As for the post about finding the interior parts, I'm in a similar situation. I have an 08, which is well before they switched from the shiny black pearl panels to the flat grey-ish ones. I don't really mind the shiny black, but they seem to be both magnets for dust, as well very easily streaked and marked. On top of that, my car is silver and from when I first bought the car I've thought that it would look so much better with silver/silver-grey panels on the inside. My one buddy has silver 2012 Corolla S, and his center and door panels are silver, and it looks great.
So lately I've really been thinking about this, and I came to the conclusion that I have 3 options: Buy the new parts from the dealer or online OEM parts store, buy one of those kits that come in a million colors for around $130, or paint what I already have. I ruled out the aftermarket kit when I read several reviews claiming that they rarely fit well, and sometimes require some rigging to fit properly. I then looked at the OEM parts, and was floored to find out that buying the four door panels, the waterfall, the section below the waterfall, and the big piece that goes around the shifter would cost over $200.
So now I'm pretty much decided on painting. My one friend did it in her xD and it looks great....matches the exterior and looks factory to anyone who doesn't know our cars. I'm actually somewhat looking forward to it despite not having much experience with this kind of thing. The only issue I have is that my car is totally a daily driver. I drive it every day, and don't have a 2nd car or anything. That being said, my plan is to do one piece at a time. I'm not in a hurry, and this way I'm not driving around for a period of time with what will seem like half of my interior missing.
Just wanted to throw out the update that I did get my interior paint done. I have to confess however, that I ended up not doing the painting myself. My guy did do a great job, and used the Silver Streak Mica (1E7) paint to match the exterior, and also mixed an awesome clear finish that gave it the flatter look I wanted. Here's a couple pics...not the greatest quality photos, but you can see that it came out pretty good.
Thanks. That was honestly part of my thought process in doing this. I wanted something different as I was never a big fan of stock color, but I also wanted it to look like it could be factory to someone who doesn't know our cars. As I mentioned in one of my posts above, my friend has an 11 Corolla and now my panels look practically the same as his.
I think you definitely accomplished that, haha. It certainly stands out, but it's cool...I really like that color you went with. Actually, being you have an 11, you at least got the somewhat better looking stock panels in yours....the flat greyish color if I remember right? The older ones like mine came kinda glossy pearl-black panels that IMO are just magnets for dust and streak marks and whatnot. Maybe I'm just really particular, haha.
you're right. mine were originally that grayish color. i went with the bright green i went with because i had already had my shift knob and the green face gauges. i wanted to match those since they were all pretty much the same shade of green. i had thought about going with the stock green on the outside but with it being against the black interior i didnt think it would stand out too much. i figured if i was going to paint it, i wanted people to be able to notice. and now that i painted my stock steelies to match it kinda brings it all together!!
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I like the work. You have done great work specially the painted interior parts with splatter paint. Yes its looking like texture. Anyhow the other one is also looking nice and good combination of colors. Thanks for sharing guys. Very good sharing.
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