireless hack. Get rid of keys and locks and you will be able to sell your next gen SUV for $60,000 Instead of $60,050. Consumer wins!
My favorite hidden handle is the one on the old Toyota Venza (I think), which was mounted off center. Because this was a bit hidden Toyota put a black sticker on it that basically said “the handle is over here,” which I think was meant to be temporary. Naturally many people didn’t remove the sticker, so there are a ton of Venzas running around with the black “open hatch here” box.
Those stickers were pretty common, I used to see them even on sedans that didn’t normally used to have exterior releases. Usually this indicated a rental car to me because it always seemed to have other rental bar codes on it. I figure a dealer will likely take that off when prepping the car for delivery, but a rental company will just toss it as is in the fleet, or maybe leave it on so people don’t come back and whine about how there was no way to open the trunk from outside the car without the key or something.
Hidden handle is like hood release. If it’s always in the same spot, then you don’t have to get super grubby looking for it. It’s like the little rubber man between the lights…
My new S60 has the license plate nubbin, but you can also kick under the bumper right between the V and O and the trunk springs open (the first vo)