midtowndesi

Oh man, these cathodes + LEDs are BRIGHT. It looks like i installed HID lights inside my ride! haha.

2 things:

1) I have a rocker switch with a white LED mounted next to the traction control button.
2) the super bright LEDs i have in the cupholders (1 in each cupholder) are crazy bright and reflect off of the bottom of the shifter console. i might have to tone these down a bit.

guggan

I want to do the same. I want to install LEDs under the dash but I'm completely idiot when it comes to cars and have no idea whatsoever how to do it. I got orange redish color LEDs to match the dash console color.

midtowndesi

i would suggest going onto oznium.com and looking at their forums on how to install leds/cathodes. i would also search the forums here because tons of people have written about their installs which helps you piece together in your mind what you need to do. at least, this is what worked for me.

this diagram from oznium was also of great help.






for power, i added an add-a-circuit fuse to the ACC fuse in my car. i added a 3 amp fuse because i did not install a ton of lights and they (2 cathode sets and 2 LEDs) are probably drawing 2.1 amps or less so a 3 amp fuse sounded about right.

midtowndesi

the 2013 and a half xb's to come with touch-screen head units standard.

source: http://www.scion.com/blog/2013/08/15...or-all-models/

midtowndesi

after 5.5 months of ownership, im at 4,200 miles.

loving the car so far minus the absolutely horrendous gas mileage. i am averaging 20.8mpg only!!! on a 4 cylinder engine and i am not a speed racer! my 3.5 liter, 6 cylinder benz got at least 24 mpg and i drove that thing like a bat out of hell.

anyway, i've been a bad parent by neglecting the box so today, i gave it it's first carwash ever!

mods that are upcoming -- 2 things:

1) making a cheap, $20 cargo cover for the rear to hide my crap + have storage space on top of it. thanks to this thread for the idea -- http://www.clubxb.com/forums/showthread.php?t=36453 . i literally plan to spend $20 on it and make it out of cardboard. this should be interesting.

also, this guy gave me an idea too - i plan on doing what he did but with fabric and "reinforcing" the bottom of the cardboard with wood. then covering that all up with black fabric.



2) installing two sets of hella horns in the front somewhere behind the front bumper (but still visible)

some clean shots





so clean, it's reflecting the buildings im parked in front of :D

pyroman131

REDACTED

midtowndesi

Pyro - what's going on man? Hope you and the family are enjoying the holidays.

In short, yes, still loving the xb. I have about 5,900 miles on it now after about 8-9 months and my mpg's are at about 23 now so it did improve over the horrible figures I was getting when the car was newer (as expected).

I haven't worked on the cargo cover yet - been hella busy. I am cheap as hell too which is why i still want to make my own instead of buying the factory one lol. I want it to cover the 12" sub i have out back. My amp is installed in the storage compartment area above the spare tire so that's already hidden from plain view.

And I agree with you that the price of the car overshadows the mpgs. I just have to get over it lol.

re: the cheap cargo cover, a ton of people on other car sites have done something similar on hondas, subarus, etc, so it's worth it to look at those to get some idea on what you can/should do with your setup. i'll be sure to post an updated/pics when i finally get around to it.

ONE PROBLEM THOUGH -- Mysteriously, a crack appeared at the bottom of my windshield and it's huge. it literally runs along the area where the wipers sit across the windshield from the passenger to the driver side. I dont know how it got there. it just came out of nowhere and i did not get any rock chips or anything... i wonder if it has anything to do with temps...? i took the car out when it was 19 degrees out and blasted the heat/windshield vent... does anyone think that could have caused it...? sounds ridiculous but idk...

pyroman131

REDACTED

midtowndesi

RE: mysterious cracks that appeared in my windshield.

