Routing phone usb, audio cables to center console - 2011 Prius

I'm posting this because the threads that're related weren't explicit enough for me and I didn't find anything about a 2011 on here. The discussions for doing this with a 2010 talk about 2 bolts in addition to the 4 on the bottom of the console. My 2011 only has one bolt and no one ever really described accurately how to get at it.

I'm getting a proclip phone mount - the one that mounts near the cupholder, which accounts for this particular method of hiding wires. This wiring routing still works for me until I get the mount as my android (htc incredible) sits well enough for now between the cup holder and the console cover.

Anyway, here goes:

1. Open console, remove cup holder, carpet & 4 bolts now visible (use a 10 mm socket). NOTE: These photos were taken as I was figuring this all out. You'll see that I routed the wires through two slots in the photo below...don't bother, you'll have to pull them back out; those are the slots that the tabs for the black piece you're about to pull out and it won't go back in with the wires hogging all the space


2. Using nylon pry bar or equivalent (I like nylon to minimize scratching; you can get these at kragen's or harbor freight, etc.; tape surfaces for insurance or be really careful if you're impatient like me) twist to pry back black trim that the cup holder sits against. Wedge bar between black trim and the gray trim that sits on top of it. Should just pop out.


3. Remove 5th bolt (you can see the light bouncing off of it at the left edge of the photo, right in the middle between the then improperly routed wires ). 10 mm socket again.


4. Slide entire console back towards back seat. Helps to thump lightly the inside back wall of the console with your fist to get it free.

5. Thread the cables through the gap between the front console (where the shift knob sits) and the lower part of the console (where the big useless tray is that has the other 12v socket). See the pics, should be pretty obvious. Pull them back through towards the console.



6. Mod the console or trim:
6a. You could drill holes to accept the wires but those have to be big enough to accommodate the connectors. Because I'm using a USB for now one of the holes would have to be pretty big and I wasn't willing to go that route.
6b. Or you could do what I did and use a rat tail file or similar to make relief notches for the wires in that black trim piece you popped out in step 2 (they keep the trim from pinching the wires when you put it back (see step 8, below)). NOTE, if you keep them close together in the center you'll run into the same problem I did which is that the cup holder won't seat properly when you're done; the wires keep it from snugging up against the front wall of the console. A much better result comes from putting them at the bottom corners of the trim so they'll not interfere with the cup holder.


7. Slide console forward and seat it, making sure you have the wires coming up over the front edge of it (unless you did step 6a, in which case thread the wires through the holes and slide the console forward to seat it). Replace and tighten all 5 bolts.

8. Slide black trim back in. If you took the 6b route, just line up the wires with the relief notches when you replace this trim.


9. Replace carpet & cup holder, plug wires in and smile. Job done.