Well, if anybody read my last thread I was giving my impressions of my first test drive... (they weren't too positive)

It just so happens that a dealer about two miles from my house got a couple of automatic transmission tC's in and I said I'd come up to look at them. This time I'm going to make sure the seat height is properly adjusted and really take a good look at the car. After doing a lot of research of the other cars (Mazda 3s mostly), it seems like the Scion tC really is a GREAT deal for everything you get.

So, now that I'm highly considering the tC, what options should I buy? Most of them seem nice but I can't spend very much at all on extra options. I'm also not getting SAB's (please don't argue with me about this choice ).

I'd like to get the auto-dimming mirror and interior LED light kit but I'm not sure if either are really worth it.

Worth options would you buy (if any!) if you were me?

 

If I had to pick one accessory it would be either the exhaust or the springs.

 

The factory LEDs are a complete ripoff. An SL member (Randode) makes a nice kit that blows away the factory one and only costs $100. It's also even cheaper to do it yourself. There's several threads here on how to do it and you'll save a lot of money. I never dim my mirror so I don't see the need for the other but if it is something that will help you like your car more, then go for it.

 

If you get your windows tinted you wont need the autodimming mirror. You won't need to dim your mirror at all, automatically or not...

I got the cargo net, floor mats, and tinted windows. I sort of wish I got a spoiler but sort of don't since they were so expensive, and I think I am going to have mudguards installed soon. I might do an LED light kit but I would rather have one like the xB's that changes color. Not available on the tC.

 

I'd say definitely get the floormats and that's it.

You won't need the auto-dim mirror if you have your car tinted.

The LEDs Scion offers do not produce much light. Many of us that got them later changed them to cold cathode tubes, which are a lot cheaper and produce a lot more light, like the ones Randode offers.

Otherwise, the 6 disc CD changer is very cool although pricey, the TRD exhaust is a good choice, or perhaps a spoiler.

 

Its all up to you but I personally love the mirror. It also has a little feature that cycles through 3/4 different colored lights from the mirror that shine softly into the cabin. I also didn't want the SAB so thats no problem. I would say go with the springs and the mirror.

 

rear spoiler, bumper protector, and floormats

 

rear spoiler is a pointless $400 payment, they haven't made a good looking spoiler yet, but the kamari (spelling?) carbon fiber rear spoiler on that blue tc looked really, really good, in an evo VIII kinda way, not a 3000zx 3-foot kinda way - but it wouldn't look good on my car because I have a flint mica, you'd be like "that's carbon fiber? oh... cool" and not "wow, carbon fiber, niiice" same as a hood and trunk, not too much point there (i'd rather diet and lose the 30lbs)

here's my true list you should get, but keep in mind you could get them cheaper online than from the dealer, but I think it'd be rude to buy a stock car, a couple options never hurt, and they're only overpriced by about 25%

Mudguards $88
rear bumper applique $58
Bpilliar applique $75
Sport shifter $59
sport pedal covers $80
Door sill enhancements $115
2-in-1 carpet and cargo mats $145
Wheel Locks $59
(if you want) AEM Battery Tie Down and oil filter cap $120

that's a total of $799 of options, $679 without the battery tie down and filter cap, and it adds a lot of nice touches to the car - and a lot of protection from scuffs, slips and minor wear and tear - buying them online at www.mcgeorgeparts.com would save you about $200 on all the parts combined, but keep in mind you'd have to install them all yourself, no matter how minor each are, there's no labor from the dealer. Check my sig for what I got, but that's about what I got, plus a lot more that I thought was worth it that wasn't bare essentials.

avoid anything they'll charge you labor for, like shocks, springs, sway bars, and don't waste your money on a blingedy-bling set of rims or a body kit, the car looks great stock and take a look around at 95% of other cars on the road... steelie shoes with hubcaps... and you're kickin alluminum-alloy rims stock - just don't go hog wild on accessories that don't do much but look good, otherwise it'll get expensive and down the road you'll ask yourself why you didn't spend it on something bigger... like an intake, or an exhaust, or an intercooler, or forced induction (like me on some stuff)

*EDIT* - the scion interior light kit really isn't worth it, it's like they have a little LED shining light down the side a plastic tube literally (like a spark plug kick-start connector on a dirt bike, but it's got an LED inside it shining down a tube) and it's not very bright, I pretty much wasted $250, and the damn things keep getting knocked out of their ziptie holders - I'm probably going to put in Cold Cathodes of a different color when I get to changing my dash color, and now that all the wires are ran (especially for the cup holder illumination) I could probably just splice and solder different LED's in.

