I installed the headliner, they just cleaned the board, and stuck on the fabric. I also forgot that I get discounts, oops. But only about 30%.
Well I am basing my assumption and price (which was a best case scenario) on what I understand from the post, I don't think it would be more than about 30-45 min of work for a shop to repair this dash assuming that it does not need to be removed. What it sounds like to me is a "small" tear/rip/stress crack. However I am no pro at this and did not read your post above mine, I posted not realizing there was a second page to read. I trust your judgment more so than my own.
I forgot to mention that I've also seen some vinyl/leather repair kits for varying prices.
Here is a link to what I mean. Not sure how good this stuff is though.
http://www.leatherrepairkits.com/google_index.htm
Good luck.