What the heck is this thing in my throttle pad, and what is it for?

[Chexi]

Okay, I really want to put my ballast switches right where this crazy lock thing is that I have no idea what it does or what it is for. It appears to be connected to some cable. Does anyone know what this thing is for? What are the ramifications of removing it?

[bkhallpass]

It's the lock for your rear trunk.

BKH

[Chexi]

Lol... Never knew I had one. As such, I could probably remove it and not miss it... so long as removing it does not lock it. One way to find out.

Thanks Brian.

[mhaaland]

mine never worked so it's going bye bye to make room for ballast switches.

[Quinner]

Guessing it is not working anyways because IIRC closed like in the photo is the locked position. That cable runs back to the trunk, pushes out a pin or rod which should go through a tab attached to the sun deck.

[bkhallpass]

The lock is not difficult to fix. Took about 20 minutes to fix the one on my neighbor's 98. It's just a simple cable and slide pin.

Problem is people don't know it's there, and they just rip up on the trunk. Pretty easy to break it. BKH

[Chexi]

After reskinning my rear hatch, I don't think I could get this to work, since there is no exposed catch. If I did get it to work, it would damage the vinyl (I think). At any rate, I don't have my switches yet, but that hole looks to be just about the perfect size for 3 contura switches. I'm not that lucky in life... we'll see.