I have a 98 cherokee sport and got rear ended. Now the hatch door will not budge. The bumper is also bent upward but it doesn't look like it's holding the door. I can lock and unlock it with the key,also pull on the handle but it's stuck. Any suggestions on how I should go about fixing it?WSP is declaring it a salvaged title unless it passes the safety inspection in order for that the hatch has to function.It's only got 86,000 MI on it and everything else is in PERFECT condition!Hopefully someone can help me out???

 

crawl through the backseat and do your damnedest to pull the rear hatch panel from the door. chances are the linkage was falling out of adjustment before the accident and afterward it's completely dislodged. You may need to damage the panel in order to remove it though but you should be able to figure it out with somebody pulling up on the handle and you following the movement inside. There are multiple write ups with illustrations for this on the website.

 

If that doesn't work you can remove your rear licence plate and drill a hole (3/4") about center of the plate and towards the bottom and use a flat head care driver to operate latch. I used this on my 99 as I couldn't get panel off

 

Chain the bumper to a pole and give it some increasingly stout tugs.

 

bumper bent, remove bumper.
fix it or get new from junk yard. leave it off till you get body fixed.
is the body bent up or in? you need a body shop that can pull it where it belongs. or try pushing from inside
it sounds like it is jammed up because of bent body.
look at a good one open so you know how it locks. by now you forget! like we all would. think then of what could be holding it.
im betting you gotta pry it apart, or have a shop do it right.