My drivers door arm rest is cracked and broken.

Same here. The plastic under the fabric on the elbow rest part cracked one day while I was adjusting my seat position. Only my armrest is still firmly affixed to the door so it still carries weight.

 

No problems with my armrest in my 2006 with 108K miles on it. The cloth is darker there from the oils in my skin over the years (gross but true) but it otherwise looks and works perfectly.

 

Wife did it to her side. Any suggestions? Repair part?
Bob

 

I just repaired one today. I see it quite often on older Prii. The only option the Toyota dealer offers is complete door panel replacement. $600-700.

Here are some steps to repair it. I have attached some pictures below in no particular order.

1. Remove door panel (there are 2 screws to remove, one is hiding behind the plastic cap behind door lever) then insert a trim tool or butter knife and pry the trim tabs, once they are all loose lift up on the panel.
2. Pry up the panel with the switches on it. undo the connectors, there are three, one is the puddle light and the other two go to the window and lock switches.
3. Flip the panel over and put it on a desk or workbench, now you can see why it broke. There are some perforations in the plastic support and it doesn't take much to break them.
4. To remove the armrest you have to melt or cut off the tabs that hold it on. There are 6 of them. I used a razor blade and cut them off.
5. Once the armrest is removed, make a template with paper of the shape you need and then find a piece of thin sturdy plastic. I used an old DVD movie case. Use your template to cut the plastic in the same shape.
6. Now align all the broken pieces back where they go and lay a bead of super glue gel or a strong plastic glue( I used super glue gel) along the broken perforations and all over the surface and affix your cut re-inforcement to it.
7. Let dry
8. Re-assemble. Use small screws with washers to reattach.

 

Great info! Thanks.

 

Thank you for this. I had the exact same problem. It's a bit of a design flaw on Toyota's part.

I found detailed instructions for removing the door panel here Armrest covering | PriusChat

I didn't bother popping the arm rest off but I did use your DVD case trick and glued in place. Fingers crossed it holds ok

 

I guess there really is no reason t remove it.

 

Thanks for this. My driver broke also. I am gonna look for something sturdier than a dvd case.
I will have to remove it, since I am going to repair the covering as well.
I will install vinyll on them all. the armrests are cloth and filthy from the previous owner.