[WillRav4Tacos]

18K miles and already having these annoying problems. I'd say 25% of the time I open the hatch, what will happen is I press the button on the hatch, it starts moving, opens about 2 inches, then stops and makes two or three beeps. I press it again, moves another 2 inches, stops and beeps. Press it a third time and it finally opens. I've made sure there is nothing stuck anywhere that could interfere with it.

And this could just be my imagination but it seems like even when it does open normally, it's opening more slowly than usual.

Any ideas on what might be going on?

Check the hinges, it is an often reported issue on the 5th Gen of them being bent or broken, yours would be the first 2023 I've heard about this happening on though.

The door stopping followed by beeps usually means the jam/pinch protection is kicking in, so it could also be the "sensor strips" that run down each side of the interior door. Check those for damage/debris.

 

[WillRav4Tacos]

The check for excessive force needed to open the hatch is purely done by the mechanism -- more power needed than usual. There are no sensor strips on the RAV4. You can prove me wrong by posting a picture of these sensor strips and how you check them for damage and debris (cleaning).

Maybe read the owners manual before being so quick to call someone incorrect.

This is page 132 of my 2023 owners manual.