What are must have accessories?

[gqscientist]

From your experience, what are some must haves?

1) navigation screen cover? Sometimes the glare is bad
2) front guard - so many nicks on my white prius
3) strut brace - does it really help?

any other thoughts?

[Tideland Prius]

mudguards?

some sort of cargo net (vert or horiz) since the Prius doesn't have shopping bag hooks.

[Bearcatzzz]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gqscientist @ Sep 11 2006, 05:42 PM) [snapback]318072[/snapback]</div>

From your experience, what are some must haves?

1) navigation screen cover? Sometimes the glare is bad
2) front guard - so many nicks on my white prius
3) strut brace - does it really help?

any other thoughts?
[/b]

1) Yes. Mine is from Priushoods on EBay. Many on PC seem to like. I Love mine.
2) Yes, but I'd skip the bra. To me, it looks nice, but the dealer installed air dam through it. Difficult to clean behind. I'm going to check out the clear bra (or remove air dam).
3) ??. Ordered, not here to be installed.

Others-floor mats (I have factory cloth and rubber), rear bumper protection, tinted windows (in hot climates, or if you just like tinted windows), sun shades from PC Store, leather center console cover (through Priushoods).

[Presto]

3) For handling, every little piece helps. For something that is effective, low-cost, and will arrive to you quicker than 8 weeks, try the BT Stiffening Plate. Best bang for the buck for handling, and it's the easiest piece to install yourself.

[Rancid13]

I've found that the sun hood for the navi screen/mfd has really helped with sun glare.

Other must-have accessories/add-ons on my list were cargo tote (which I've learned that I can't live without!), all-weather floor mats (for wet weather and snowboarding trips), and window tint.

[Claudia]

I didn't like the console fabric cover - we got the leather console cover from Priushoods and it's much nicer. Thinking about getting the leather covers for the door arm rests as well, but I've heard they can be problematic to install (if I'm wrong, I'd love to be corrected!). Also got the Priushood screen hood, which helps cut down on the glare.

We're getting Wet Okole seat covers and new tires as well, but I don't know if either of those could be considered an accessory - hard to call something that costs that much 'accessorizing'.

If you're thinking about getting the "strut brace" - I'd say get an alignment first, if you don't like the way your car handles, and see if that makes it better to you. I had mine aligned today - the difference is like night and day!

[hyo silver]

a PriusChat membership

a WeePri

a cool licence plate

a chassis brace and an alignment

[Jeannie]

Nobody's mentioned the side mouldings yet, and they were almost my first purchase!

I'm finally getting my clear bra tomorrow - I had a hard time finding an installer closer to where I live than 70 miles away. I've had my white Prius since April, and I have about four small nicks in the front bumper already.

I've got a cargo net - had one in my previous car and never found it useful, but the cargo net on the Prius is great for those plastic bags from the supermarket - they don't spill the groceries out all over the place.

I also have a couple of cargo totes from Case Logic - they fold up, so they're easy to store when I'm not using them.

And I have the rear bumper protector and a Prius Hood for my MFD.

And I just got TireMinder valves, and decided to spend $20 on a portable air compressor rather than having to spend a couple of dollars on the machine at the gas station when I need air,

And I added leather seats, and am very happy with them. (That included a center console cover and arm rest covers.)

I haven't installed my BT brace yet, but that's probably next week.

Would I say any of them are 'must haves'? Definitely the side mouldings and bumper protector. And, for me, the Tire Max valves and a good tire guage are important, because I wouldn't be likely to check my tire pressure often enough without the 'visual cue'.

The hood is nice to cut down on glare on the MFD, but I don't actually look at my MFD that much (compared to people who are always checking the Energy screen to see what arrows they have). So if I hadn't bought it almost as soon as I got my car, I might not buy it now. (I don't have navigation, and I dial my blue-tooth phone mostly by voice tags.)

And, as I said, if the cargo net hadn't come with my car, I wouldn't have bought one, not realizing how handy it would be. (The one that came with my old car was just a net, where the one for the Prius is a double net open at the top, so it actually holds things.)

And my car came with the 'extra' Toyota carpet mats, and I got all-weather mats for the wet, sloppy weather - I'd consider the all-weather mats a 'must have' here in New Jersey.

AND I added the Weather-tech window visors to keep rain-water from coming in to the car, since I like to drive with my windows at least partially open. (My old car was a convertible, and window visors weren't a possiblity - I hated all that dripping onto my left thigh - so after the first rainstorm with my new Prius, I got the visors. Again, a must-have for me!)

So those are my thoughts on accessories - hope all these answers help you decide what's right for you.

And thanks for the word about an alignment, Claudia - I'll schedule that, too!

[Tadashi]

My must have mods were sound dampening and tinting. The screen visor is definitely a must . They should have made that part of the vehicle.

[David Beale]

The mesh that is used in tool boxes, kitchens, and RVs to stop rattling works very well in the hatch area. Cut a length about a foot longer than the width, and fold the ends under the carpet. Any slippery items will no longer slide around back there. Easy to remove to clean the carpet.