How do I fix this center console trim?

11370 Views 16 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Rhill1124, 12 d ago

Agentlongwood

Discussion Starter · Apr 10, 2022

As you can see, there's a bit of trim I circled in red, that has warped and won't sit correctly. I've already tried pushing it back into place. It just pops back out. Is this a common thing with a easy fix? I was thinking of pulling the piece off completely and using a heat gun and seeing if I can deform it back into the correct shape. Wanted to check with you experts on here before I did anything though.

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cihlenfeld

· #2 · Apr 10, 2022

Try heat gun then push back in and hold till cools down.
you may have to remove the shifter plate and use something like 3m trim adhesive to glue it back in place

FlyersHockey

· #3 · Apr 10, 2022

I've seen a few threads on this, and the consensus was a heat gun (low and slow don't over do it) and then some good double sided tape.

RitzRT

· #4 · Apr 10, 2022

I don't think double sided tape or trim adhesive is going to work that well. What worked for me (on the door panels) was this:

www.amazon.com

Amazon.com: E6000 230022 Medium Viscosity Auto/Industrial Adhesive, 3.7 fl oz : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: E6000 230022 Medium Viscosity Auto/Industrial Adhesive, 3.7 fl oz : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

www.homedepot.com

Anvil 3/4 in. Mini Spring Clamp 99693 - The Home Depot

The ANVIL 3/4 in. Mini Spring Clamp is constructed of heavy-duty steel for durability and features vinyl tips to protect projects. The handles feature small holes to hang clamped objects. Nickel plated

www.homedepot.com

I'd take the console apart so that you can peel the cheesy faux rubber covering back a bit. Heat it up with a hair dryer until it's pliable. Then apply a liberal amount of adhesive to the back, and push it back into place and use some spring clamps to hold it in place for 12-24 hours. Then reassemble. One of my least favorite issues with these cars is the poor craftsmanship around the interior trim. It's been like that for years and I don't believe they've ever effectively dealt with peeling trim.

Best,

Reactions: 2

FlyersHockey

· #5 · Apr 10, 2022

RitzRT said:
I don't think double sided tape or trim adhesive is going to work that well. What worked for me (on the door panels) was this:

Amazon.com: E6000 230022 Medium Viscosity Auto/Industrial Adhesive, 3.7 fl oz : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: E6000 230022 Medium Viscosity Auto/Industrial Adhesive, 3.7 fl oz : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

Anvil 3/4 in. Mini Spring Clamp 99693 - The Home Depot

The ANVIL 3/4 in. Mini Spring Clamp is constructed of heavy-duty steel for durability and features vinyl tips to protect projects. The handles feature small holes to hang clamped objects. Nickel plated

www.homedepot.com

I'd take the console apart so that you can peel the cheesy faux rubber covering back a bit. Heat it up with a hair dryer until it's pliable. Then apply a liberal amount of adhesive to the back, and push it back into place and use some spring clamps to hold it in place for 12-24 hours. Then reassemble. One of my least favorite issues with these cars is the poor craftsmanship around the interior trim. It's been like that for years and I don't believe they've ever effectively dealt with peeling trim.

Best,

You very well might be right, but have you ever tried that double sided Gorilla tape? I believe it's rated 20 or 25lbs or somewhere around there. The tough part is getting it to set, you'd have to muscle the faux rubber trim piece into place for several minutes or more, but once that tape does whatever it needs to do boy does that stuff stick.

RitzRT

· #6 · Apr 10, 2022

FlyersHockey said:
You very well might be right, but have you ever tried that double sided Gorilla tape? I believe it's rated 20 or 25lbs or somewhere around there. The tough part is getting it to set, you'd have to muscle the faux rubber trim piece into place for several minutes or more, but once that tape does whatever it needs to do boy does that stuff stick.

I've never tried that brand of tape. My concern would be that it would weaken and let go after a few hot days in the sun.

