Boot / tailgate release button
Unlocks the boot (tailgate, rear lid, trunk lid) on its own, without unlocking the doors. On a powered tailgate, holding it also opens the lid.
What pressing it does
All six handbooks that show it put a boot button on the remote key, and it must be held, not tapped: Hyundai says more than one second, MINI about one second, SEAT until the indicators flash. On most cars it only unlocks: Hyundai's Tucson still needs the button in the tailgate handle pressed to lift the lid, and relocks after 30 seconds if it is not opened; SEAT's Ateca gives you 2 minutes before it relocks. With a powered tailgate, holding Peugeot's button unlocks the boot and swings the tailgate open; Mercedes-Benz puts the same symbol on the SmartKey and on a pull switch on the driver's door.
Check your car's manual: makes and models differ in what a button does, which positions a switch has and whether it works with the engine off, and your owner's manual is the authority for your car.
- What it looks like
- A car seen from the side with its rear lid or tailgate swung up, sometimes with an arrow; on the remote key, the driver's door or the tailgate
- Also labelled
- Tailgate unlock; Rear lid button; Trunk lid button (US); Unlocking the boot only (Renault)
- Standard
- None — a maker's symbol, described here from 3 makers' manuals: Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, SEAT
What your car's handbook says
The handbook for your exact car is the authority: each row is one named handbook for one model and year, not proof for every model of that make, and the wording in the last column is ours. 6 of the 8 handbooks we checked show this button. The Opel / Vauxhall and Fiat handbooks do not.
| Make | Handbook's name | What that handbook says pressing it does |
|---|---|---|
| Hyundai | “Tailgate Unlock button (smart key)” | Hold the button on the smart key for more than one second: the hazard lights blink twice and only the tailgate unlocks. It does not open it; press the tailgate handle button to lift the lid. It relocks after 30 seconds if not opened.Source: Hyundai 2025 Tucson (general market, English web manual), web manual page, checked 2026-10-12 |
| SEAT | “Unlock only the rear lid (key button 3)” | Press the key button until the indicators flash briefly; only the rear lid unlocks. You then have 2 minutes to open it before it locks again.Source: SEAT Ateca owner's manual, UK English, edition 06.21 (model year 2022), PDF, PDF page 93, checked 2026-10-12 |
| Peugeot | “Selective unlocking and opening of the tailgate” | Press and hold the tailgate button on the key: a non-motorised tailgate unlocks and partly opens, a motorised one unlocks and opens by itself. Selective unlocking is off by default and is set in the touch screen.Source: Peugeot 3008 / 5008 handbook (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF), PDF page 32, checked 2026-10-12 |
| Renault | “Locking/unlocking the boot only (card button 3)” | Button 3 on the Renault card locks or unlocks the luggage compartment alone, leaving the doors as they are.Source: Renault Captur user manual (UK English, NU 1466-1, edition 01/2024, PDF), PDF page 36, checked 2026-10-12 |
| Mercedes-Benz | “Trunk lid button (SmartKey) / trunk lid remote operating switch” | Press and hold the trunk lid button on the SmartKey, or pull the remote operating switch on the driver's door, to open the lid; with convenience closing, the same controls also close it or stop it.Source: Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan operator's manual (US, edition C1-2017 H, PDF), PDF page 66, checked 2026-10-12 |
| MINI | “Unlocking the tailgate (key button 3)” | Press and hold the tailgate button on the key for about one second: the tailgate unlocks and can be swung upward.Source: MINI Hardtop 2 Door / 4 Door owner's manual (US, online edition II/20, PDF), PDF page 64, checked 2026-10-12 |
What to check in your car's manual
Whether your button only unlocks the lid or also opens it, how long to hold it, how soon the boot relocks if you do not open it, and whether there is a second release switch inside the car (driver's door or dashboard).
Where makes differ
Renault's Captur card has a separate button 3 that locks and unlocks the boot only. On Peugeot, selective unlocking of the tailgate is a setting in the touch screen and is off by default. Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot open a powered lid; Hyundai, SEAT, MINI and Renault only unlock it. The Opel Corsa E and Fiat Tipo handbooks show no separate boot button: their tailgates unlock with the central locking and open with the switch or handle on the tailgate.
In the other handbooks' own words:
- Hyundai (2025 Tucson, 2025): “The Tailgate Unlock button (3) will only unlock the tailgate. It will not release the latch and open the tailgate automatically.” web manual page
- Peugeot (3008 / 5008 handbook, 2024): “With a non-motorised tailgate: press and hold this button to unlock the boot and partially open the tailgate.” PDF page 32
No regulation defines it
Neither the UN R121 table (43 rows, from master lighting switch to electronic stability control) nor FMVSS 101 Tables 1 and 2 lists a boot, tailgate or trunk release, so its symbol and behaviour are the maker's. The car with a raised rear lid drawn here is the shape the Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, SEAT and MINI handbooks picture on the button.
Good to know
- Mercedes-Benz (E-Class with trunk lid convenience closing): if something is trapped while the lid closes, press the boot button on the SmartKey, press the switch on the driver's door, press the button in the lid, or pull the lid handle, and it stops.
- MINI: depending on equipment and country, a setting decides whether the key can unlock the tailgate at all and what the doors do when it does.
Related dashboard pages
Other buttons under “Car shapes”
Sources
No regulation defines this control, so it is described from 3 carmakers' own owner's manuals, each read on the date shown.
- Peugeot 3008 / 5008 handbook (UK English, 2024 edition, PDF): Selective unlocking and opening of the tailgate, p. 32 — A button showing a car with its tailgate raised: press and hold it to unlock the boot; with a motorised tailgate it also opens it. checked 2026-10-12
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class Sedan operator's manual (US, edition C1-2017 H, PDF): Opening/closing the trunk lid, p. 66 — The trunk lid button on the SmartKey and the remote operating switch on the driver's door, both showing a car rear with its lid raised. checked 2026-10-12
- SEAT Ateca owner's manual, UK English, edition 06.21 (model year 2022), PDF: Vehicle key, p. 93 — Key button 3 unlocks only the rear lid; hold it until the indicators flash; the lid relocks after 2 minutes if not opened. checked 2026-10-12
Written in our own words; the manuals cover their own models only.