To suggest somebody jury-rig a damaged rear hatch on a near-new car is a bad idea. Easy to do it wrong with resulting water leaks and the potential to open up unexpectedly. Just a bad idea. @TwinTurbo says it better. I hadn’t considered exhaust fumes.
Like I said, a REALLY bad idea.
Good points. But it was meant to be a short term fix until OP could find a shop to straighten it out. You can do that affordably with a shop that has a pulling machine.
Don’t send any of your money on the Subaru. Sell it, pay off whatever loan balance is on it and put money into maintaining and keeping the Camry nice. My wife and I have a 2008 Camry Solara Convertible. After replacing a defective transmission at 23,000 miles, it’s been nearly flawless. A big expense was replacing the convertible top and restoring the leather seats for $2,800 at 145,000 miles. The second biggest expense was rebuilding the front suspension and steering and wheel bearings at about the same time. It’s lightly rusted underneath and got too many bumper dings. It seems to attract idiots in parking lots despite being bright red. It’s now good for another 15 years and another 150,000 miles. We religiously change its oil every 5,000 miles, and it gets new Toyota transmission fluid and filter once a year. It has an early electronically controlled 5 speed transmission, which isn’t considered that reliable – even the new one.
… because it isn’t possible to suffer from the effects of CO poisoning in the short-term?
Really?
As has been said, driving any vehicle with an ill-fitting rear hatch is an invitation to some serious health-related and/or safety-related problems.
I mean I guess. But the exaust is still mostly vented to the outdoors. Very little CO is going to get in through the rear latch. Maybe more so than if you had your windows open to get fresh air but not enough to be deadly. Besides, if the youre tying down that latch with just a small gap opening, its not going to be a big deal in terms of CO. But OP provided no pictures so its hard to say.
I think this whole conversation has gone off the rails but truly you have never driven a station wagon with the rear window or tail gate down, or a car with the trunk lid open hauling lumber, or taken a science class, or read an owners manual. With the trunk unsecured, you are creating a vacuum that sucks the exhaust inside the cabin. The force can be overcome some by opening the front window and running the fan but it is still a hazard in modern cars.
Is it really a good idea to guess when it comes to something that is potentially a very serious health/safety hazard?
With three catalytic converters on the exhaust system, there would be more carbon monoxide coming from his brother’s cigarette than from the engine.
not sure how much routine maintenance would have needed to be done on a vehicle with only 6,500 miles on it.
but add me as another vote to ditch the Subaru. $800 in maintenance fees is almost nothing nowadays.
Well since CO poisoining is a real thing I have to give the post the benefit of the doubt.
I’ve heard stories that you can’t kill yourself anymore by running a car in the garage. Don’t know if true or not but don’t intend to try it.
I don’t agree with your idea of selling the Subaru
I think the best course of action is to do NOTHING with the Subaru
Let the dad sell it or donate it, etc.
This car is bad news and I’d not want my name on ANY paperwork associated with the car
It is very difficult to succumb to carbon monoxide poisoning with more modern cars. The issue is still with the fact that exhaust gas is deficient in oxygen and has lots of CO2 and so the victim suffers from hypoxemia/hypoxia. The only difference is you can recover from either condition much easier than CO poisoning if caught in time.
Doesn’t matter much if you get sleepy from lack of oxygen, drive off the road and kill yourself against a tree. Doubt they count that difference- well at least he wasn’t poisoned from CO… 
Of course, the magnitude of this particular risk is dependent on many factors not the least of which is the size of the gap, the operating conditions (e.g. windows open) and the particulars of the vehicle design. It’s impossible to discount the risk entirely given the limited information and I assume nobody has a case study to cite. So just trying to advise the OP or any other people happening along about the potential risks. If you decide to test the situation empirically, you’ll be the last to know if it had an adverse effect 
Keep the Camry, ignore the Subaru, but definitely trade in the brother.
Still have to pay insurance, property tax, tag fees, driven or not.
Still pretty affordable.
$150-$300 for a second car is not bad. And if you’re a real gangster, you can even forgo those things since its a second car that you don’t use much.
If anything is to happen to your main car, youre looking at the same several hundred dollars to rent another vehicle, if you even have that option on your insurance policy.
In SC, insurance at state minimum requirement would range from $750 to $1500, Property tax from $1000 to $150, tags $75. Plus a 6% sales tax on the purchase. They don’t allow you to skip a year for repair or storage.
Skipping insurance is a REALLY bad idea.
Tn only has tags and ins to deal with and if not being driven, no need for anything, NO cost to just have a vehicle just stored on your property… I have a few that have not been moved, insured or tagged in over 5 years… One I am (recently) slowly bringing back to life and once ready, just have to go sign on the dotted line that the vehicle has not been driven in that time period, then tags and ins… No issues, no problems… I have done this many times over… lol
And yes they all have ins if driven on the road…
So it ALL depends on your state/county laws…
No, driving without insurance (or having an uninsured vehicle that other might drive) risks financial disaster. It’s that simple. Nothing to do with driver skill.