chrome shifter trim
09-20-10, 01:34 PM
#18
^^ Doesn't seem like they're selling any at the moment. I occasionally see them from time to time in chrome, black chrome, and some other color.
The one from Sewell is probably the same as the ebay trim too. They aren't crappy trims where the chrome flakes off, and they're definitely not the $10 stick-on type.
The one from Sewell is probably the same as the ebay trim too. They aren't crappy trims where the chrome flakes off, and they're definitely not the $10 stick-on type.
09-25-10, 01:40 PM
#19
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Another chrome shifter bezel thread... maybe Toyota will hear us one day and actually start manufacturing these damn pieces of plastic. It's amazing that you can buy every piece of plastic and screw for this car but this you can't. No, they make you replace a $600+ console section for a piece of plastic half and inch thick! Major minus for Lexus in my book!
Here's what I found: sakataj claims Sewell Lexus sells the part and has them in stock. He talks to Peter there who seems to be able to find them. I called probably half a dozen times and get the same answer every time, "we don't have them anymore. our Japanese supplier stopped producing them." Im not saying he's wrong but if someone calls Sewell I would definitely ask for Peter to locate this part. If he can, he proves every other rep there an idiot.. or a liar.
I found the part on L-tunedparts. $55 shipped, got it, installed it. Fits perfect around the shifter plate and sits nicer, flush and tighter than the stock one! BUT... it does something to jam up the plastic black trim inside the shifter and causes it to emit a loud pop when shifting from M-3-2. I tried everything to fix this and after countless hours have to live with it.
OEMs are next to impossible to find. Nobody's selling them cause they don't make them and therefore render the entire center console useless/ugly. The aftermarket ones are great but don't work 100% like the original. If you can find a way to fix the jamming issue, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
Here's what I found: sakataj claims Sewell Lexus sells the part and has them in stock. He talks to Peter there who seems to be able to find them. I called probably half a dozen times and get the same answer every time, "we don't have them anymore. our Japanese supplier stopped producing them." Im not saying he's wrong but if someone calls Sewell I would definitely ask for Peter to locate this part. If he can, he proves every other rep there an idiot.. or a liar.
I found the part on L-tunedparts. $55 shipped, got it, installed it. Fits perfect around the shifter plate and sits nicer, flush and tighter than the stock one! BUT... it does something to jam up the plastic black trim inside the shifter and causes it to emit a loud pop when shifting from M-3-2. I tried everything to fix this and after countless hours have to live with it.
OEMs are next to impossible to find. Nobody's selling them cause they don't make them and therefore render the entire center console useless/ugly. The aftermarket ones are great but don't work 100% like the original. If you can find a way to fix the jamming issue, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!
09-25-10, 01:47 PM
#21
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I got the most unique one for sale! 
$75 shipped and it's yours. It's the real OEM Toyota part with the Toyota markings and part number casted on the bottom. This is a incredibly rare part that you can't buy from the dealer unless you buy the whole big dash tray piece. If you enter the part number stamped on this part into a toyota part lookup, it will direct you to the whole dash piece. This is real OEM, it clicks in to the shifter tray unlike those cheap-o ebay stick on ones.
$75 shipped and it's yours. It's the real OEM Toyota part with the Toyota markings and part number casted on the bottom. This is a incredibly rare part that you can't buy from the dealer unless you buy the whole big dash tray piece. If you enter the part number stamped on this part into a toyota part lookup, it will direct you to the whole dash piece. This is real OEM, it clicks in to the shifter tray unlike those cheap-o ebay stick on ones.
09-25-10, 01:57 PM
#22
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well that's a question/argument for Toyota now isn't it! They're manufacturing them but NOT supplying them. Not by themselves, this is the outrage. They sell 1-1 with no other option. Sure they make them but only as many as center consoles there are. They control the supply and know these things wear out so they force you to spend hundreds for a tiny piece of plastic! That's what happened to mine the chrome started peeling at an obvious point of weakness and I just threw it in the trash before realizing the fiasco involved in getting another one!
09-25-10, 02:41 PM
#24
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Amazing.. I haven't yet posted any pics of my actual car since I've put thousands into it and after I joined CL but here I am posting pics of something so ridiculous as a plastic ring..