Best,

Rhill1124

· #7 · Apr 10, 2022

I have seen a few YouTube videos that actually glued then stapled it, below the sight line.

louis.speightbullock

· #8 · Apr 10, 2022

Great question!!! Mine's popped up on the driver's side and looks terrible. Also part of the cushion on my driver's seat bottom is a little loose. I bought the car new in 15' and I'm not a big heavy guy, 5"8 & 155, and it's not even daily driven. I'll try to fix it the next day I'm off

Agentlongwood

Discussion Starter · #9 · Apr 10, 2022

I appreciate all the input guys. I'm going to take the pieces of and see if I can get them back into shape with a heat gun, and possibly some adhesive. Once I get it figured out, I'll post results in here. On a totally unrelated note: While I was looking at all this, I noticed the 12v outlet right behind the shifter in the pic, isn't working. The light in it works but there's no power coming through my phone charger. Why does it have a picture of a key on it? Is it something that can be turned on and off?

N8ECH

· #10 · Apr 11, 2022

AGW:
The pic of the key, tells you the outlet is only live when the ignition is on. A battery symbol, would indicate it is live all the time.

Don

Agentlongwood

Discussion Starter · #11 · Apr 11, 2022

N8ECH said:
The pic of the key, tells you the outlet is only live when the ignition is on. A battery symbol, would indicate it is live all the time.

Thank you, sir.

I hit the trim pieces with a heat gun and some double sided mounting tape. It's definitely better. Still not 100% by any means. But for 8 bucks worth of tape and and an hour of my time, I can't complain.

Reactions: 1

Citrus90

· #12 · Apr 11, 2022

Agentlongwood said:
Thank you, sir.

I hit the trim pieces with a heat gun and some double sided mounting tape. It's definitely better. Still not 100% by any means. But for 8 bucks worth of tape and and an hour of my time, I can't complain.

Don is a wealth of information, for sure. Good guy - and he’ll always remind you to check your batteries.

duane07506

· #13 · Apr 12, 2022

It just pops off, pulling it off will be easier to fix it.

R/T Vye

· #14 · May 2, 2022

Pop the center console piece out, and use Gorilla Glue Gel. Did mine a few months ago and it’s perfect.

mdiym714

· #15 · 7 mo ago

After some procrastination, I finally tried repairing the trim on the passenger side of my shifter knob. I am by no means a professional but I'm pretty handy and figured something this small and annoying thing could be done after looking up how to do it here in this forum. I really appreciate the wealth of knowledge and support on this forum, so thank you all.
The process: first I needed to look up how to remove the shifter knob so that I could remove the plastic center console piece. This is the link for that:

You need a torx 25 bit to get the screw out.
Then I used the same plastic pry tools to pry up the center plastic to get at the edging that's coming up. Clean everything off with a microfiber cloth.
Next I used a heat gun very lightly to help stetch the trim up a bit so I can get the adhesive inside. I used the e6000 adhesive mentioned above and put some of that glue along the inside of the trim.
I then placed the small clamps (also mentioned above) to hold the trim in place and used the heat gun (lightly and methodically) again to make sure the trim shaped back to normal with the new adhesive inside.
I am waiting 24 hours before I remove the clamps and put everything back together, but other than waiting for the ordered materials, this all took less than an hour. Overall, pretty simple fix for something so annoyingly visible. Again, thanks to everyone in this forum! 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

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KapuanuRT

· #16 · 13 d ago

Rhill1124 said:
I have seen a few YouTube videos that actually glued then stapled it, below the sight line.

I been looking on YouTube never seen one video about it can you share a link

Rhill1124

· #17 · 12 d ago (Edited)

KapuanuRT said:
I been looking on YouTube never seen one video about it can you share a link

I’ve slept since then. 😂
Let me see if I can find it again.

EDIT not the same video, but it shows the same thing. You don’t need all of the pneumatic tools. Normal tools do the same job.
I know it says unavailable, just click the hyperlink that says “Watch on YouTube”

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