Diy improvement

Not an answer to your question, just my two cents... ...The closed lid prevents the contents from flying out at eye level in the event of a crash.

KNS

PS You could check the maintenance manual. Your question is probably posted in the wrong forum.

Good comment. Smartphone to the face at 2-3 g's would hurt! I love that little dash storage. I keep a digital voltmeter plugged in there, a tire pressure gauge, a pen, and a flashlight. And it closes.

I don't understand the part about "The storage never gets used because it has a lid" - well, of course it has a lid. You press the little button, it opens, you put stuff in, then close the lid. Safe, secure storage. Sure, it's not huge - you're not going to fit a roll of paper towels in there, lid or not; but for small stuff like a gps, gum, prox parking cards, ez-pass box, etc, it's perfect. I keep all kinds of things in there. You should try it!

Perhaps the OP has no doors on his house or cars

I keep my tollway transponder in there. Awesome use for it.

The storage compartment comes out of the dash as a complete unit. Once removed you can probably remove the door and related pop-open mechanisms.

The compartment is held in by two screws below the dash. To access them, remove the floor console panel (surrounds the shifter). Then remove the radio control assembly held on by two screws at the bottom and a bunch of tabs along the sides. After removing the two storage compartment screws, disconnect the electrical connections to the emergency key fob transmitter. The compartment should pull up and out.

Seems like pressing the compartment button is easier, but there you go. Good luck.