Anyone out there know how to remove the samll trim piece infront of the rear wheel well?

I'm assuming that the trim piece you're talking about is about 2 inches wide and goes from the bottom of the door sill to about half way up the dog leg, on the outside of the car, and is made of plastic. I no longer have an OBW of the generation (got an 02 OBW last year), so I have nothing to take a look at personally. But, if you can find no fasteners, such as screws or plastic buttons on the bottom or inside the door jamb, the only other way modern trim pieces are attached is with double sided sticky tape. My wife's 97 Lexus has similar plastic panels on the bottom of the doors and the dog leg. Her parking by the braille method scraped one of the panels a year or so ago. To remove it for painting required a heat gun to soften the adhesive of the tape. A putty knife that had been covered with plastic tape (to keep it from scratching the paint) was used to pry the panel from the metal part of the door. Once repainted, new strips of double sided tape were attached to the back of the panel, the metal door was wiped down with alcohol to remove any grease or wax, and the panel was pressed back into place.