Originally Posted by Andyman

Well, sorry this has taken a while, but here's an update on this armrest.
Brief overview: it didn't fit.
More details: I submitted a "Best Offer" of $97.50, which was accepted, but shipping was still $22.50. I received it in a timely fashion, but when I tried to put it in, I had to squeeze it together and jam it down between the seats. My seatbelt receivers were just a little bit too narrow for this armrest to fit between them. It sort of fit with some "persuasion," but then the seats wouldn't move forward or back. Might not be a big deal for some people, but my wife and I both drive our xD, so we really don't want to wrestle with a console every time we switch drivers and need to adjust the seats.
I emailed the seller about a full refund including shipping, since the item was obviously not as described. The seller claimed they would give me a full refund when the receive the armrest, as long as I left them positive feedback. Leaves me up a crick if they decide not to refund me, but that's all I can do unless I have to file a complaint with eBay. I'd rather figure things out directly with the seller first - we'll see, and I'll post here with what happens. FWIW, the packed weight was about 7 lbs, and it cost me about $13 to mail it back to California.
So anyway, unless someone has other information about this product or the seller, I'll have to recommend that you stay away from this armrest. If they could make it an inch narrower, it'd be fine, but as is, it doesn't fit properly.
Also, if you look at all closely, you can tell this is clearly home-made. I don't think it looks "cheap" (it sure could be worse), but it doesn't really look professional either - the vinyl/pleather is a little loose, and the hinge on the lid is a pretty cheap hardware store special which has a little bit of side-to-side play in it.







I guess I could have replaced the hinge, but after paying someone $120 to get this thing to me, I shouldn't have to "fix" it. If the hinge were the only problem, I could have dealt with that.

It looks OK once it's in, as long as you don't open the lid or look underneath, but it doesn't do anything to improve the looks of the interior either. You can't see from the pictures how tight it fit, but I really had to smack it and lean on it to get it all the way down. And like I said, once it was in, neither front seat would move at all - the armrest squeezed them too tightly.






Hope this helps, and if anyone's still interested, I'll post back when I find out about my refund.

Does anyone know anything else about the IST armrest? If I know someone in Japan, how hard would it be to get one? Are they available directly from a Toyota dealership, even if you didn't buy a car there? Or, if someone is having one shipped, could I pay you to order an extra one?
Let me know.
Thanks,
Andy