so i posted about this in the detailing thread, but didnt get much help. i suppose this is more of a 4th gen specific problem.

i just bought a filthy car from an old lady. i got a steal on the price but i wont go into that. ive been using turtle wax leather cleaner on the seats and dash and doors and goo gone on the outside - its all been working great.
but the passager dash, where the airbag sits, is a far darker shade of beige/brown than the rest of the interior. it appears to have been ruined by the sunlight. plus it has these black stains on them that look like bits of tar. i tried every solution i had on this area and nothing works. is there an easy way to change this discoloration? or am i going to have to just live with it? anyone think painting it is a bad idea ?

UPDATE: so in fact the black spots on the already darker brown passenger airbag cover is the paint actually coming off the vinyl. it is not tar.

i drove to the dealership this weekend to ask the guy how much a new passenger vinyl cover was. i was expecting to hear like 10-20 bux. he said i was going to have to purchase a whole new airbag unit for 1260 dollars.
that sounds like bs. if i try i can kind of pry the cover up a little bit, it seems loose and do able. but im afraid to go to far in case it is actually attached to the airbag. i dont want to be messing around in that area and have this thing pop out and break my nose.

im curious if anyone has ever replaced the cover to the passenger side airbag? im sure im not the first one to have a sun-stained piece.

if you have, is the airbag attached to it?
if its not, do you have to be "really careful" when prying it up?
is there a special tool? anything else i should know?

someone in the detailing forum said this is a piece of cake, but i would like a more specific accounting of what my options are here. i also called courtesy nissan and they said the same thing, that i cant just buy that part. i would have to go to a junkyard.

basically, can you just give me a rough walkthrough on the steps needed if its even possible.
this could be a $1000 mistake if it isnt done right.

 

or it could be a 60 dollar mistake.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-96...spagenameZWDVW

would you really go fork over a grand to the dealership for an airbag without checking somewhere else first?

The airbag is attached to that cover as far as I know. I have a brown airbag i'd sell if i could get a black one in exchange.

 

the air bag isn't attached to the cover iirc. i pulled my whole dash out and the airbag was still connected to the dash frame. there is a special secuirty torque socket for removing the airbag module that costs like $50, but you won't need that. if you do decide to mess with it just be sure to disconnect your - battery connection.

 

what year car were you removing the dash on ? a 98 ?

so the cover can just pop out? what is holding it in there? tabs? it looks like tabs from what i can see when i pry it up a half inch or so, but its hard to see all the way to the back. i know when i got into my car accident on 9/14 the panel that im referring to flipped up, like it was anchored by the windsheild side. then again that was a 96 and this is a 97. i see from the EBAY auction that they have different dash specs.

are you fairly confident that if i find a replacement at a yard and disconnect my battery that i will be able to get this off with no problems? i also want to make sure my airbag is still fully functional.

and ill ask again cuz its the most important thing. how is it connected? glue? snaps? wings/tabs? velcro?

 

it was a 98 and it was years ago. i did not seperate the panel from the dash, rather the dash from the car, but i would be willing to bet you could do it. from what i remember removing the glove box should give you a pretty good look at whats back there, which i'm sure you could do.