Today, Brad and I decided to meet so that I could help him install his Auto door lock feature from Coastal Tech. We met in the parking lot of the Macaroni Grill in South Coast Plaza. We installed the door lock and then we took it for a spin to make sure it worked. It did, and his car still runs! (I get to live). Then we drilled the holes for the cargo net. We installed that then were done with all the work. We went in and had lunch and talked about our cars. When we were done, we went outside and took some pictures. Then we decided to go to the nearest Toyota Dealership to look at accessories and other things like it. While we were in Brad's Prius working with the Nav, a man walked up and was looking at my Prius in the parking space right to the right of Brad's. We got out and told him about it and asked us our mileage. We said, "35-50mpg's" and he said, "I got you both topped". He said, "MY Beemer gets 65 mpg.†Long pause… “It’s a motorcycle :lol: (We teased the wiseass about stacking 4 other people on the bike but then answered some Q’s and gave a brief tour of the cars.) So then we got into our cars and Brad decided he wanted to wash his car before we went to the dealer. So he found one on the NAV and we followed each other to a car wash. When the NAV said it was on the left, there wasn't anything but a dirt lot. So we dropped the idea of going there. So we headed to the dealer (South Coast Toyota). When we got to the dealer, we parked out in the street and as we walked in, we were thinking of ways to bug the salespeople. We were thinking of things to say like "tell me about the PR-EYE-US" and how much would it be to get ours sooner than the wait? Then we saw 2 prime spots right up front so we ran back to our cars and moved them up to the building. Then we went to the parts office and on the way in, saw a Black '04 in service. We got in there and wanted to get some touch up paint. They had both silver and black in stock. They only cost $6.99 each. When we came back out, we saw a Silver Prius waiting to be picked up. We went over to see what package it was. Turned out to be a BC. So, we then realized that there was 2 black prii and 2 silver prii on the lot. We then headed to our cars and were talking about them and a salesman walked over and said it is very rare to see "2 Prius" next to each other. I said, "we have meets where there are 12 sometimes" He mentioned what we all know… Brad’s rims are gorgeous! We then decided to head over to El Pollo Loco, across the street and get a drink. We went through the drive through and then parked under a tree and rolled our windows down so we could talk to each other. Then we went on about the NAV and some "ins and outs" it has that we didn't know about. Then we called it a day and went our separate ways. Brad to IKEA to buy random cheap crap for his new condo and me into the worst traffic ever. Either way you cut it, zero emissions. The End. Story by Brian Kane Edited SEVERELY by Brad Willey
Love it! :clap: :wave: 8) 8) 8) Glad you said hi to the dealer- they did not even want to take our order in December, since they had too many. Beautiful tale! Prii bonding, so to speak. Did the black and the silver end up with a white Prii? Grin. Glad it all worked... Cathy
:lolup: :lolup: It's good to hear of fellow Hybrid Enthusiasts getting together like that to share knowledge & have fun! Thanks for sharing, guys!
How long did the lock install take? I'm considering the upgrade. Of course, given that I tackled the EV button task w/o that much difficulty, the lock kit should be a cinch
Yeah, it was about 15-20. Only snag we ran into was at first Brian didn't think he saw the black wire that was shown in 1 diagram... then he found it and it was no prob again.
Nice Pics! Glad to see your bonding... Who makes the rims and what size? Also, looking for some nice body side molding in matching color that doesn't look like you got it from Pep-Boys. Any suggestions?
I too am interested in those rims. Who makes em, what size, where do I get em, how much? And, are they on the standard Prius 15" tires?
Re: Nice Pics! They are MB Motoring "Juice". I got them at America's Tire Co. which is also knows as Discount Tire Co. also known as http://www.tires.com They don't have the 2004 Prius in their view thing (you can select the car you have and it'll preview for you what the rims look like) so best thing if you want to get rims is to pick a few faves and then call and see if they fit. Unless you happen to know the size that fits the Prius already (this is an example of the Solara SE wheel size so you know what numbers you need...17X7 5-114.3 40SM ...but like I said, I just picked a few faves and called my local store. The guy told me which ones could work and I picked my favorite. He took the trade-ins of my old Prius tires/wheels. I currently in Cali live in a tiny apartment and there would have been no room to store them here, not to mention the back and forth since I doubt I could haul all 4 at once. They also said they don't often take trade-ins. Mine had barely 1000 miles on them so they did. NOT taking that into account I believe my total was about $1300. They are 17", they are CHROME, not a powder coating or "highly polished aluminum" etc... MB Motoring as listed above is like their "house brand" from what I gathered. It's like getting Albertson's Cola instead of Coke or Pepsi. Side moulding I have no idea... never really thought about it for my car...
Ah, sweet. Thanks Brad! I'll note that down and keep it in mind for when my Prius arrives. The stock rims simply must go.....
Brian, If your story were to be graded by your English teacher, the first remark would be PARAGRAPHS. They make it a lot easier to read.
There, I fixed it. I didn't think it was that bad when I wrote it, because the window to type it in is small.
As you know, I also did the EV button install and this is a piece if cake compared to that. You put the jumpers on the same port as you put the wire in hole #27 for the EV button, so you just take that out again for this. Then you have to remove the panel along the door and remove the kick plate then put one more jumper there. A total of 4 jumpers were used. And yes, it only took about 15 minutes to install, maybe 10 if I understood the instructions a little better.
Much better. My daughter is starting the seventh grade at one of Los Angeles' finest private schools, so I am very sensitive about such issues. P.S. Believe it or not, one year's tuition is as much as a Prius. :lol:
