[msadrienne]

I'm thinking about wrapping my car and this has to go. It's been on here since I've bought it but the tape and cracking is too much for me now lol.

How do I remove this? What material did they use to secure the latch like this?

I would like to replace it with a black latch and fix the bulbs on the bottom. Maybe upgrade them to a brighter led bulbs.

Whatever they used it's a fingerprint magnet. Excuse the dirty fingerprints, they're all on the bottom of the panel as well and won't come off 😤

Any suggestions?

 

[Bigbluebear01]

Saw a few YouTube videos on replacement, doesn't look that hard, and another video about switching to LED lights. Now sure the policy on posting those in here but worth a look for a cheap fix.

 

[msadrienne]

Saw a few YouTube videos on replacement, doesn't look that hard, and another video about switching to LED lights. Now sure the policy on posting those in here but worth a look for a cheap fix.

I was looking to see how to remove whatever they used to hold the latch to the door. It has bondo or something over it instead of the regular handle, can you see it in my pictures?

 

[Bigbluebear01]

Ahh gotcha. Yeah not sure on that one. Sorry

 

[msadrienne]

Ahh gotcha. Yeah not sure on that one. Sorry

No worries. They did some sort of permanent fix, the whole panel is matte white. The hatch is fixed to the door it seems. What a bummer. Thanks for your help though.

 

[04_Toaster]

FYI.....if you get it off......there are $35 metal reinforced replacement hatch handles black or painted and also LED replacement license plate pods for $20......from that place, you know the one

 

[msadrienne]

That metal reinforced handles sound awesome….sent you a pm

 

[M1153 C]

The eBay latch works pretty well. Got a carbon fiber one, pretty sturdy.

 

[M1153 C]

• open the trunk
• with a fastener removal tool, remove all the fasteners.
• remove the trunk cover
• there should be 2 screws that holds the latch in place that can be removed
• you can remove the lights and door button and tos the old latch away
• reverse the steps to install the new latch but with 4 screws instead of 3.