I am working on a 96 RAV4 and the driver's door will not open from the inside or the outside. Since the door is closed, I can't get the door panel off to diagnose the problem. I am assuming the linkage is disconnected or broken... any suggestions would be great.
I just had a very similar problem, the passenger door on my 1996/7 Rav would not unlock, so the door couldn't be opened. As you say, you have to get behind the door panel to release the door which is tricky with the door closed!
I managed to do it by carefully peeling back the plastic cover over the door pillar, removing the handle trim, removing the screws from the door panel (you can't get to the screw near the mirror since that's covered with the door closed). The panel is otherwise held with push-studs so pull the panel outwards sufficiently to un-pop these (or as many as you can) and this should then enable you to lift the door panel up just far enough to get it over the lip around the bottom edge of the window frame. Now you've got a wider channel to work with and can pop the lock from above. In my case it was a rusty and broken spring that caused the problem, apparently a common problem and the spring is not available as a spare part so I bought one that's close enough at a hardware store and cut it to fit.
I did first take off the driver's door panel (somewhat easier with the door open!) to see how the mechanism worked and that made it easier to work out how to pop the lock on the other side.
Good luck!
