Going for the Holy Grail

Unfortunately, the plastic on these became very brittle with age. It is a discontinued part, so you are going to have to find the very rare parts dealer that has a new one on the shelf, and it is really hard to find a used one that isnt cracked or broken.

BTW; This is called the Climate Control Panel and it is supposed to come with the circuit board assemblies with control knobs and buttons.
They do not disassemble and reassemble well with each other without damage happening to the circuits, foils and tapes, which all have become brittle with age too.

I think that I was lucky enough to have actually found "The Holy Grail" in that I found a private seller who actually had a new one still sealed in the plastic, and he didn't require that i take a second mortgage out on my house to buy it ($135). There were salvage companies with cracked and broken ones that wanted twice that.

My old one still came out in even more pieces as I removed it, though i found that the use of a wide 3" putty knife was better than any of the interior panel removal tools that i tried to use. (i'll remember that in the future)

Though I could tell that the new panel had actually become brittle with age too, it was not very difficult to install and clip into place. However, the vents were a bit difficult and i could tell that they would easily break if they were forced or roughly handled in any way.

*tip... It is much easier to get the Climate Control Terminals clipped in if you remove the Glove compartment. Still tight and tricky, but not as nearly impossible to do.

I sincerely wish you luck in finding the replacement panel, its going to require a dedicated search to find, but I hope my tips help you in installing it when you get it.

if you find a salvage seller who has a car with an intact panel, instruct them that you want the entire climate control assembly with everything intact, nothing removed.
In fact, DO NOT EVEN ATTEMPT to remove any parts, including the center dash clock that is also in it.
And instruct and caution them on how brittle this panel is and how easy it is to crack and break it.
It needs to be carefully packed for shipping and labeled as "Very Fragile".

 

At #9 it sounds just like you said, those tabs were stuck really hard in there.
I worked on motor ycles for a bunch of years and when panels got stuck hard where they might break, I had a couple of tricks.

I'd mix up a mild lubricant of dishwasher liquid and water and get it into those stuck tabs.
Many times that would do it.
But if it was still stubborn, I would take a heat gun lightly to it, but be very careful not to overheat it start melting anything (maybe a good hot hairdryer would have been better), just enough to open up the fit a little, and then the panel would pull out with less force.
Never tried that on my Prius, but I think it should work.
Like I said previously, I discovered that a pretty wide putty knife worked better than the interiors panel tools that I borrowed from a friend.
Just don't get too aggressive with it, be nice and easy, using steady careful pressure. If I had to lever back against something that I might dent or mark, I'd use a thin piece of cardboard or a piece of duct tape to cushion it.

 

There's a video linked in this post.

 

Sometimes the plastic is just too brittle no matter what. One of my dash vent trims is broken up just because my son hung a mobile phone holder on the fins. One bump was all it took for the thing to just bust out.

Lubricant where possible and easy, careful pressure as Bruce said is likely the best route. But ... the stuff is ready to break.

 

If I ever have to remove this bezel, I will 3D print a replacement. That can be multiple pieces, and support a modern radio.