Cure for knee to door panel squeaks; console too

One thing about my 2012 Prius that completely drives me nuts, is plastic squeaks and rattles. I'm excessive/ compulsive when it comes to these gremlins. I said to myself, " Enough is enough." With that, I proceeded to tear into the driver side trim panel at the window switch trim. Carefully removing the silver accent and the window switch panel, I coated all the clips and guide receplicals with "Boot Seal" beeswax waterproofer. Low and behold... No more squeaks. Did the same with the console storage bin cover. It's like a different car. Now, a word of caution: Don't attempt this if you are not 100% sure of the disassembly procedures. The Prius interior is put together with very fragile, plastic clips (that's why is squeaks and rattles so much) and requires very prudent removal. The whole plastic interior is like a puzzle. So, be careful !!!

 

As the car ages, the plastics lose plasticizers that cause shrinkage. In other words, " they dry out". They also become brittle and can break very easily. That's why you have to be very careful when disassembling any interior parts.