True, dealers think they know it all. however, this argument has legs. If you look at the overall height of the rear of the GX compared to most SUVS, you would find that the hinge point for 4Runner like hatch would not work at all. The darn door would open up way too high and shorter people would have a hard time closing. You could NEVER open the door up in the garage unless you backed in because it would hit the garage door! While partial to the barn door, i think it works great in an SUV. Yes, it can be a PIA to latch open, but it is far easier to operate for my wife than that of the Price is Right big wheel pull down of that of my previous 4Runner.

CV

 

Yes i agree with what you're saying too. My only point was that the Prado was designed with the spare connected to the rear door, which would have been impossible to have a lift gate. So when the Prado was brought over here as the GX, we were forced to adopt the "step child" rear door. (some love it, some hate it )

however IMHO, i've grown to not mind the rear door.

dan

 

I just hate that it opens on the wrong side for us.