Ok. It really nerves me to see places like Redline Max, Cattman, CE, etc etc. selling these pieces of aluminum strips for $200. These vendors can say what they want about them and how great they are, at the end of the day...they're pieces of cut out aluminum and I refuse to pay $200 for something as stupid as this, when I could spend that same money on a decent performance upgrade, or audio upgrade, or something that's far more beneficial.

Regardless, I've seen these aluminum dash kits go for closer to $100 on eBay and $60 if they're not clearcoated. So I'm wondering, what can the differences possibly be that would constitute a ~$100 split between the two? Anybody have any experiences with the eBay dash kits?

 

Clearcoated cost more to make, therefore cost more to buy. Then you add profit and viola....you arrive at a retail price......

 

I know that. But why is that eBay clearcoated are 100 and retail is 200? What's up with that? :\

 

Retail business = Overhead expenditures

Ebay business = guy in his mommas basement.

 

Good point. I suppose that's to be expected. CE does sell those nasty projector housings for nearly 400, and they can be had for only 200 on eBay.

Now, to find out if anybody's ever purchased the kits from eBay.

 

one of the differences between the 2, I would think is quality.
I got an ebay dash kit (aluminum colored but its really a clear coat underneath an aluminum colored sheet). The real dash kits I would think are real aluminum.

I actually have 2 of these kits, I got 1 for a friend that backed out after I recieved it. If you are intrested, you can pm about the details. Ill see if i can post some pics of my kit some time.

 

Just make sure you are buying a molded kit and not a flat one...

 

I don't like the look of those plastic kits with the super soft plastic layer -- they're ugly. I want an actual flat aluminum kit.

Gennady: Praver tvoi PM.

 

i got a real aluminum kit once... i didnt like it.... its nice looking staight at it, but because there is no clearcoat, when looking at the side of it, you can see the layers of alum, cardboard, doublesided tape... looked cheap to me...

i actually prefer the fake alum or the real alum with the clearcoat...

what i ended up changing to is the molded dash kit... you get what you pay for and the molded dash kit looks as good as factory...

the reason why the flat kit doesnt work is because our center console is not flat, it bumps out and when you think about it, it looks weird when there is only alum in the front but not the sides of the center radio console....

save the money and get the molded dash... the alum one looks good!

 

Ok. Now...a molded kit isn't one of those thick plastic looking kits right? It's still real aluminum is it? Is it called a molded kit because it snaps into the center console to sit evenly with it?

Somebody please explain the differences to my dumb*ss.

 

well the molded kit alum one is a synthetic one, but the quality and apperance is top notch.... it does not look cheap in any way.

A molded kit is as its names.. its molded to fit perfectly, like a glove fits a hand... the manufacuer molds each piece so that it fits the pieces perfectly... if you look at the maxima, the door handles are not flat, they bump up a little and slop downwards... the molded pieces fit right over it... i think joshuatree.com has them... i got mine on e#ay.com for less than 100, lucky me... but i was willing to pay 300+....

 

i was thinking of getting a dash kit also , they had one on ebay but it was vinyl, meaning cheap stickers . http://www.Rvinyl.com any one bought this before?

 

i would stay away from vinyl ones... those are even worse than the flat dash kits.... they are as thin as vinyl stickers for the winshield...

 

I think I have the flat kit on my max and I cant say that it looks ugly. I think its in the pictures from one of the meets back in like november of last year. Although I did add to it, ill post some pics for u to see probobly tomorrow

 

I just want to do the center console and leave everything else alone. I like the black on the rest of the car. I just can't stand the grey-ish tone in the center.

 

paint it.....

 

Would love to, but I have no ***** when it comes down to screwing with my car on my own. Plus, I'd have to paint the A/C and headunit too.

 

i'll use this as ane example....seems liek a lot of pieces. pictures look nice. is that flat or molded.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2002-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

You took the WHOLE dash out just to paint those air vents?

 

nah...I didnt take apart the entire dash. The center vent is the TE vent and the other vents are covered with the flat pieces from a molded kit. The only thing I painted was the center console trim.

Oh yea...your ride is coming along very nicely...love those door panels.