Opened the trunk with the remote control, like I have for the last 6 years, and today the latch won't reengage when I close the trunk lid.

Using a screwdriver, I can manually close the latching mechanism with virtually no effort, but whatever mechanism that locks the trunk in the closed position is not working.

The trunk lid closes completely, but there is no clicking sound, and no latch to hold it down.

Any thoughts on how to fix this.

 

did the hoop that it latches to get misaligned causing it to not catch?

 

No. I took the liner off the inside of the trunk lid and took apart the faulty latch release mechanism. The actuator that activates the remote trunk release was the problem. It was stuck in the "pop the trunk open" position, and it wouldn't recoil to the regular position that allows the latch to reengage when the trunk is closed.

I took the actuator apart, there is a gear turned by a small motor, and a toothed wheel that guides release arm. The problem appeared to be that the wheel and gear had gotten out of alignment. I repositioned everything, and it appears to work. The actuator housing doesn't seem to hold the wheel/gear mechanism tight enough.