Hmm, perhaps a shot of white lithium grease is in order? I'll take a look at mine and see how it is put together.. now that it is getting colder I think I'll buy a can.

The technical manual outlines the procedure for opening a stuck rear window... it involves drilling a hole - maybe a preemptive strike in this case would be prudent.

 

The technical manual outlines the procedure for opening a stuck rear window... it involves drilling a hole - maybe a preemptive strike in this case would be prudent.

I've never had an issue with release, but I've run into the latching problem as well. Has happened 3 or 4 times to me now, always on rainy days. I haven't been able to come up with a repeatable pattern of lock/unlocks/liftgate button pushes to clear the situation. Eventually I'll get it to relatch, but sometimes it can be a day later.

 

Had a similar problem

I had a similar problem discussed here: http://www.smartcarofamerica.com/forums/f4/rear-window-latch-problem-10592/

It got progressively worse, and finally I took it in for service and they replaced the latch under warranty. I don't know if lubricating it would have helped.

 

I've had this happen for the 3rd time now. I'm 163 miles away from home and my rear window latch will not catch and hold the windo in a closed position. The Smart Rep instructed me to drive home with a string then have serviced. Hopefully your suggestions will prove beneficial.

 

I've had mine not want to latch a couple of time in extreme cold. I stumbled upon a solution that works for me: open the tailgate, reclose it, then close the rear window. It's worked for me.

 

I had mine replaced under warranty. There are a lot of bad latches. Mine acted up within the first week of ownership and continued as an intermittent problem. It has worked fine since they replaced the electric switch actuator.

 

If it doesn't latch, open and close the lift gate. If it isn't locked properly the rear glass won't latch. That can be one reason for it not working.

 

If it doesn't latch, open and close the lift gate. If it isn't locked properly the rear glass won't latch. That can be one reason for it not working.

This is exactly what happened to me last night. I discovered that I had only latched the lift gate on the 1st click, so it wasn't completely closed flush. When I properly secured it, the window latched fine.

 

This just happened to me this morning, a cold and rainy day, just like others have said. I brought it to the dealer since I'm not able to lock the car, they are keeping it overnight and they haven't confirmed that it is covered under warranty, it should be, the car is only 7 months old.

 

One time I got a grain of sand jammed under the micro switch and I had to dissemble the whole back end of the car to clear it out.

 

Sure it wasn't the proverbial 'grain of salt' ?? With all the snow we have been getting, I hope the switches are sealed up good. Lots of snow/salt/sand stuck back there.

 

i had similar problem window would not stay closed i hag to replace the window actuator a small selenoid that pulls the lock mechanism thats the odd sound you hear when you go to open the rear window about $40+ easy to replace mine was frozen tried to get it to free up with wd40 to no avail i did make a mistake while on order i did close the window after taking the part out and you can lock the window closed with now no way of opening it again UNLESS you drill a hole on driver side of the black plastic cover and reach in with pliers and pull the unlock cable to release the window