The trim does NOT make the noise at all once the chrome piece is removed. After countless up and down shifts (probably on the verge of breaking my entire shift console) I can see that the chrome piece gets in the way and somehow doesn't allow that black inner molding to easily/normally slide back and forth while shifting. It jams it at the "M" position and even more so after 3 then 2 and once the black inner trim has nowhere to go it finally gives way somewhere between 2 and L, making that loud pop. You can see from the pics the trim actually sits perfectly, in my opinion better than the original but you can also see on the black trim where it's jamming and scraping it. After all the shifts it's quieted A BIT but only because it's bent and scraped that inner molding to go along with the misalignment... sooo disappointed in this whole ordeal!
The trim does NOT make the noise at all once the chrome piece is removed. After countless up and down shifts (probably on the verge of breaking my entire shift console) I can see that the chrome piece gets in the way and somehow doesn't allow that black inner molding to easily/normally slide back and forth while shifting. It jams it at the "M" position and even more so after 3 then 2 and once the black inner trim has nowhere to go it finally gives way somewhere between 2 and L, making that loud pop. You can see from the pics the trim actually sits perfectly, in my opinion better than the original but you can also see on the black trim where it's jamming and scraping it. After all the shifts it's quieted A BIT but only because it's bent and scraped that inner molding to go along with the misalignment... sooo disappointed in this whole ordeal!
09-25-10, 06:32 PM
#25
Amazing.. I haven't yet posted any pics of my actual car since I've put thousands into it and after I joined CL but here I am posting pics of something so ridiculous as a plastic ring..
The trim does NOT make the noise at all once the chrome piece is removed. After countless up and down shifts (probably on the verge of breaking my entire shift console) I can see that the chrome piece gets in the way and somehow doesn't allow that black inner molding to easily/normally slide back and forth while shifting. It jams it at the "M" position and even more so after 3 then 2 and once the black inner trim has nowhere to go it finally gives way somewhere between 2 and L, making that loud pop. You can see from the pics the trim actually sits perfectly, in my opinion better than the original but you can also see on the black trim where it's jamming and scraping it. After all the shifts it's quieted A BIT but only because it's bent and scraped that inner molding to go along with the misalignment... sooo disappointed in this whole ordeal!
The trim does NOT make the noise at all once the chrome piece is removed. After countless up and down shifts (probably on the verge of breaking my entire shift console) I can see that the chrome piece gets in the way and somehow doesn't allow that black inner molding to easily/normally slide back and forth while shifting. It jams it at the "M" position and even more so after 3 then 2 and once the black inner trim has nowhere to go it finally gives way somewhere between 2 and L, making that loud pop. You can see from the pics the trim actually sits perfectly, in my opinion better than the original but you can also see on the black trim where it's jamming and scraping it. After all the shifts it's quieted A BIT but only because it's bent and scraped that inner molding to go along with the misalignment... sooo disappointed in this whole ordeal!
look at this pic...the white box to the left of the the plugs, this was interfering with the black plastic trim when i replaced my chrome shifter
09-25-10, 06:43 PM
#26
i ACTUALLY had essentially the same issue as you....when manually shifting it into gear my car wouldnt shift into my low gears unless i jerked it, it would pop and then go into gear.after experimenting with some stuff, i realized when i had the cover off and the black trim was banging against that white box in the pic, i discovered if i removed it, i no longer had this issue
look at this pic...the white box to the left of the the plugs, this was interfering with the black plastic trim when i replaced my chrome shifter
look at this pic...the white box to the left of the the plugs, this was interfering with the black plastic trim when i replaced my chrome shifter
09-25-10, 07:01 PM
#27
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
^ ^ ^ Hmm you may be on to something here. I tried EVERYTHING except to remove that white retainer box. I mean I've studied this freakin mechanism for hours to see what on earth could be causing the jamming/pop and somewhat imagined it was probably the white retainer because one time when I put the center console back on with the black inner trim on backwards, it did something similar where it wouldn't let me shift to the lower gears at all. I didn't want to completely remove it though, it seems like an essential part of the whole.
Thanks Sakataj I will try this tomorrow when I can see what Im doing and post my results. Anyone else out there with a similar issue, keep on this thread.
Thanks Sakataj I will try this tomorrow when I can see what Im doing and post my results. Anyone else out there with a similar issue, keep on this thread.
09-25-10, 07:06 PM
#28
^ ^ ^ Hmm you may be on to something here. I tried EVERYTHING except to remove that white retainer box. I mean I've studied this freakin mechanism for hours to see what on earth could be causing the jamming/pop and somewhat imagined it was probably the white retainer because one time when I put the center console back on with the black inner trim on backwards, it did something similar where it wouldn't let me shift to the lower gears at all. I didn't want to completely remove it though, it seems like an essential part of the whole.
