I can't find a tutorial for this anywhere. I did find a couple scionlife threads but they all reference a tutorial that's now a dead link.

I'm just trying to open whatever paneling is necessary to reach the 12V socket so I can check the connection and possibly replace it.

Can anyone walk me through this?

 

Pull the piece around the shifter up and off, you'll find a couple screws under it. Pull the lower back left and right sides, they have a couple push locks holding them. Once these are removed yank the center section forward to un-clip it and you'll have access to the wiring for the lighter plug.