2006 prius ownership and upgrade, drivabeater style

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Interesting.  You picked it up Friday night rather than Sat morning.  Well, off for adventure today!  Call me if you need me, I should be available all day.  

stampies house for donuts and free metal!

Next stop is wvumtnbker!

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Don't forget you got a free pet lizard. Was nice seeing you. 

Does your Prius have  GPS ?     and does it update  or is it still 2006 roads /

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Since Michael is likely driving, I'll answer for him.  No, his does not have GPS.

The factory GPS was only offered on the top two packages.  Basically Nav with leather and Nav without leather.  I do not have  one with GPS so I have no input to its updating but my guess is not.  I'm not sure what it takes to retro-fit to factory GPS unit.  

There are two radios on these Prius, the base and the JBL version.  The JBL version does Bluetooth and audible commands.  All Nav equipped Prius were also JBL equipped.  My guess is you have to have the audible  command to have the Nav.  The JBL radio also added more steering wheel controls (right side top) which included the button to launch audible commands. 

Im home. 

552 miles in 3 hours of sleep. 

80mph most of the way, an almost 41mpg.

Seats blow goats

Headlights are almost adequate. 

Stereo is pretty good

Ac is awesome 

Check engine light popped on somewhere near the Florida state line. No idea why.

Naptime. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Check engine light popped on somewhere near the Florida state line. No idea why.

Consider that a parting gift from all of us Floridians.  Glad you're home safe. 

Sorry to miss you, glad you made it home safely. 
 

I had a grueling day Friday and not much better today, so I'm grateful for you releasing me from my offer to pick you up when the flight was delayed. 

In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :

Im grateful you were willing in the first place! 

Guess the plane running late was a blessing in disguise 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Im home. 

552 miles in 3 hours of sleep. 

80mph most of the way, an almost 41mpg.
41 hitting it hard at 80 mpg is good.  75 mph is more my pace and it gives me 42 so, yeah, that seem right.  Keep the hvac use down and drive some rural roads and you'll be near 50.  Or, don't pay any attention, like me, and 42-44 all the time.  

Seats blow goats
Sorry to hear, unless you are the goat in this phrase, then it sounds quite nice. 

Headlights are almost adequate. 
Hazed over or just poor design?  Maybe something like silverstars?  In the aftermarket world there are projector style repacement assemblies but the after market world can be sketchy.  

Stereo is pretty good
I'm sure this wont stop you from making it better.

Ac is awesome 
"Set it and forget it" climate control style works really well for me.  Simple changes right from the steering wheel

Check engine light popped on somewhere near the Florida state line. No idea why.
Pick an ODB2 reader.  I use Panlong but its Android only and then Torque Pro or Dr. Prius app

Naptime. 

Lean code according to my $15 code reader. I ckeared it, and will see if it comes back. This was after adding seafoam to a fresh tank of gas. 

The head unit will get changed, but maybe not subs and components. Ill go systematically on this audio upgrade. 

Headlights just a bit hazy, cheap bulbs. Have a set of hella high wattage that turn out to be the right kind, and i hae no idea how long ive had the package on the wall. Don't remember what I got them for, but i have them! 

Gas mileage on my normal rounds will be interesting. Im hoping for your 50ish estimate. Cause its mostly 55mph rural roads. 

Ill need to make a maintenance list and get stuff on order. Fluids, filters, clean the battery fan, plugs, pcv, etc. Normal used car maintenance. 

Headlight bulb replacement is sort of a pain.  If your hands are small (that sounds like an insult) you can reach from behind and twist and remove the bulb.  Just know that putting the bulb back in becomes a blind action of trying to orient the bulb correctly so as to hit the proper twist and turn spot.  Therefore, when removing bulb, pay very close attention to the orientation or the plug so you can repeat for the installation.  

Or, the official method for bulb replacement is lamp removal which requires partial bumper cover removal.  The worst parts of the headlamp removal are two hidden bolts.  One bolt must be accessed from the side of lamp.  The other from the top front of lamp but under cover.

The headlamp fasteners shown in red:

If you are going to remove the front bumper cover, it might also be a wise time to add fog lamps which also requires full bumper cover removal.

