I got stranded in a WalMart parking lot one day, because I was opening the trunk. . .and my key broke. It was fairly new, too. Had to dig it out with a pliers and get someone to bring me my spare. . .Ever since, I use the lever inside the car to pop the trunk. I've opened it by key a few times, but it makes me nervous, because you can definitely feel it sticking pretty bad and there seems to be something sharp in there that wears down the key at a certain point. Not a biggie, though, especially compared with everything else this problem car does.