AND DON'T BUY ANY CRAP THEY OFFER YOU WHEN YOU'RE DONE TALKING WITH YOUR SALESMAN! No lojack, no car alarm, no undercoating anything, no protection on nothing, no insurance on nothing (unless you don't put down more than 20% of the cost, get GAP insurance) no car theft protection guarantee, no free tires for life crap, no paint protection NADA! ZIP! heed my warning! research before you buy anything like that from any dealer, no matter what tactics they use (the multiple guys offering me all that crap were jerks, and good sales men, used pressure tactics, scare tactics, out and out lies etc, but just say no till you're blue in the face)

 

the exhaust is a ripoff, it's axle back you get no real power gains. save the money and put it towards a cat-back system

 

just a quick question otocan.. why would u not take some of those offers if they were free. Free tires for life, free lojack to be specific. Granted that you probably lose what youd save on the tires thru toyotas ____ installation prices

 

if they gave me lojack for free I'd hop on it like a bat outta hell ((keep in mind you're charged a fee if you ever need to use Lojack, and it can only pinpoint within a few square miles of area)) - but the nice guy who was explaining maintenance and the manuals to me after I was done with my salesmen turned a different face when he mentioned Lojack, he put on his salesman cap - even though his first words out of his mouth were that there were no Lojack towers in my county or the surrounding counties, he was still pushy as hell for me to buy it "in case I travel, most often when vehicles are stolen" and when I mentioned how it came stock with an immobilizer he said he could give me a website where you can just download the key-code to over-ride it with the push of a button (lie) and I questioned him and he got off-subject fast, they're all REAL salesmen after you get out of the Fluffy nice-ness of the Scion emblem.

pretty much everything a dealer will offer you after-the-fact is crap or a rip-off - the whole free tires for life thing is crap, there's SO many ways to screw it up, same with oil changes, or anything else that needs maintenance - like they have to do the rotations, at highly specific intervals, at their labor charges, and the free tires for life are tires they choose, hopefully they'll be the stock tC tires, but when your tires wear and you need new ones, are you going to buy stocks? probably not, pay $50 more on all 4 and get top of the line yokomo's or pirelli's that'll run rings around any stock all-weather tire.

the world would be a better place if everyone did at LEAST an hour of research PER DAY for at least a WEEK before they bought a vehicle, I mean like serious research, like insurance price-quoting, option prices, reviews of dealerships, option reviews, aftermarket option replacement reviews, the way salesmen work, what the products they're REALLY offering are, what insurance they're throwing in your face with all those big words and slick non-schelant attitudes... the list goes on and on - just do your homework, know your credit score, and know that when you go buy your car, they won't be able to say a single word to you about anything that you don't know what they're talking about - you'll be happier later, trust me

oh, and buy a tC - no better car in the price-bracket. period.

 

Im on my 2nd month of research dude, so i read ya.. heh. And im going to have 2 of my cousins come with me when i get this car. They are both really good in convincing car salespeople that they are dirtbags. I plan to not get screwed over when i get this car. (im still making sure if this is the right one tho) Have to figure the monthly cost including insurance added with a couple bills.

 

i got quite a few things with my scion

alarm
rear lip
floor mats
much more
and i say the floor mats are worth it and other than that its what you feel you like

 

What about fog lights? I haven't seen anybody mention them yet...

Also, another (sort of off-topic) question...

With the automatic transmission, can you also manually shift? I'm comparing this to the Mazda 3 Sport Automatic Transmission. The Mazda 3 AT basically lets you manually shift OR have it automatically shift... it was very impressive.

 

Everything that I have read about "triptonic" shifting, i.e. cluth-less manual is that it f's with your transmission. Everyone I have know that have "trip-tonic" agrees thats its more hassle then its worth. If your thinking you might want a manual, go for it, I had a few hard days and so far so good. I got my tC on the 8th of Dec. and I'll tell you what I got on it:
-Interior LEDs (Blue) -Rear Lip -Scion Security -2 in 1 floor mats -6 disk changer -Side impact Air Bags -OBX sports peddal covers

I love my LED's, it all depends on if your into self-instiation. Yes things are cheeper when you do it yourself, but it comes with the factory switch all wired and ready to go. As far as the Fog lights, I thought about getting them, but save your money, that stalk grill with the fog lights is no good, you can buy after market for like a thenth of the cost. If I could tell you what to get I would say the 6 Disk changer, 2 in 1 floor mats and the LED's. Everything else you can do little by little, I am just of the opinion that get the things out of the way that require alot of wiring (Not my forte). Or you could just get a lowering kit and rear sway from Sparks, their kit was under $500 plus free shipping.

BTW if I were you, I would talk time frames with your dealer, cause it took almost 10 weeks to get mine.

 

The fog-lights are the only option I had dealer installed, they are okay, kind of wondering why I got them though, its not like they really light up the road any better.

The parts I installed myself (and they were very very easy to install) are the Mudguards and the Auto-dimming mirror.
Mudguards $28
Auto-dimming Mirror $170
Saved $200 on just 2 parts by installing myself.

 

i got floormats with the car. i would have waited if i knew i could get them from sparks TRD for 80 bucks.

it's an awesome car stock. the performance parts are too expensive when included in the sale, and i can't see myself needing any of the cheesy acessories.

that's what great about scion though: customization. i customized mine to be...stock

 

Floormats and the extendend warranty. I got those 2 with an automatic transmission for $18,200 out the door. I got 5 years 60K because its a new model year. It was only an extra $750. Although I didn't, I would look into getting gap insurance from the dealer. If you crash, you get what you put into the car. Get your auto loan from your local bank. You should get a much better rate.

 

My extra accesories will be: Del,proc + handling: $585 & the documentation fee: $749. Thanks florida! Instead of paying for an extra year on the warranty or a real lip spoiler i get to have nothing at all! :D

 

$749 Doc Fee is just rediculous, I would buy out of state. I've always hated Florida.