Yeah your right, better to just spend the 40 bucks
Where to find one is the problem.
Yeah your right, better to just spend the 40 bucks
Where to find one is the problem.
There is an access panel at the back of the console. Easy to flip the door down and see inside.
Anchoring the arm rest in the cup holder can be done any number of ways. This will prevent it from twisting in the hole. Screws will do this too, but will not help with the console bending side to side.
The console is just thin plastic, anchored at the front and back by a single bolt. No support of the thin console sides, where in which the problem lies.
I have my arm rest secured with a thin cup cozy (got it at the dollar store in black) and some electrical tape securing it to the base of the arm rest post towards the top. It is secure from twisting unless you really want to move it.
I have gotten used to the flexing of the console and find that in regular use, most of the pressure on the console is directly downward, minimizing the times where it flexes.
Some sort of support could be mounted through the back of the console in the door and secured to the floor with the existing mounting bolt. I just haven't figured out what shape the support would need to be to keep the console from flexing sideways.
What / why do you have to cut / drill for a factory part? Never mind...I'm gonna get me one of those darn YARIS / MIRAGE buggers !!!!!!!!!!
Last edited by sunsetjim; 06-11-2014 at 11:40 AM.
It was apparently designed for the Yaris as a direct fit. The nub at the bottom must fit into a hole in the Yaris console.
The Mirage cup holder doesn't have this notch at the bottom. Otherwise it fits and matches the interior of the Mirage very well. The nub is just plastic and can be easliy removed with any type of saw, or clippers.
When the nub is removed, the bottom of the arm rest fits into the cup holder of the Mirage with considerable play. Just need something to fill the gap between the arm rest and the cupholder - probably 1/8 inch.
Once the gap is filled, you have a functional arm rest for the price of about $35, with no cutting or drilling on the Mirage.
The only issue people have idenfitied, without resolution, is that the console in the Mirage is thin plastic and does flex. Normally, it doesn't support anything more than a cup, but with the arm rest you are providing body weight pressure with you use it for other than just resting your elbow.
I find that I tend to use it each time I get into the car, to "scoot" myself across the seat into my regular driving position. If you put side wise pressure on the arm rest, the console will flex due to the plastic of the console.
Minor issue vs the benefit.
kerc (06-11-2014)
An armrest is the feature that I miss the most.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 automatic: 37.6 mpg (US) ... 16.0 km/L ... 6.3 L/100 km ... 45.2 mpg (Imp)
Well I took the plunge this morning and ordered mine, should arrive next week.
Thanks for all the posts & photos, that's what convinced me to get it.
There is a dealer here in Australia selling the genuine ones.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LA-MIRAGE...232adbc&_uhb=1
I have bought quite a bit of genuine stuff for my other Mitsys from them, and they are great to deal with. If you contact them, I'm sure that they will post internationally. If not, I would be willing to take delivery here and send internationally via Australia post (check postage costs first, as bulky items can be expensive to send).
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage LS 1.2 manual: 40.0 mpg (US) ... 17.0 km/L ... 5.9 L/100 km ... 48.1 mpg (Imp)
I have a yaris one from ebay. Its fine ... But poorly made, the lid has come off and had to be rescrewed on twice. Mines attached to the cupholder by twosided mounting tape (with the thin layer of foam in the middle). It doesn't move in the cupholder at all, but the whole plastic housing for the cup holder moves when rested on. $45 bux on ebay.
Piece of cake....sawed the nub off, wrapped an old IBM coozie around the stub and set it in the hole.
Will screw it down in a few days after I get a thicker coozie, boy I love a thicker coozie. ;-)
Question for you folks who have added this console...
Is it the same height as the door arm rest?
Reason I ask: the Micra I test drove had the optional factory folding arm rest on the drivers seat, but it was a different height as the door arm rest. I couldn't use both rests at the same time (became uncomfortable to have shoulders torqued at an angle). Bugged me.
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View my fuel log 2014 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 62.4 mpg (US) ... 26.5 km/L ... 3.8 L/100 km ... 74.9 mpg (Imp)