Does anyone else have problems with the hatch opening by itself? 2024 Hybrid

Has anyone else experienced this? This morning, I went outside to take my kid to school and found the hatch of my car open, pressing against the garage door. Thankfully, there’s no visible damage to the car or the garage, but it was stressful to deal with.

The hatch got stuck on a part of the garage door, and the car wouldn’t let me move forward because it detected the hatch was open. I had to push against the garage door just to get it closed, which felt risky.

I turned off the power liftgate option for now, but now it’s a struggle to open and close the hatch because it resists movement. Is this a common issue? I wasn’t near the car overnight, nobody went into the garage, and the key was locked away upstairs. My phone (which I use as a key) was also far from the garage. Any ideas?

It sounds like the proximity tailgate open feature is on. With the key fob or digital key, if you stand near the back of the car for about 3 seconds, the hatch opens. Try turning that off. Nothing else should open the hatch automatically unless the buttons are pressed.

@Indie
Yeah, exactly this.

@Indie
Are you talking about the smart liftgate option in the settings? I don’t remember turning it on, but I might’ve turned it off now while trying to fix the problem.

Val said:
@Indie
Are you talking about the smart liftgate option in the settings? I don’t remember turning it on, but I might’ve turned it off now while trying to fix the problem.

Yes, that’s the one.

@Indie
What a strange feature. I wasn’t anywhere near the car, but maybe the system thought I was because my bedroom is above the garage. I don’t even spend time in that part of the room, but I did put my phone down there yesterday.

@Val
It’s probably because of the digital key on your phone. Bluetooth or UWB can sometimes misjudge distances. It’s more reliable with the fob, but phones can be unpredictable.

Hopefully, turning off the feature solves it. I turned it off immediately because my car is close to the garage door, and I didn’t want this exact problem.

Yes, this has happened to me. Our garage is directly below the kitchen, and anytime someone stands above the car in the kitchen with an iPhone key, the tailgate opens into the garage door. It’s so annoying.

If you turn off proximity tailgate open, the issue should stop. You’ll still be able to open the hatch using the fob or the button on the door. Don’t try to force the hatch open or closed—it could damage the mechanism.

You’re lucky you didn’t get any major damage. The first time this happened to me, the garage door scratched the hatch and broke part of the garage door opener. Hyundai should’ve gone with a kick-to-open feature like most other brands.

@Bailey
Is the proximity setting under the smart liftgate option? I couldn’t find anything labeled as proximity key. I feel fortunate nothing major got damaged, but I’m still upset because my garage door is only a couple of weeks old. There’s a small mark where it hit, but the car seems fine. Still annoying, though.

@Val
It’s designed to stop when it meets resistance, probably to prevent worse damage.

I turned off that feature on mine because it kept opening while I was in the house or nowhere near the car. My old Ford had a foot-swipe option that worked much better.

Mine opens every time I walk by on my way to the garbage cans. I’ve learned to walk around the car or rush past it. It would be nice if the app alerted you when the hatch is left open, like it does for the doors.

Proximity hatch open is such a bad idea. I turned it off the day I bought my car.