Best Accessories

[tarquin]

Will take a pic tomorrow. Will have to check with MR T for a part number. Dont keep receipts for trim stuff

David

[Todd0014]

YourCarParts Toyota Mats are the best accessories... My car mats are the best for me...

Surely, you have some set of floor mats for your car, of course it is the best as it covers the car floor, keep the from rain, mud and other liquids that might cause a little bit damage and most especially it prevents the from dirt, sand, rocks or dust spreading inside your car.

If you're thinking about getting a set of car mats, make sure that it is worthy.

[Guest]

I think the best accessory is the one fitted to David's (Tarquin's) car, the Head Up Display, so expertly fitted and so useful. Imagine having to look down at your speedo and some numpty with a phone glued to their hands or ear steps out into your path. If you were looking at your speedo to make sure you were not going to get done for speeding, you just might hit the numpty. Whereas with the HUD, you will see numpty near the kerb -hopefully- and miss the idiot, whilst scaring the crap out of them with any luck and making them pay more attention to their life instead of their phone next time.

[Sensha]

In order of appearance:

1) Mud flaps in coordinated color, front and rear

2) Spoiler (more for rear window airflow than for anything else

3) The HORRID "BeSpoke" audio/'navigation' system (see note below)

4) Full set of OEM carpeted mats, front, rear, and rear compartment

5) Alloy wheels

6) Illuminated door sill covers, with the Scion logo

7) Wheel bolt "locks" (installed by dealer)

8) 3M window tint film

Added since the vehicle purchase:

9) Paint protective film/"clear bra" for vehicle front and around rear door sill/bumper top (commercial product)

10) Yarus (?) center console compartment, with cup holder at rear; it 'bolts' to brackets attached to the inner seat rails on both sides. As currently installed, it is quite a bit on the low side. However, if I use longer installation screws, threaded through four small pipe nipples (an electrical aisle item), I can boost both the height of the arm rest, and the relative forward location of the top of the thing. That will enable me to use the extra cup holder, which is currently blocked by the rear seat backs.

It's not perfect, but it's the best "finished" looking solution that I've seen to date

11) Lexan license plate frames and covers (commercial product; I can install this one!)

12) Ignition key illumination ring, keyed to door circuit (part on hand, Toyota Japan product, to be added by installer)

13) Interior lighting kit (Scion part, to be purchased and added by installer)

14) Anti-theft system/alarm (aftermarket part, part on hand, to be added by installer)

15) XM radio receiver (aftermarket part, part on hand, to be added by installer)

16) Rear area "tourneau" cover (Toyota Japan stock part; hell, I even installed it myself!!)

17) Cruise control (aftermarket part, part on hand, to be added by installer)

18) Roof mounted center console (glasses storage) (Toyota Japan product, part on hand, to be added by installer)

Items I'm looking to add, but have not at this point:

19) Spare tire mount

We still own a smart Passion, and were quick to add a trailer hitch (from Curt) and a trailer hitch receiver (also from Curt) when we bought it. While you can purchase the small tire from Continental, they are not exactly thick on the ground. It was my idea to mount a spare front tire (the smart uses two different tires, but the size difference is so small as to not matter in a spare situation) in a post-type mount that would plug into the hitch receiver.

It's a simple solution, but one surprising difficult to attain. Someone on one of the smart sites came up with a well designed mount, but (for liability reasons) only decided to produce one of them. I was finally lucky to find a similar mount, designed for the old smart 450 model, to use with my car. Since that time, we make long distance trips with the security of not being marooned for three days while a replacement tire gets air freighted in.

In theory, this should be a simple solution to port over to the iQ. However, there are a few flies in the proverbial ointment. One is that the iQ uses a four stud wheel, not a three stud one like the smart. A problem, but not a serious one.

The second is a bit more formidable. The rear of the smart Passion 451 has a tailgate/upper gate arrangement; upper half hinges up, lower half hinges down. The registration plate is on the lower half, but considerably above the bumper.

The rear of the iQ has only a single door, which hinges upwards. The height of the plate is about 20" above the pavement, and the door only hinges upwards. This limits the amount of space available to mount a 23" spare wheel, unless you also relocated the rear plate to the middle of the spare. And, that is something that I just don't want to do.

It's a conundrum, and I can't see any way clear of the obstructions. A tire mount attached to the tailgate would be the best solution, but that's going to take more fabrication skills than I possess. Bummer.

And now, a few words about the Be-spoke audio/GPS system, almost all of them bad!.

When we spec'ed the Scion we noted with pleasure that the Scion 200 GPS system was offered for the vehicle. We have had GPS systems of one sort or another on every vehicle we have bought since the mid-1990s, and it has become one of our "must haves" on new cars.

Fast forward to the decision to purchase the iQ, this after another must have (the cruise control) became available. When making all of the optional equipment decisions, we were shocked to learn that the "real" GPS system was no longer offered. As I want a system that is integrated with the vehicle, that left the stupid "bespoke" system.

Imagine if you will a GPS system that does the following:

1) Does not allow you to enter an address into the system.

2) That does not allow you to use both the GPS system and the sound system at the same time

3) That does not allow continuous tracking of the route you are trying to take

4) That requires manual activation to call up the next instruction in your route

Well you might ask at this point, just what does the Be-spoke system do?

A) It tracks your route, sort of of.

B ) It tracks your Twitter and Myspace friends, allowing you to tap on their location on the map and send them a Tweet or post to their Myspace space.

C) It allows you to set an approximately location (with a cursor, which you can then get instructions as to how to go there. Note that this is not an address, just a location

D) It allows you to use the tunes on your iPhone or iPad, through a bluetooth connection or a cable.

E) It allows you to use your iPhone to make up half of the navigation system.

