Hi all,
My 2013 LS460-F (dark grey, black interior) has developed a problem with the overhead console, where the dome light/spot light cluster, the sunroof buttons and the problem item - the sunglasses holder storage are.
The latch on the sunglass holder door is broken, and the door won't latch. This in turn also blocks my rear-view mirror....

I see that to remove the overhead console, there are two main screws inside the sunglass cubby (behind two small covers) and then there are some pressure latches toward the front. There is a large data/power cable that plugs into the left hand side via a multi-pin connector.

I am confident that I can take apart the console and try to see if something is either broken with the latch, or hopefully just needs adjustment. But, before I do all this, I just wanted to see if any of you have seen a similar problem with your LS's overhead consoles and if so, what your issue turned out to be..

If the latch is indeed broken physically (spring holder, etc.) , then I may not have a choice but to replace the entire overhead console, since I couldn't find a part number for just the door/latch assembly - however a new overhead console runs $1650 at the dealer... Ouch!

I found a used (beige) console for $185 and picked it up, and I might be able to dye or otherwise color match it somehow and make it work, but it probably won't look good. It doesn't look as though I can tajke apart the door/latch assembly from my spare parts overhead console - it is all too integrated together.

Any advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

-Nick

 

Have you thought about adding a piece of Velcro to hold it in place?

 

Actually, I am staring at a roll of black sticky-back Velcro as I type this!
I had considered this at first, but dismissed it for a couple of reasons—-I didn’t think at first that I had enough surface area for a large enough patch of Velcro, but more so, because I really didn’t think that the glue would hold reliably in the 100-degree summer heat that we sometimes have to deal with, especially since the console is right below the roofline and gets really very hot after being parked in the sun for a few hours…
I am currently holding the contraption in place with black Gaffer tape, and even that delaminates after an hour or two…

I know, I could brute-force “plasti-weld” the thing and never use it again (might just do that) but I really wanted to keep my car as original as possible, with everything working as it should.

I’ll revisit the Velcro idea - thanks for the suggestion— there might be a way to mount two small strips to each side, for now, and eventually just keep looking for a black overhead console…

Another development—I looked carefully at the underside of the Gaffer tape after noticing a small bump on the glue side, and saw there is a small angled piece of plastic, part of the latch mechanism, that is actually broken off. That piece cannot be reattached, unfortunately, it would never withstand normal wear and tear.

Thanks for reading and replying, I’ll post what I end up doing with this problem.

Cheers,

-Nick