95 Avalon - Trim piece center console removal possible?

[jrider]

I just purchased a 95 Avalon a few months ago. The black trim piece that goes around the shifter on the center console was all scraped up over the years. Ex. The pen holder tray was all dinged up, etc.

See attachment:

I decided to paint the trim piece myself (by taping up around the area). Didn't work out too well as seen in picture. If I could get this trim piece removed, then I could properly sand down and spray paint properly to get a decent finish.

However, I thought I could just pry up this piece - but it won't budge. I end up scraping up the surrounding area on the console when trying to pry it up (assuming it actually pries up). I tried taping the end of the screwdriver, but I just can't get under this piece to pry it out. Is this even possible, and where should I be prying on it?

Thansk guys - your help is appreciated....Jason.

[avalon95]

Jason, I also have a 95 Avalon (366,000 miles and still a great ride) with the black console insert. I have a bad habit of putting an oversized coffee cup down where the cup holders would swing open, which rubs off the black color along the high spots. You CAN remove the entire black/tan assembly (see attachments). You can see the 4 holes in the console and the 4 straight prongs in the cover. So lift the whole thing straight up. I can get mine off with just my hands, no screwdriver needed.

Unfortunately, you can also see in the second pic that the black insert is mounted in place with those heat-welded connectors (I don't know the correct term), so splitting it off from the tan part would be hard to reverse. My thought would be to replace the whole assembly from a salvage yard. As far as restoring the color goes, if you've already painted it then you've done everything you can do, and it doesn't look bad at all from your picture. I have a black Sharpie marker with a large felt tip that I use to "dot" the worn areas. The ink in the Sharpie is indelible, so it takes a good while for it to rub off again. By "dotting" the ink pen around on the faded areas it does a surprisingly good job of matching the sheen and texture of the surrounding undamaged areas. When I trade the car (if I ever do!) I'll definitely be applying the Sharpie technique one more time.

Good luck to you, you have an awesome car.

I just purchased a 95 Avalon a few months ago. The black trim piece that goes around the shifter on the center console was all scraped up over the years. Ex. The pen holder tray was all dinged up, etc.

See attachment:

I decided to paint the trim piece myself (by taping up around the area). Didn't work out too well as seen in picture. If I could get this trim piece removed, then I could properly sand down and spray paint properly to get a decent finish.

However, I thought I could just pry up this piece - but it won't budge. I end up scraping up the surrounding area on the console when trying to pry it up (assuming it actually pries up). I tried taping the end of the screwdriver, but I just can't get under this piece to pry it out. Is this even possible, and where should I be prying on it?

Thansk guys - your help is appreciated....Jason.