wail junkie

To follow up here, I finally got it open but powering the electrical release through the fuse box just didn't work. I read all the materials and followed the instructions but it just wasn't responding to the FOB button, even holding it down for 10 seconds. With some locking pliers I was finally able to get a good enough grip on the cable to open things up that way. Next time I have my car at a competent mechanic I might ask them to check out if something is wrong with the fuse box terminal. After connecting the battery and starting the car everything else worked normally.