It has been insanely cold here (10 to 20 degrees most of the month) and all of the sudden, i noticed a huge crack in the lower portion of my windshield. a few weeks later, i noticed another one also on the lower portion of the windshield but now on the passenger side. both cracks are very long and run the entire length/size of the windshield.

dealer wants $1k to replace it but all this time i was trying to figure out why it cracked. I never got any rock chips, nothing ever hit the windshield and it's absolutely smooth when the car is clean.

so after some googling, i found out that this is what may have happened:
http://www.bentoncourier.com/content...d-temperatures

and here's a video explaining exactly what happened to my car -- http://fox4kc.com/2013/12/06/frigid-...shield-cracks/ .

in short, i would start my car in freezing temps and turn the windshield defroster on HIGH all the time. i've done this in ALL OF MY CARS in the past and never had any issues. as it is, the 2 cracks on my windshield are "in the glass" and you cannot feel them if you run your hands over the crack on the inside OR the outside of the car. so now i have concluded that the cracks appeared in the windshield (right over the defroster vents) bc i ran it on high while the temp of the glass was very low due to the temps outside.

so just a heads up to anyone - the site above mentions running your defroster on a lower setting when you are warming up the car so the windshield doesnt crack. i'll do this from now on but now i have to find replacement glass. no way in hell im paying the dealer $1k or 1/17th the cost of my car LOL. time to talk to insurance...

fwiw.

an aside: i am at 11 months of ownership and im at about 6,300 miles. i have only driven the car ~2100 miles in the last 6 months!

BlingSlade

Great post..that's a bummer about your broken windshield but at least you have a good idea on what caused it. How much would a regular auto glass repair shop cost you?

midtowndesi

thanks, BlingSlade. an online safelite quote was $400 to repair the cracks...

i found a "cheaper" glass repair place (as per yelp) about 30 miles from where i am and i plan to go get a quote there when i find the time! as for now, the cracks are "in" the glass - you can't feel them from inside the car or outside, so i am driving it as is... but it makes my new car look like a hoopty! haha

I just hope that no other xb owners have a similar issue since this is the first time in my life i've come across this problem...

naresh

Insurance normally replace windshield for fee. Don't know if anyone mentioned this already.

midtowndesi

thanks for the heads up, naresh. i'll call them tomorrow to see what they can do.

BlingSlade

$400 is a lot better than 1K that's for sure. I try to stay away from the dealer as much as possible. As a matter of fact I don't think I've paid anything to my Scion dealer since I bought my xB.

Good luck on getting your windshield replaced..and be sure to keep us posted!

naresh

Yes give them a call. It doesn't affect your premium for renewal. Your insurance will not increase. I had this done once and it costs me $0.00

blupupher

Have you paid for the windshield replacement yet? If not, go back to the dealer and tell them to replace it under warranty.
I have had 2 replaced (on other vehicles) for mysterious cracks not caused by any damage from external forces. They were what they called stress cracks and is a warranty issue. The same should apply to yours. Go raise a stink and see.

midtowndesi

well, after riding around for 6 months with a cracked windshield, i needed to get my car inspected and the place said they could not pass the car with a crack that big in it

so i luckily found a local glass shop to replace my windshield... the dealer had quoted me $1,000 for it but i paid............ $200. no kidding, $200 TOTAL and i tipped the main mechanic/installer $20. I then went back and got my car inspected and it passed without a problem 8-)

just posting this as an update. i have been crazy busy and could not get around to getting the windshield replaced sooner.

also, im at 14 months of ownership and i broke 7,200 miles today

midtowndesi

19 months into ownership and i am at 9,900 miles. no issues at all so far and she still purrrrrrrs like a kitten 8-)

i need to make it back to my scion dealer soon so i can take advantage of the 5 free oil changes! i have used 1 so far and they "expire" at the end of march 2015 :D

also, i went from the iphone 5 to the 6+ and now i need to "make" another cellphone mount.... aside from that, all is well.

DJ_FroZone

iTrader: (2)

I think im going to be in the same boat as you. I have a 2010 wtih 87 and bolt ons out that wazu. Test drove a 14 manual. Really sad that the options for manual cars has dwindled so far. Prolly going to get a new black one in the summer and remod it.

Doubtful for an xb3 option so might as well load up a 2.5

midtowndesi

I agree with you. I always look at Craigslist when I'm bored and you can find some nicely optioned xb2's (2012 through 2013) for reasonable prices... I saw a 2013 the other day with 22k miles on it for 14k from a dealer...