Hi all - my 2004 TT cab has been lonely in the garage for a while, so I went out to visit it this morning. For some reason I decided to open the in-dash cupholder (the kind that slides out with 2 cupholders above the PCM). Out of the blue, the faceplate popped off. I took a look at it and it doesn't appear anything broke off, so I'm not sure why it decided to eject itself. There are 2 tabs that slide into slots and a small piece that looks like it fits into the teeth of a small gear.

My question is - do I glue it back on now? I can still open and close the actual cupholder but it looks terrible with the faceplate off. I don't want to glue it on and then realize it needs to be able to move when it opens/closes. No way I'm spending the cash for an OEM replacement for what is a terrible design in the first place. I searched and read plenty of threads but none about specifically reinstalling the fascia.

Any ideas?

TIA,

Todd

 

 

This is a common issue. It most likely broke, and you can't just snap it back on. There are some aftermarket faceplates, but they don't have the little cup icons on them. Note that they cups detail the bigger and smaller cup holders, which is cool.

You can buy a new unit and slide it in. I don't remember it being very expensive.

 

Actually I remember them being silly expensive unless you get lucky on eBay, though I don't have the part number handy to check...

 

Found it... 996-552-183-02-01C with a list price of $362.

 

 

$300+ is nuts. Even worse - $1900 if it is in leather!!!!

I'm going to play with mine to see if I can fix it. The location is terrible anyway, and it seems like the faceplate should snap back on. It is definitely way overengineered.

 

The faceplate needs to slide a little bit in order to clear the dash that's why it cannot just glue on.
Mine just popped off one day when I went to close it. I use mine every day so I thought that kind of weird.
I found a video on youtube that explained the whole disassembly process the guy in the video had a different problem than mine did but I was able to fix mine by replacing a plastic that broke with a metal one I fashioned out of an old drill bit.

here's the video:

 

Where can you get a repro front piece? I've never seen one for sale, even if it doesn't have the little cups on it.

 

There are cup holders in the 996 Turbo?

 

Right below the two central vents...

 

I'll take a look.

 

All years?

 

I'm not sure they were standard in all 2001 996 Turbos.

All 2002 and subsequent year Turbos have cup holders standard.

 

yea, i dont think they became available till the glove box was in 2002