Ok so my latch broke the other day... won't stay locked when latch mechanism is closed, even manually closing it . After searching here I see the fix is just to replace it, which I am going to do eventually.
I discovered that if I close the hatch then squeeze the release, it will lock it. when I squeeze it again, it opens. Whatever initially, mechanically locks it must be broken but the motor still pulls it shut all the way and keeps it shut. I've been using it like this for days without a problem. May not work for everyone but it's worth a shot...
Hopefully the next poor dude whose lock breaks will come across this thread