I received a shift lock release button cover yesterday from Olathe Toyota in Kansas. However they sent the wrong part # (33554-42020). I ordered part # 33554-24020 which is the correct cover. They refunded all of my money and told me to go ahead and keep the part. I decided to see how much different this part is than the correct cover. It actually fits into the opening, although it does not sit flush with the shifting console it does fill the hole and looks better than without it. So the search goes on, but in the meantime this will suffice.

 

Ironic that I posted in this thread, never thinking I would have a gated shifter, and now am reminded of it while looking up different shift lock covers. Does the #33554-24020 cover have a key slot in it to depress the shift lock release? It sort of looks like it here:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...e-cover-2.html

The '92-97 shift bezels have two different kinds of shift lock covers that I know of, one with the key slot and one that's a solid cover. My '98 has the latter style, so they must have carried that oddity forward to the gated shifters. It has a little pry tab spot the width of the key blade, but it's not obvious that it'll lift up without chipping the plastic or breaking the key... I figure I'll see if it pops out from the bottom whenever I next/first open up the center console. In the meantime, if there is indeed a version with a key slot, I'll look for one of those to have handy for swapping in.

 

I partially found my answer to the above question. Pg 198-199 of the owner's manual says to pry the cover off w/ a flathead screwdriver. There's no mention of a slotted version of the cover, so maybe it was a post-factory option or not available on '98s?