Edit: SOLVED!
My rear door won’t open, I was doing some work in the back and it opened and closed just fine. Then it went through a lock and unlock cycle and now it won’t open at all. It feels like it’s locked despite the fact that I’ve hit the unlock button over and over and the little tab rises and falls. When I pull the handle from both the inside and outside it feels like mechanisms are moving but to no avail.

I’ve already removed the rear door panel to feel around but nothing obvious (to me) seemed out of order.

Any ideas?

 

I had this happen to me before. I had to pull the exterior door handle back out as it was halfway pulled. You can pop the LR emblem off the rear above where the license plate is. This will give you access to the handle mechanism and you'll be able to pull it back out so disengage the partial jam. That should allow you to pull the handle normally again to undo the door. I recommend cleaning and spraying that area with lithium grease periodically so it doesn't get jammed up again. Hope that's the issue!

 

I tried this as my first step in troubleshooting. I too have had the “stuck handle” happen. My handle moves freely and when I pull on it I hear mechanisms moving on the inside. It feels like it’s locked, even though (at least from outward appearances) it’s not.

 

After some extensive searching I came across a post about how the child lock on the rear door can become lodged in an “intermediate” position and not allow the door to open from the front or back. Normally it’s obscured when the door is closed but if you stick a butter knife in between the door and the seal you can push it back up to seat it in its fully up position. So I was able to do that and “fix” the problem. I don’t know why it was in that “intermediate” position so my problem isn’t really solved but it was a quick remedy. I guess I’ll add a butter knife to the toolkit until further notice…