Oof. Thats gonna suck if the hella bulbs don't do enough. But, makes polishing easier! 

Went ahead and orderd the fog lights you linked. While im in there....

Now to find a fog light switched size usb outlet for the blanks on the left side of the dash to chsrge my nav pho e from. 

What size is the switch?  Ebay has a dearth of 1, 2, and 4 gang panels with usb's and volt meters.  

Well....Are ya done upgrading it yet?  Only joking, but you kinda get things done at warp speed.  Truly hope that this car is suitable for your needs.   I've found that if you're not comfortable in a car, you tend to not like the car.  Just suggesting attacking the seat issues first.

Grab a 3M Ultra headlight restore kit. Like $13 at oreillys. I used one on each headlight on the civic.

took about an hour per side, but the results were so worth it. 

In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :

Not yet, but give me another 20 minutes! 

Seats are one of the first. I already have an appointment for tint, so that will be the first thing.  And i think I will pick up a spare seat to modify. That way I can take my time 

In reply to RevRico :

Exactly the plan and kit! Thankfully these aren't too terrible,  but bad enough to need done. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

In reply to Dirtydog (Forum Supporter) :

Seats are one of the first. I already have an appointment for tint, so that will be the first thing.  And i think I will pick up a spare seat to modify. That way I can take my time 

Seats:  
I have not swapped seats across years but I happen to have a 2004 and a 2008 in my driveway.  All years have in seat airbags and I believe that all connections remained the same over the model years.  But, there was a VERY slight fabric change over the years.  Well, the main fabric remains the same just that the early models got an additional fabric giving it a little more two-tone.  The difference is only in the side bolster.

2004 & 2005 are the two-tone.  2006+ are all the single tone.  

2004:

2006+ seat:

If all you can get is the "wrong year" no one will hardly ever notice.  I just thought I would share this idiot savant level on info for you.  Ha!  

The fabric doesn't feel that strong but it amazingly durable.  The pictures above are both driver's seats and the 2004 has 209k miles and the 2008 has 227k miles.  Neither have any rips, stains or tears.  

There is leather also but generally it's pretty rare. To get factory leather required the "all options" package. So, factory leather will also have factory navigation. 

Lots of dealers added aftermarket leather of verying quality. If there is leather but no navigation...its aftermarket. 

If you find a car with factory leather, grab the leather center console/arm rest. It wears better than the cloth version. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Oof. Thats gonna suck if the hella bulbs don't do enough. But, makes polishing easier! 

Went ahead and orderd the fog lights you linked. While im in there....

 

Now to find a fog light switched size usb outlet for the blanks on the left side of the dash to chsrge my nav pho e from. 

please do a thread on installing the fog lights  and switch.....thanks

I put Scion FR-S / Toyota BRZ wheels on my daughter's second gen. There is a lot of info on the web about the swap. I think they look better on the Prius than the FR-S. This may be the reason that sets of these as take-offs seem to be fairly common.

In reply to californiamilleghia :

Will do! 

Stay tuned right here. Ill document all the upgrades to the best of my ability to do so.

In reply to John Welsh :

Will do in the arm rest swap to leather. Definitely. Just have to find them for a price im willing to pay. 

As far as the seats go, im not opposed to aftermarket covers that fit like stock. Would help protect the tan, even though it seems i don't really need to worry about it. But i am definitely finding a spare seat. Furrs down in Norwood has one for $35. Its gray. Worst case, i make it comfortable and strip the tan from mine. 

In reply to vdblu1 :

How did the ride quality go? Any efficiency loss? Thats my biggest concern with going to bigger diameter wheels and fat rubber.....

In reply to vdblu1 :

The FRS's look great!!  Really nice.  But, I'm personally too cheap to step up to 17"ers.  I looked and Falken 250's in 15" are $87 and same tire in 17" are $117.  Sure, just $30 but times 4 = $120 more per set.  Yeah, I'm cheap.  Also then need to add in the $200-ish maybe paid for these wheels.

But, they do look good and if I were in the race for looking good, they could be a deal.