How to remove console cover if your cupholder jams
 

2010 RX 350

For some reason the retractable top of the cupholders in the center console will not retract fully. It goes back about 95% but sticks across a little into the area where the cups/cans should be vertical.

I suspect something has fallen down which is stopping the top retracting fully (it is fine in the closed position) But I cant for the life of me figure out how to remove the lid and take a look. The lid hinges are quite flimsy so I am loathe to tweak it hard in case I break something. I hope this isnt a major dismantle of the centre console.....

See below for solution to problem - hope it helps others

Mine did the same, on the first day - I couldn't even close it or open it fully! However, I figured something from the factory was put there to secure it in shipping, and whatever it was wasn't removed before delivery (my best guess anyway). So, I jiggled it a few times, and I heard something fall. After that it was fine; whatever it was is still in there.

The flimsiness is the buffered spring return, similar to the glasses holder, handgrips, etc...

:)

The cupholder action has been fine until now. The issue of not fully opening is only recent. Can anyone help me with how to dismantle the lid or the console and get at the action??

Ok I found the problem. One of those thin plastic golf pencils had jumped over from where I guess it had lain inside the cupholder into the small gap between the lid and the INSIDE of the cupholder. Then it lay jammed underneath the lid just stopping it from opening fully.

I removed the console cover by carefully levering it up from end at the rear of the car (no screws hold it down). I had to unscrew the gear shift knob, then the whole cover lifted off easily. Reclipping it back in place was fairly simple but the harness for the heated seats controls came loose easily so I made sure that was plugged back in.

A similar event happened to me. A plastic knife managed to slip through between the door and the box. I asked for further instructions from Cough, which he graciously provided:

That helped tremendously, and I'm attaching a couple of pics which illustrate the opening of the console. I would caution that tools are not needed to pry the console up - finger pressure is sufficient. Also, since the access inside the console box is quite restricted (I pulled the plastic knife with needle nose pliers through a tiny gap), dropping anything else like gold chains or very small objects will require the whole console to be removed. That will mean disconnecting a number of switches and the Navi haptic input device to do so.

I know this is an old thread, but this is very helpful. Just this weekend, our lid would not retract back to the 100% open position, so I came here looking for "experience". The description and pictures are great, and I'll be sure to take care f this as soon as I get home this evening.

UPDATE: Yep... snapped out the console lid, and sure enough, that connector on the seat heater module certainly likes to disconnect itself while fumbling around with the lid. I also had to disconnect three additional lighting connectors in order to flip my lid sideways to extract the culprit -- a water bottle cap! Once all my other work settles down, I'm going to look into gluing in some sort of flexible shield to block the passage under the flip cover... something which would ride against the underside of the flip cover yet remain out of the way of cups/bottles being placed in the holder.