My Prius = A Return to Stability

When my father signed the title for his 2005 Toyota Prius over to me on New Year's Eve, I was ecstatic.  It meant a return to financial stability and my personal sanity.  My previous car had given me lots of problems for the prior six months, so it was good to have a new life line.

I am admittedly spoiled in the sense that every vehicle I've ever owned was a used vehicle given to me by my father.  I made a lot of poor personal financial choices over the last fifteen years, and I'm finally paying the price.  I had no way to get a new vehicle on my adjusted budget - an exceptionally tight budget, but one that will reduce my credit card debt to zero in four years or less.  Because of four-digit repair costs to my previous car over the last few months, my debt was getting worse by begging for loans from my parents.  So finally getting this Prius was a major relief for me.

I Love My Prius

With the money I got from Christmas and my tax return, I made two major investments in the Prius.

Firstly, in early January, I had the Prius' interior detailed.  Why?  Because my father used the Prius as the primary means of transportation for their dogs over the course of five years.  Slobber and dog hair covered the car seats, windows, and headliner.  Smelled bad and looked atrocious - not a vehicle I'd let my friends get in, due to embarassment.  This is the first time anyone other my immediate family has seen these photos.  Here are the before and after photos, best viewed in a separate tab/window at full size:


Before and After Photos - Interior Detailing of 2005 Prius

Pretty gross, huh?

B&T Services in Bridgewater did the fantastic work.  They were able to remove most of the stains and a good amount of the dog hair.  There is still a lot of dog hair on the headliner though, and that's pretty disgusting.  It will take me a long time to gradually remove the hair - using rubber gloves, lint remover, duct tape, and tedious hair picking.  But the car is in much better shape than it was before, and I've heard plenty of positive comments from everyone who's been in my car.

The second investment I made in the Prius just happened this past Friday.  It happened because I really appreciate being able to play music from my iPod in my car.  My prior car had a cassette deck so I had always used a cassette adapter to plug in the iPod.  But the 2005 Prii (as I learned is the plural version of Prius) only have a radio and CD player.  No auxiliary input, no cassette deck, and horrible reception on a plug-in FM transmitter.  So I researched my options to upgrade my stereo.  There are two major obstacles to upgrading the factory stereo in a Prius: 1) the navigation/display screen, stereo, and electronic systems are all integrated, and 2) the dashboard is curved.  Aftermarket stereo upgrades are generally criticized as major mistakes.  They won't match the dashboard because they're flat.  But more importantly, the electronic systems could be compromised. 

The dashboard display/stereo

I found on the internet a unit called SoundLinQ SLU made by VAIS Technology which allows one to add auxiliary input to any Prius. It runs at about $220 as of this blog post.  It's expensive but worth it because it's guaranteed to work for the Prius with no risks.  The device is installed behind the stereo, and then RCA/aux cords are hooked up to the SLU unit.  VAIS Technology also makes other units that fully integrate one's iPod with their navigation display - for a higher price.  I was fine with just using my iPod to flip through songs.

SoundLinQ SLU unit (image from installer.com)

So I contacted VAIS Technology and asked for the closest authorized dealer of these units.  Installation can be tricky because you have to pry off the vents and other parts of the dashboard.  So I had the closest dealer to me, AfterFX Customs in Watertown, sell and install the device.  It only took them 45 minutes to install it.  They were so professional and showed me how they would install it.  They also showed me options of where the auxiliary cord could be placed.  It just so happens that there is a little compartment that you push to open, that sits right below the stereo.  So AfterFX Customs drilled a little hole in the back of the compartment and pulled the auxiliary cord through there.

*Update 2/16/13: AfterFX Customs no longer exists in Watertown, MA, but there are many other places than can install such a device.*
 
And here's a photo of the compartment opened up.  You can see how convenient it is.  And of course, the sound quality is truly awesome, which made me a very happy camper.


Auxiliary cord, compartment, and iPod!

So now I've got what I want with the Prius!  I'm feeling financially stable again, as I've (hopefully) got a reliable vehicle now for the next few years.  It's got excellent gas mileage - sometimes reaching 60 mpg on the highway (yes, I thought the Prius was better on gas in the city too, but it's the highway where it shines).  Another interesting factoid - the gas tank is a flexible "fuel bladder."  It expands when you put gas in it.  Pretty cool, huh? 

It's poignant that I was playing Coldplay's "Paradise" on my iPod in the above photo.  I feel as though I'm pretty close to paradise with my Prius now.