Laco.....

Funny you should mention this.

I just "toured" some parking lot car shows tonight. During that excursion, I ran into several owners of HHR's. A couple of them echoed your statement. I corralled them to another location in the parking lot and showed them how to open the rear lift gate mechanically. It's not hard once you try it (one of the students was female, from the hills of Kentucky (very hard to understand) and didn't appear to have an I.Q. in triple digits). You should be able to do it.

By the way, 2 of the cars were '07's, one '08, one '06

Check my thread on this topic here......

https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/show...ift+gate+latch

 

It's so easy even a Kentuckian can do it!

 

I thought I remember there being an issue with quite a few 06 HHR's missing the release inside the rear panel. I know mine does not have the release and I have never gotten around to getting that issue resolved.

 

calgary......

The release IS there. You MUST ABSOLUTELY LOOK FOR IT, however. It is not as illustrated as the Owners Manual displays.

If it's not there....then almost your entire truck latching mechanism is missing. And that is not possible if you have been opening and closing your lift gate.

 

It is still a piece of crap no matter how you look at it.

 

X2
With all my work stuff/ladders in the back blocking access to that little hidden button it would take me a long time to access, that is if I could even get the ladders out the sides.

For two(2) electrical solutions see:
https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-tutorial-library-21/how-liftgate-emergency-switch-22192/

 

Funny thing is that my Camaro has a little glow-in-the-dark pull toggle to let yourself out should you fasten yourself in accidentally, as do a lot of newer vehicles, even though no-one bigger than a 5 year old could fit in, and he'd probably panic and not realise that the toggle was there.
You'd think that the internal release on the HHR would be a little easier to use, it's not like it's a security issue once you're already inside the vehicle.
As for the exterior release, my dad's car (a Nissan)has had one for many years, it's still working fine.

 

Yeah.. but you don't put pets in the trunk............last thing you;d want is the hatch popping going down the hwyway...I agree though, there could be a better way

 

You'd still want it substantially recessed to avoid it being hit by luggage too, but it doesn't need to be a blind prod with a long stick to avoid accidental opening.