With all of that, it is one confusing mess. Some things only work when the cable is hooked up others don't. The on-screen controls get in the way all of the time. The cursor system used to locate stuff is cumbersome, hard to turn on and off, and very imprecise.

I like using my GPS systems in heads up mode. This one will allow that, but at the cost of having all of the street names appear upside down whenever heading south.

And, get a phone call in the midst of a trip, and things get scrambled up really quick.

Finally, there is provision for voice control of the thing. Don't bother - too many additional indexes to create, inconsistent implementation of any of them.

Finally, crown it all with a horrible manual - long on how to send a tweet but very short on how to find anything, and you've got a headache waiting to happen. It may do a decent job playing music (I never did figure out how to do that), but for everything else it's an accident waiting to happen.

[Sensha]

Oh, and I almost forgot:

#) A dead pedal on the flat spot on the floor pan provided for one. I took a Toyota Matrix pedal and cut it down to a flat surface, filled it in with good ol' Bondo, and then stuck aggressive "Titanium" Velcro hook component strips to the flat rear surface. They grab in the OEM rug just fine.

I've ordered a second one of these pedals in order to cut the second to fit the contours of the sidewall better. Not too expensive, but a bit tedious to create. I've posted instructions on the other Scion websites as to how to make this work.

[AleKa]

Here is the list of the customization of my IQ :)

- philips daylight 4

- tinted windows

- climair wind deflector

- silver tire caps with key lock

- tetrax fix to hold your car key

I will post a photo of my car soon :)

[Soeley]

Sensha, sound's good. How about some pictures to show us. :)

[Soeley]

Aleka, look forward to the pictures.

[AleKa]

Hi all,

As promised i took some pics to show us :P :

[Sensha]

Sensha, sound's good. How about some pictures to show us. :)

I've put a set of photos for the arm rest console and the dead pedal as part of a how to on one of the Us Scion iQ sites, either http://www.iq-forums.com/forums/scion-iq-general-forums/ or http://www.scionlife.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1831. Uploading photos is too tedious for me to do it more than once.

[Red Yaris 54]

Sensha, sound's good. How about some pictures to show us. :)

I've put a set of photos for the arm rest console and the dead pedal as part of a how to on one of the Us Scion iQ sites, either http://www.iq-forums.com/forums/scion-iq-general-forums/ or http://www.scionlife.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1831. Uploading photos is too tedious for me to do it more than once.

It might be tedious for you, but it would certainly help other members of TOC UK to get a better idea of the modifications that you have carried out to your car

Please consider posting the photos on TOC for the benefit of fellow club members :)

[Soeley]

If you use something like Photobucket, you only upload once and can share to many forums and websites ;)

[Darth IQ73]

TPMS

Blackvue witness camera, front watching only

Novus speed camera gps warning device

Garmin sat nav (better than the Toyota one which is fine for sounds etc. The Garmin also gives fixed and mobile camera alerts)

Spare wheel

Winter kit (folding shovel etc)

Steel winter wheels and winter tyres (now on until the Spring)

Scuff plates

Mud flaps

Rear skirt

chrome exhaust finisher

Drls

and dirt too...

John

Hi John

How do you find the Blackvue ??

I was looking for a decent in-car wifi product and stumbled across this. It really does look and appear to be the business.

I'm curious as I saw this as one of your additions.

Thanks if you can tell us how it holds up. . .

Matt

[craggle]

Hi Matt

I have a Blackvue camera too. I started a thread a while back about in car cameras and if you look near the bottom of this page I posted a few images and a description when I bought and fitted one.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/133686-in-car-camera-system/page-2?hl=blackvue#entry1190097

As you can see it's been in there just over a year now and it's performed absolutely faultlessly. I've taken it out a few times to have a look at the images and just check it's still recording as it should but it always is. Highly recommended. :)

I think they now have a new version of the HD one I fitted but it looks pretty much the same.

Craig.

[johnan]

TPMS

Blackvue witness camera, front watching only

Novus speed camera gps warning device

Garmin sat nav (better than the Toyota one which is fine for sounds etc. The Garmin also gives fixed and mobile camera alerts)

Spare wheel

Winter kit (folding shovel etc)

Steel winter wheels and winter tyres (now on until the Spring)

Scuff plates

Mud flaps

Rear skirt

chrome exhaust finisher

Drls

and dirt too...

John

Hi John

How do you find the Blackvue ??

I was looking for a decent in-car wifi product and stumbled across this. It really does look and appear to be the business.

I'm curious as I saw this as one of your additions.

Thanks if you can tell us how it holds up. . .

Matt

Hi Matt,

As Craig has said, mine has performed flawlessly since I bought it.

"It" told me to change the microSD card once, probably because it had been in for months without re-formatting, but after replacing the card all was well again.

I actually forget it is there working, even though I haven't turned off the start up dialogues.. you just get so used to them.

Recently a Land Rover stormed past me blowing its horn as if I had cut him up on a roundabout, but after playing the video back it was obvious that he had expected just to force his way onto the roundabout without slowing down and I hadn't obliged. Hence his umbrage, but seeing the camera evidence put my mind at rest that the fault was not mine.

John

[Maureen E]

My bargain of the century  best accessory has to be a small black tool box bought from Halfords  for £1.99  (approx 7 1/2" x 12") which fitted quite inconspicuous  exactly between the two front seats and takes all my CD's, Sat Nav and accessories, change for car park , pen and paper etc. Maureen E.

[PCM]

This thread - an oldie but a goldie...

For me:

Dashcam

The 'glove box' bag

All Season tyres 

LED side light bulbs

Faraday Box 

Mud-flaps

A small box to keep stuff on the centre middle floor.

OEM mats