Just got this used Toyota Sequoia. Strange piece attached to instrument panel. Anybody know what this is??
it might be a mic for a phone the previous owner installed. hard to tell from picture.
Definitely not OEM/factory…
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Does it press or twist? If so, might be a owner-installed work-a-round for a failing dashboard control. Could also be some sort of security device to help prevent car break-ins, or a thief attempting to steal the vehicle.
My brand new Corolla had a non-oem gadget installed at the bottom edge of the dashboard, right from the dealership. That turned out to be to prevent someone from starting the car while it was on their sales lot. It later caused me some grief, preventing cranking.
You didn’t notice that eyesore and ask about it when you bought the vehicle 
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Depends on the price 
That would have been the logical thing to do.
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What year? What happens when you push it?
Be careful previous owner may have been Her Majesty’s Secret Service! Might launch a missile, drop an oil slick, or eject your passenger.
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Heh heh. I’d have a hard time not trying it out to see what it does.
Never know. On one car I was trying to figure out why the trunk wouldn’t open when I hit the button. I was close to tearing things apart when I flipped this little switch in the glove box. Valet switch.
Actually I’d be inclined to take the trim off to see what is behind it, especially since it looks like something is stuck on the edge.
It does not press or twist.
Bought it from my aunt. She didn’t install it, it came from a previous owner.
Could be an infrared sensor for a DVD remote.
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- Nothing about it in manual… It isn’t a button or knob… It doesn’t appear to do anything. It hangs down off dash, too. You can see the residue around it from someone trying to re-glue it to dash…
Ok, thanks for the input. Something is drawing power/draining battery, I suspect this might be the culprit.
Is there a DVD player installed?
Is that a wire going inside the car somewhere from that thing? Anyway it looks like some kind of mount for a GPS or such thing.
Looks like a fan speed switch to me.
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Only way to really know what it does is to trace the wires coming out of it.
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That’s what it looked like to me too, but OP says it neither twists nor pushes. If it has a clear glass-like surface on the front, Nevada above may be correct, an optical pickup for a remote control for the CD player, stereo, etc.