Toyota Estima door playing up and not staying open and keep closing.

did it work correctly before now??? (the other shoe drops)sigh.
some vans have 2 sliding doors and wired oddly on some
is car USA car? laws on this vary by, "countries laws"
the door switch is bad if it worked before.
estima is japan car, you speak English there?
USA car is called Previa
we have no books here, for sure, no Japan book on a real JAPAN market sold car, ever, and the do not speak english there.
sop books are in their language.

the wiki really helps here.
year 2000 first one with 2 sliding rear doors
not the hybrid car right:?
I guess your car is geneation 3,, xr50

first scan the PCM,. see if door errors DTC are set.
not scanning can cause bad guessing, easy way too easy
we scan all modern cars, or go broke fast GUE$$ing

Here is a site of MPV owners that have dad that problem and what they did.
https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/29201-problems-with-sliding-door/

Check the track that the rollers are on to mack sure there are no obstructions. Then use a lubercant spray to lube the rollers and slide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANKF9_CMFuE

remove the door panel and check the latch rods and connection clips also can turn child lock out from inner door it have to wait for a part

Normally, this is caused due to Sand or not enough lubrication. If you do not have some technical knowledge on it , it will be wise to take it to a repairman

This may or may not work depending on exactly what is wrong with the door, I cant tell what is wrong without looking at it directly however:
You can try starting with all doors closed and unlocked, keys in hand disconnecting the battery and letting the vehicle sit for 2 min or so, then reconnect the battery. Put the key into the ignition and turn it to the on position but do not start the van. Next press the button to disable the power sliding door for the drivers side, then manually open the door fully, wait 5 seconds, then close it manually fully. Press button the button again to re-enable the power sliding door, then try to use it with the automatic feature either by pulling the handle or using your remote, this may or may not work depending on if the door has somehow become de-initialized (it should work now) however if something is broken inside the door closing mechanism or door closed/open sensors, the door will continue to malfunction.

there is a door lock actuator that has failed, it releases the latches so the door can open. you need to remove the door panel. unbolt the window and tape it as to hold the window up then remove the window regulator assembley then unbolt the lock actuator from the back side.

The suggested fix above did fix my problem. The problem is that a 2.5" hinged finger that pops up from the floor of the door opening to block the door. Apparently, the finger should, but doesnt go back down after the gas flap is closed. Even after I got hinged finger down (so that the sliding door would open/close all the way), it still would not go back down after the gas flap has been opened. i.e. I have to push the finger back down every time after we fill up with gas. It looks like there is a little wire/spring that should pull the finger back down, but it is off of the finger. I think that replacing this back on the finger should fix the problem permanently.

Sounds like the switch in the door, that tells the car the door is closed, is not working or broken. It may be inside the door or on the door frame. It looks like a button or a slide button that when the door closes, it's supposed to close on this button and shut off the interior lights and turn off the dash light. The doors probably won't lock because it thinks the door is open with the keys in the ignition. Electrical systems are never cheap to fix and they can cost a lot of time just to figure out exactly what's wrong and where. I hope this helps.