NHTSA Complaint #11615588 — 2019 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER

I was approaching my car and used my keyfob to open the trunk. As it was opening, I was thankfully facing away from the trunk when the rod from the right tailgate lift support flew off, hitting me in my shoulder blade. It sounded like a gunshot. While there was no puncture, due to my thick t shirt and the rod hitting the bone of my right shoulder blade, the pain was severe. Before I realized it was the tailgate support strut, i genuinely thought I had been shot, due to the sound and the pain. Had I been facing my car, the rod would've gone through my face. Had it hit my eye, I indubitably would have lost that eye or my eyesight. There was no warning. I have never experienced anything out of the ordinary with my trunk door or the mechanisms to lift it. This easily could've severely injured me or someone else, or damaged property significantly. Upon inspection visually, the non-threaded end of the rod appears to have snapped off. The hydraulics were so strong that the 5mm thick metal snapped in half within milliseconds. I have an appointment at the Mitsubishi dealership where I got the car to get to the root cause. They confirmed over the phone that my car is too new to have tailgate lift support failure.