My SO has a 2003 Yaris, and I'm trying to fit an FM modulator to it so
she can listen to her iPod. I spent an hour swearing at the dashboard
yesterday, and completely failed to get the stock HU out, so I'm
wondering if anyone has managed this?

Suggestions on the net led to me pulling off the heater knobs, and
removing the two screws under them - you can then pull the upper part
of the centre console away from the dash. The stereo itself is in the
lower part of the centre console - it appears to be a standard DIN unit
mounted behind a large plastic moulding, which includes the ashtray and
lighter. The plastic moulding is held in with clips on either side at
the bottom, which come out when you pull, but the top of this moulding
would not budge - and I was tugging as hard as I dared.

There are two screws which mount the brackets on either side of the
stereo which are visible when you've removed the upper section of the
console, and two more which mount the lower end of these brackets that
you can get at via the ashtray - having removed all 4 of these, the
stereo was definitely moving in the bracket, but nothing I tried would
make the top part of the plastic moulding over the stereo detach from
the dash.

Grateful for any advice - it may just be that I wasn't pulling hard
enough, but it really felt as if there was something solid holding it
in!