‘Saved My Battery’: Subaru Driver Goes Camping. Then She Discovers A Trick To Keep The Trunk Open WIthout Draining The Battery

Modern cars can do it all: monitor blind spots, recognize key fobs from across a parking lot, and call for help after a crash. But, according to one experienced camper and Subaru owner, sometimes all that innovation and smart technology can be more trouble than they’re worth.

From the great outdoors somewhere in Ohio, TikTokker Adrienne (@lilaclaurels) is helping fellow campers troubleshoot a problem that’s apparently pretty common for her: risking a dead battery from keeping her Ascent station wagon’s trunk open for hours at a time. With a strategically placed carabiner, she shows how to outsmart the car’s sensors so it won’t keep trying to warn her that the trunk is open, even though it is.

“Now you can see that it's saying the back door is closed,” she said in the clip that’s been viewed more than 648,000 times. “You're free to keep your door open all you want without draining the battery.”

A Low-Tech Solution To Battery Drainage

Adrienne's “fix” hinges on fooling the Subaru into believing its hatch is latched shut. Holding the camera with one hand, she clips a small carabiner directly into the hatch mechanism until it clicks into place.

"What you have to do is trick your car into thinking that the hatch is closed," she explained. "You just push it in and it locks in."

She anticipates the obvious follow-up question: since the carabiner effectively becomes the hatch latch, how exactly do you get it back out? She said getting the carabiner back out requires activating the trunk release, as if you were opening the hatch normally while simultaneously sliding the clip out of the latch.

She added that it sometimes takes multiple button presses to release.

To prove the trick worked, she pointed the camera toward the Subaru's instrument cluster, which moments earlier had displayed a warning that the rear hatch was open. After the carabiner snapped into place, the alert disappeared.

The comments quickly transformed from appreciation into a kind of fan club for Subaru owners.

"And if you drive a Subaru I know that you also have a carabiner," one viewer joked.

"Actually my key ring too!!" another commenter added.

"I was about to argue but you're right," admitted a third.

It was an oddly specific stereotype that worked because the audience immediately recognized it as true, and also part of the lore and brand identity of Subaru: practical people driving practical cars, armed with lots of outdoor gear and ready to enjoy themselves even when technology gets in the way.

Not everyone accepted the premise of the problem Adrienne was trying to solve, however.

"My question is how on earth does having a door open drain the battery?" one viewer asked. "why would they make the car like that lmfao."

For some, the answer is simple enough that an explainer video hardly seemed necessary.

"You can usually turn off the 'door lights' setting so the cabin lights aren't on when doors or the trunk is open," another suggested.

Car Owner Groups Share Secrets

Modern vehicles can continue monitoring the status of doors, hatches, sensors, and key systems even while parked, creating small but persistent electrical draws that can add up over the course of a long night at camp.

"Yeah but the computer is still recognizing that a door is open and will kill the battery," one commenter wrote. "You have to trigger the latch so it think it's closed."

Whether every Subaru owner needs this workaround may depend on the model year, how long the hatch stays open, and which accessories draw power during a camping trip. Judging from the dozens of responses and stories, Adrienne had touched on a frustration plenty of people recognized.

Adrienne's carabiner trick also serves as a reminder that owner communities often become unofficial support networks, developing solutions and shortcuts that you won't find the owner's manual.

Subaru owners, in particular, seem to have accumulated an entire catalog of tips over the years. There are people who swear by placing binder clips on sun visors to keep bug screens in place while sleeping in the back, for example. Others recommend popping a tennis ball over hitch-mounted bike racks to avoid shin injuries in dark campsites. 

The car-camping crowd may be especially drawn to these kinds of hacks and upgrades. TikTok, Reddit, and Facebook groups are full of advice on how to crack windows without getting rain inside, which foam mattresses fit between wheel wells, and how to reduce overnight condensation.

The camping carabiner trick simply joined a growing compendium of campsite wisdom that spreads in a hurry through owner groups where sharing secrets is a distinct kind of currency.

Motor1 reached out to Adrienne via direct message and email. We’ll update this if she responds.