Best way to close the rear glass hatch (1 Viewer)

[GA Lexus]

As per title, what is the best way to close the rear glass hatch?
Where do you press to close and lock the glass, the lower glass or the wiper, or somewhere else?
It seems to require a lot of pressure.

 

[bronco21]

Mine closes very easily. I just open and close with the small handle under the wiper.

 

[bart]

Never occurred to me to try to lower it and then press. I always slam it just like doors

 

[cmfhsu]

Yeah - I just grab it by the little black handle and slam the glass, because it takes quite a bit of force to fully latch closed - it feels like I'm at risk of smashing the glass. I'll try pushing on it next time to see if it's a less violent way to close the window.

Pro tip from somebody who owned a 15 year old station wagon with an identical rear window / wiper motor design: lubricate that little metal plunger that's attached to the wiper arm with some kind of corrosion-resistant spray 2x yearly and operate it by hand to make sure it's not seizing. I use white lithium spray, but somebody can tell me if that's a bad idea. Perhaps silicone spray is a safer option as it's dry.

That little spring loaded metal cylinder that allows the wiper arm to be safely misaligned when you close the window is prone to rusting and seizing, which will eventually punch a hole into your wiper motor when you close the window, making your rear wiper floppy or damaging the motor. And if you then try to replace the wiper arm mechanism because you can't un-stick the plunger, there's a solid chance you'll shatter the window trying to get the corroded wiper arm mechanism unstuck from the glass.

I understand the cost savings compared to the previous mechanism in the GX460, but I think this design seems kinda un-Land-Cruiser-like and feels very "consumer-grade". I think spraying that plunger is literally the first thing I did when I brought the car home because I had such a bad experience trying to fix it on my e91 wagon.

 

[bronco21]

Mine closes so easy with minimal effort. I can’t imagine slamming the glass closed.
Just push with your thumb as it closes.

 

[GA Lexus]

It takes a lot of pressure for the it to lock shut.

 

[U AINT 1ST U LAST]

As per title, what is the best way to close the rear glass hatch?
Where do you press to close and lock the glass, the lower glass or the wiper, or somewhere else?
It seems to require a lot of pressure.

I use the same little finger pull on the lower left side of the glass that I use to open it. It opens and closes quite easily. Perhaps your glass needs adjustment.

 

[Patrickg6191]

Mine on my Luxury closes like a door (I don't slam it though) by using the little black handle. You get a warning if not closed properly when the car is running. I like that the fact that you can just open the glass hatch to check that your load is still properly secured before opening the door...Prevented a few times to get stuff falling and breaking on the ground.