need help removing climate control panel

[MonteCarloMan]

My dad's car, a 2004 which has the dual zone climate control. on his car one of the bulbs that light up the panel went out the one that lights up one of the dual zone sliders. on a lark I checked the dealer (big mistake) they said the bulb cannot be replaced and I would have to have the whole control panel replaced, the cost 200 plus bucks . I found much cheaper prices in salvage yards and eBay. How do would I go about accessing the control panel? it looks like i have to remove almost the entire instrument panel from the gauge cluster to the radio and climate control panel. once the panel is removed it looks as if it is held in by 2 bolts on each end of the panel (just like the stereo on my last GM car). any help would be great, by the way is the dealer full of crap and COULD i just open the panel and replace the burnt out bulb and save even MORE money?