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My son hates my Prius- How can I mod it to be cool to a 13yo

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by Ray Moore, Jul 18, 2004.

  1. Ray Moore

    Ray Moore Active Member

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    So I get nothing but crap about this car from my 13 year old stepson. I am thinking of forcing him to drive it when the time comes just to make him suffer. He wants to see what mods could possibly make him change his mind about the looks of the car. I always wondered what this generation could come up with to totally irritate us as adults and this seems to be it. Oh well, I guess long hair and pot smoking was my parents torture and ours is to have kids with a love affair with big detroit iron. Oh the agony of it all. I wish I could take back all the ways I made my parents suffer. I'm so ashamed. Please help me.
     
  2. starla30

    starla30 New Member

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    If it makes you feel better, when I was 16 (only 6 years ago) my dad gave me a 1987 Toyota Celica. I loved that car and I loved speeding around in it. I knew I would always drive sports cars. I couldn't wait to get one that wasn't a complete rust bucket someday.

    I got my first post college job about a year ago and immediately looked into getting myself my first new car, a nice ecomonical cheapie car. (I got a little sidetracked when I found the Prius ;) of course.) But the point is, in about 5 years I went from sports car nut to not even considering the possibility of getting a sports car. Kids will be kids and boys will be boys. They change very quickly. It's very rare for a teenager to not be interested in a sports car but chances are they'll grow out of it.
     
  3. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    if you've got a couple of hundred bucks, go and buy him a AMC Gremlin or some such iron monster and park it in the garage, out of sight of the neighbors and tell him when he's 16 or legal age he can have it for his own, he of course buys the tags and insurance, give him a project. In about 6 months of sitting in it and washing it your's will seem really "cool" and his will be towed to the bone yard. Make sure he gets a job to support his car. A brush with reality is the great equalizer. And your only out of pocket a couple of hundred bucks.
     
  4. eg239

    eg239 New Member

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    Ray, have you considered the Ricerroni Method?


    Even if you don't actually do that, it's still good for a few laughs.
     
  5. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    Re: My son hates my Prius- How can I mod it to be cool to a

    Take it from a former public school teacher: the kid's 13, for Pete's sake; only a couple years ago he thought girls had cooties. Don't worry too much about it. In time, he'll warm up to the car though he'll probably still rib you about it just for consistency's sake.

    We've all been kids and should keep in mind how often our young tastes changed on a seemingly daily basis. Socrates once said, "children know nothing about being adults but adults know everything about being children."
     
  6. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    :lolup:

    God, I about peed my pants laughing. Sort of like a cross between one of those Shops shows on the Discovery Channel, and The Red Green Show.
     
  7. Sun__Tzu

    Sun__Tzu New Member

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    Re: My son hates my Prius- How can I mod it to be cool to a

    ...wait... are you saying that girls _DON'T_ have cooties? hmm... interesting...
     
  8. jamarimutt

    jamarimutt New Member

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    My three kids (16, 15, 10) do not like the looks of the Prius. But, heck, this is MY car! I bought it and I like it. They can buy their own cars when they start working. :mrgreen:
     
  9. konakahuna

    konakahuna Junior Member

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    here's a few ideas....

    1) tell him that the money you save in gasoline will go into helping him buy his first car when the time comes. the more you save, the more he gets, the better his first car will be.

    2) show him pictures of the prius racing concept vehicles. tell him your car could be just as "sick"...but that it's simply in disguise. tell him you're trying to keep things on the down-low.

    3) if all else fails, get a big subwoofer for the trunk. any car can be redeemed if it has a kickass stereo. the ability to shatter glass and cause permanent nerve damage should never be underestimated.

    javascript:emoticon(':mrgreen:')
     
  10. Tempus

    Tempus Senior Member

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    Tell him it's ok, you know he's just jealous because the Prius has more CPU capacity than he does, but not to worry, you still love him best :)
     
  11. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

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    We all have our preferences on what looks good. I'm sure the owners of the Cadillac EXT (EPA 13/17) I saw at KMart yesterday think they have enhanced it with the low profile tires and appropriately fancy rims. Me, I think they looked REALLY STUPID on a big truck! The only reason I noticed the thing was because they parked WAY FAR AWAY from the store so no one would potentially scratch their new baby.
    My daughter doesn't like the looks of the 2004 Prius, she says it looks squashed. At first I thought she meant vertically since there isn't a distinct hood, roof, trunk. Turns out she meant front to back.
    But I'm with jamarimutt. You are buying a vehicle that suits YOUR needs, not your step-son's. Buy him a nice pair of sneakers and tell him to mod the heck out of his transportation cause he'll be walking if he gripes too much ;-)
     
  12. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    [​IMG]

    Hahahhahahahah
     
  13. Batavier

    Batavier Member

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    Gave you all my points for that link, eg239!!!!

    Too bad the guy forgot to mention your car needs to be red (or at least a rather 'obvious' colour). Red cars are faster. :D
     
  14. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Ray,
    I'm, frankly, disappointed in you that you haven't figured out how to handle a situation like this with a teenager by now.

    Here's all you have to do. Locate a couple of the kids (girls in particular) who your son respects and wants to win their praise.

    Offer each a small bribe to walk over one day when you have an excuse to pick your son up at school and start asking questions and start saying how cool the car is and how they wished their parents were cool enough to get something like that. Smart and cool looking. Suggest quotes like "my parents are so dumb they still drive an SUV (insert minivan, or specific car name if you like).

    You're actually lucky b/c at the age of 13 the bribes you can get away with are actually quite small.

    The real coup would be to have some young lady your son has a crush on ask him if you would take them for a ride!! You'll go from nerd-Dad to cool-Dad faster than your Viagra works!!
     
  15. Danny

    Danny Admin/Founder
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    Wait a sec, wasn't that a scene from Stepmom?

    Not that I've seen that movie... I promise!

    :oops:
     
  16. tag

    tag Senior Member

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  17. aarons12

    aarons12 New Member

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    if you think you have a problem, my 19 year old daughter nearly had a fit when she had to ride in the back seat of my avanti... i know it's a 'different' looking car but i love it. she thinks it's hideous...
    http://www.aaronstein.com/aavanti.htm
     
  18. mboileau

    mboileau New Member

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    In all seriousness, the easiest and cheapest way to jazz up a Prius (IMHO) is to buy the $15 vinyl lettering from Paul, a member on this website. Search the archives for info about this. I added white lettering to my Driftwood Pearl and it looks great. I've gotten compliments specifically for "jazzing up" the Prius.

    Over the weekend, I added the black vinyl front end mask (bra) that Dave at www.coastaletech.com is selling. It's made specifically for the 2004 Prius and looks really sharp (again, IMHO).

    Depending on your color, you may want body-side moldings, also posted on this board.

    Look through the Gallery under Appearance Mods and see what looks good to you (and maybe your son).
     
  19. victor

    victor New Member

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    She's correct it is :pukeleft: :lol:
     
  20. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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