picked up my black pkge 8 from dianne at carsontoy. today, joined this group tonite, glad to be in both! caught in a mild traffic jam in san diego as i drove home to point loma, enjoyed the thought that my mileage would not only not suffer, but improve. if so, that alone makes this guy happy. so far, 150 miles, i like this car. artie
i placed my order 5 months ago, wanted a #7 but when a #8 came, i grabbed it. i have a stash of tie-dyed deerskin leather that i plan to use to reupholster the car. i'd also like to darken the tint of the windows. but first i have to figure out how to open the doors
Ha! We all have our priorities. If you are really having trouble with the doors, we'd be glad to help.
Congrats! I have a black #9, I love it! I have about 1,400 miles on mine. It seems like there's not too many Black Prii around...at least not in the San Francisco Bay area. Good choice. I've been thinking about tinting the windows also, I think it would look really sharp. Do you know if there's a law about window tinting in California? What % is legal? Have fun! Leslie
Leslie & other California PriusChatters - here is what I found at this website: (actually this site is for everyone in the US) http://home.pcisys.net/~bpc/auto_law/tint/ California NO / NO / ANY / ANY* / 1987 ? No tint brow on the windshield is allowed, no tint may be applied to the front side windows, ANY % of light can go through the combined window film and windows for the rear side windows and ANY light transmission is required on the rear back window and film combined. The year 1987 is the year that the law went into effect. Note : If the rear-back window is tinted, left and right rear-view mirrors are required. Medical exemption allows for tint or other shading material is allowed on the front side doors if it allows at least 35% of the light to go through, readily is removable and cannot be used at night. Enforcement Note : Out-of-State cars driven in California are required to be in compliance with the CA Tint law.
so much for tinting. our grand cherokee is heavily tinted in the rear windows and back window, and i must admit, backing up at nite is definitely a hit or miss deal. the tinting does obscure vision. dianne told me that she has heard that tint, esp. metallic, can cause the MAP system to malfunction. the only actual prob. i have thus far is my 11 yr. old asked the computer to show the fast food icons, and now i haven't figured out how to remove them. i'm sure this is the wrong forum to actually ask questions like that, so i'm just discussing it. i've been to busy driving to get to the manual but will this weekend. i think the car does look great in black, as leslie says, tho black is hi maintenance, the car looks like a space-limo. too much star trek i guess.
I live in Northern CA (Bay Area) and just had my 2005 Prius windows tinted. I went with a place called Quality Auto Glass & Tint, Inc. (located @ 3295 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA) and am very happy with their workmanship and quality of product. They installed 3M's Color-Stable Film (cuts out 99% UV Rays and substantially reduced the Sun's heat through the windows). I elected to go with CS-38 (light tint) on the passenger & driver's side windows and CS-20% (somewhat darker film) on the rear windows including the hatch. Incidentally, I had them install CS-38 on the small triagular windows in front of the passenger & driver's side windows as well as the factory tinted window in back, underneath the large hatch window. The result was a sleek look (light tint in the front, darker tint in the back) with UV protection everywhere except the front windshield. The guys at Quality Auto Glass & Tint did a very nice job ($300 including tax). Ask for Jim Irwin 408-363-8468 Hope this post is helpful to you.
