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Are the grille rings necessary? I saw them posted in the original thread, but when I contacted Carson Toyota for a quote for the whole shebang, they told me the rings are Subaru-only, and quoted me a price without the rings.
I ordered from Amayama because I didn't want to get it and not be able to put it together, plus I needed a replacement seat bolt that was 4x as expensive at the dealership as Amayama, so it all worked out.
I don't really like the way the silver ring looks, so if it turns out that I can assemble them without the ring, I'll try it.
I contacted JPM but they're not offering the speaker trim panels in sim leather, just in Alcantara. I guess it works if you're going to get alcantara shift boots and go for a lot of alcantara in the interior, but I'm not, and I think it looks out of place to just have the kneepads in alcantara when the two other leather pads on the door (the armrest and the windowsill) are leather, and my center console armrest is leather. They have the center console ones in sim leather, just not the speaker ones.
I was kinda bummed. JPM is more expensive than JDM for the center console kneepads, but cheaper for the doors, so it works out about even, and it sounds like they have better build quality. The JDM kneepads themselves are only around $40/each, but the rings and grilles add on another $80 or so. So I imagine that JPM's able to cut out that cost by using the original USDM kneepads with the integrated grilles. Makes sense, and I'd rather be getting a $75 kneepad with a $5 grille than a $40 kneepad with a $40 grille. Part of me said "Why don't I just buy the pad, and stretch some speaker grille cloth behind it, or dremel the grille out of my old kneepad, and save $80", but then another part of me slapped that first part and said "This is a $27k car, don't you dare do something ghetto".
My Amayama order should be in soon and I'll let you guys know if they'll work without the rings.
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