Thanks Sakataj I will try this tomorrow when I can see what Im doing and post my results. Anyone else out there with a similar issue, keep on this thread.
Thanks Sakataj I will try this tomorrow when I can see what Im doing and post my results. Anyone else out there with a similar issue, keep on this thread.
09-25-10, 07:24 PM
#29
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The white section you see near the plugs in the picture is essentially a retainer where that inner molding slides down into and away from everything when you shift to the lower gears. You see the sloping black plastic part that extends out behind the shifter plate, that guides the inner molding into the retainer.
The only thing I can conclude is that the new chrome bezel is larger or thicker than the original and somehow pushes the sliding inner molding off its "track" causing it to collide with the white retainer box instead of going into it.
.... after all this I think I have enough knowledge to design my own damn chrome bezel that's better than the original, make it work, mass produce it and make millions with it!
The only thing I can conclude is that the new chrome bezel is larger or thicker than the original and somehow pushes the sliding inner molding off its "track" causing it to collide with the white retainer box instead of going into it.
.... after all this I think I have enough knowledge to design my own damn chrome bezel that's better than the original, make it work, mass produce it and make millions with it!
09-28-10, 05:50 PM
#30
Rookie
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: VA
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
**Final update on chrome bezel install**
For anyone installing this piece aftermarket I have some invaluable information I have uncovered. As tired as I am of posting about it by now here is the sum of what I've found:
Sakataj is correct in part about the white plastic retainer box. In part because as he suggested, removing this piece solves the jamming/popping issue. But also in part because you don't need to remove it to solve the problem. I spent another hour or two today with a clear head and full optimism in finding a solution to this and realized as I was putting the shifter plate and black trim piece back together that I had been overlapping the parts in the wrong order.
Once you take the shifter plate off (gray plastic plate you see with P R N D...), the inner plastic molding (the black striped looking inner piece that slides around) comes out of the white retainer box in a one-way type manner. To reinstall the shifter plate you need to remove the white plastic piece and install the plate with the molding first, clip down all four clips, then comes the white retainer. You have to make sure they line up and you have to put the entire console (new chrome bezel included) back on in the "L" gear. Once the whole thing is back together you need to push down on all corners of the chrome piece since its a bit thicker than the OEM to make it seat flush. Make sure you're connecting the Snow/Power, heated seat and VSC connectors as you're doing this!
That's it! Hopefully anyone installing a new aftermarket chrome bezel can learn from our mistakes and make it work right their first time. Through all the trial and error process I bent and scratched up the chrome bezel, parts of the entire console, part of the wood trim and my entire shifter mechanism is loose now. Hopefully you don't end up with the same outcome since you now know how to do it right.
Do not search for this piece anywhere but L-tunedparts (Carson), Sewell Lexus, or advancespeedshop.com. These vendors have very limited supplies if any and you'll never find an OEM one by itself!
Over and out...
For anyone installing this piece aftermarket I have some invaluable information I have uncovered. As tired as I am of posting about it by now here is the sum of what I've found:
Sakataj is correct in part about the white plastic retainer box. In part because as he suggested, removing this piece solves the jamming/popping issue. But also in part because you don't need to remove it to solve the problem. I spent another hour or two today with a clear head and full optimism in finding a solution to this and realized as I was putting the shifter plate and black trim piece back together that I had been overlapping the parts in the wrong order.
Once you take the shifter plate off (gray plastic plate you see with P R N D...), the inner plastic molding (the black striped looking inner piece that slides around) comes out of the white retainer box in a one-way type manner. To reinstall the shifter plate you need to remove the white plastic piece and install the plate with the molding first, clip down all four clips, then comes the white retainer. You have to make sure they line up and you have to put the entire console (new chrome bezel included) back on in the "L" gear. Once the whole thing is back together you need to push down on all corners of the chrome piece since its a bit thicker than the OEM to make it seat flush. Make sure you're connecting the Snow/Power, heated seat and VSC connectors as you're doing this!That's it! Hopefully anyone installing a new aftermarket chrome bezel can learn from our mistakes and make it work right their first time. Through all the trial and error process I bent and scratched up the chrome bezel, parts of the entire console, part of the wood trim and my entire shifter mechanism is loose now. Hopefully you don't end up with the same outcome since you now know how to do it right.
Do not search for this piece anywhere but L-tunedparts (Carson), Sewell Lexus, or advancespeedshop.com. These vendors have very limited supplies if any and you'll never find an OEM one by itself!
Over and out...