Dash Kits? Yes or No?

[CraniumDesigns]

Hey all. I am debating on whether or not to get a white dash kit to lay over my stock interior pieces to match my white exterior. I was going to paint, but just in case I sell it later, I don't want that to make it harder for me, so I think a dash kit will allow me to achieve a similiar look without making it too permanent. I want to know if anyone has a dash kit, how much depth do they add to the pieces? Do they stick well? Do they endure? Do they look ricey or nice? And how hard are they to remove?

Just in case you are not sure what I am talking about, I mean those plastic kits, not the vinyl, that lay over the existing stock pieces. They usually run for about $100-200 on eBay. Thanks.

[93speed]

Personally, I don't like them. I think anything like that looks cheap and ugly. I say do it all or leave it stock.

But its your car and your money. Do what YOU want.

[whiteracer]

i got one off of ebay. It ran me like $25. I like it. It was very easy to install, pretty easy to clean and remove, but for now all i have against my gray interior is a red dash kit and i kinda like it. I've heard of ways to do it yourself with paint and for me that's just too much work. Only get one if you plan on doing your seats too. $100?! Find one of those companies thats selling them for 20-30 bucks for a solid color one that may not be the color you want but ask them for a specific color (i saw one for a yellow kit and i asked them for red) and they'll probably work it out. Painting it looks a little better and you can get specific peices but these dash kits are a whole lot more conveinent.

[JuMBoBeaTS]

i painted my interior myself... it wuznt too hard... n it only cost me $7 n 6hrs (theres a 24hr gap in the middle to let the paint cure properly)... get a hold of a helms manual from a buddy... the interior parts arent that hard to take out... except for the climate control... u have to remove the entire panel wid da radio to get that sucka... i painted my entire lower dash, the trims, and vents... i didnt do the control panel and doors yet... i got yelled at for makin the floor a lil red... lol... i know my car's actual value went poo-poo but its sentimental value went thru the roof... i dont think i can ever sell my car now... i put in too much of my sweat, tears, a lil blood, creativity, and alotta money to sell it... theres a piece of me in that car... oh yeah... if ure gonna do it this way... take a few practice paints first... u gotta learn some control over the spray can or air gun...

[CraniumDesigns]

that's why i don't want to paint it. some day i want to sell it.

[whiteracer]

same here and that's why i went with a plastic trim. Oh here's a big help, you might want to try the Interior forum, there's this thread in there that has like 4 pages of pics and there's one in there of this other guys that looks just like mine (red trim) and you might have some more success in that forum plus instructions on how to do everything.

[CraniumDesigns]

can you give me a url? can you describe things to be that i cant tell from the pics? like the thickness. how hard would it be to remove? does it look flush, or does it stick out?

[whiteracer]

its slightly embossed but you can't tell from outside of the car and you can barely tell from inside. A couple pieces i put on were put on slightly off with a bigger margin on one side than the other. They look better painted, but this process took 10 minutes and most of it was just wiping it down with an alcohol pad. I'll go look for that link when i get into work and have the time.

[CraniumDesigns]

Originally posted by whiteracer
I'll go look for that link when i get into work and have the time.

That's so bad and funny at the same time, that the most free time you have is at work. Haha. Just thought I would point out how we actually have more free time at work than at home. Haha.

[whiteracer]

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t16635.html

check out my post on the 4th page and you'll see what mine sort of looks like. But its best to get the seats done when you have the money if you got cloth seats cause if not it starts to look ugly

[CraniumDesigns]

i'm getting blue tenzo type r seats. but i want to get the trim pieces in white.

[whiteracer]

yeah but make sure you do something with the back seats. Get them customed in a blue/white manner. It would look good as long as its the same shade of blue as your seats and i'm sure it will cause interior shops have all sorts of shades.

[CraniumDesigns]

I don't think I'm gonna do the back seats. I don't want to do any upholstering cuz I still want it semi-sellable in a couple years.

[whiteracer]

then i strongly advise not getting one. Actually i advise not getting one at all. After having mine on for awhile, when i look at my dash from just outside the driver's door it looks good, real good. Then i look towards the back of the car and i remember i need to get the seats done. I put the back seat down cause it looks so bad with the ugly gray seats and the awesome dash. I figure i'll get all my seats done when i go on vacation in a month. till then, it looks bad, "ricey" if you believe in the term, and totally amateur. But I like how it looks, just not with the stock seats.

[CraniumDesigns]

yeah, i think i'll just not get one. thanks for all the help.