Disassemble Center Console (for Katzkin)

I just had Katzkin leather seats installed in my 2010 Prius. However, the installer couldn't figure out how to install the leather piece for the center console. They couldn't get it apart.

Any suggestions?

As a follow up, if I'm able to get it off, is this piece easy enough to install and reassemble (with minimal tools) so that I don't have to trek back to the installation place

Thanks

 

Re: Disassemble Armrest on Center Console (for Katzkin)

What I meant to ask was how do I disassemble the armrest on the center console? I have the leather piece from Katzkin that replaces the current cloth piece. So I just need to remove the top piece of the armrest.

This document is good for actually taking the whole console apart, and thank you for giving me what I asked for, but unfortunately I asked for the wrong thing. Unless I'm missing the part of this document that talks about removing the armrest cover, but I don't think so.

This is the third time I've replied to this post. I don't know where the posts keep going. What's up with that?

 

Re: Disassemble Armrest on Center Console (for Katzkin)

I'll try to post a picture this weekend.

I have a black Prius with the light gray interior. I went with the light gray (which is darker than most grays) Katzkin leather. I think it looks good. The only concern I have is the door panels seem very dark compared to the other colors on the door. Though I looked at our other car (Olds Alero) and the cloth door panels don't seem to match compared to the other materials on the door. So I think it will just take some to get used to it.

My wife drives the car primarily and she likes it... so that's good.

I was also thinking about Platinum, Smoke, or Mist Grey.

 

Re: Disassemble Armrest on Center Console (for Katzkin)

The pictures make the leather look a lot lighter than it normally looks. I'd say look at the door panels on DSC01612.JPG or DSC01610.JPG (the two vertical photos) to get a better idea of what the color actually looks like.

I did not add the pillow. Had to look it up to see what you were talking about. Good idea, might've tried it had a I known about it before.

So I still need to get the cloth off the armrest if anyone knows how. If you do the install, let me know what you figure out. If you have it done, could you ask how they do it?

 

Re: Disassemble Armrest on Center Console (for Katzkin)

I didn't do the install myself. I went to a professional installer who had samples. The light gray looked pretty good on the swatch against the existing materials, though when it was installed, the entire thing was darker than I expected. It's growing on me though.

My wife would not have let me do the install myself... and rightfully so.

 

Re: Disassemble Armrest on Center Console (for Katzkin)

The wrinkles don't bother me. The photos make it look worse than it actually is. Maybe it's because I had been crawling around the car, kneeling on the car seats, etc. I went out to the car to double check, and the leather isn't tight against the seat, but it's not loose either.

Reading around, people have said that wrinkles work themselves out over time. Whether they are referring to actual wrinkles (from folds of packaging) or the tightness of the fit, I'm unsure. Wrinkles I can understand working themselves out, tightness, not so much. Unless after some humidity, the leather shrinks (like how golf gloves shrink).

I've seen things about how the installer steams the seats to remove the wrinkles, maybe that's adding that humidity to shrink the leather.

When I get the armrest off and take it back to finish the install, I'll tell them to get the wrinkles out.

 

So I played around with the armrest this afternoon. If you slide the armrest back, it exposes four screws on the bottom side of the armrest in the back (by laying down on the backseat floor). Removing those four screws separates the cloth portion of the armrest from the console.

However, about 3-4 inches from the front of the armrest, there's something (more screws I assume) preventing the entire armrest from coming off. But I can't figure out how to get to the screws, or whatever is attaching. Any ideas?