New Avalon Owner-First Post

[boojive]

What a wonderful car! My new baby is a 2006 XLS in Indigo Ink! I just upgraded from a 1997 Camry LE. I hate to lose an old friend in the Camry , but getting the Avalon makes it a no brainer. Next thing to do is body side moldings, window tint and remote start. Where is the best place to order, online, OEM Toyota parts? Is it better to get the OEM remote start or go for another? Let me know Avalon lovers!

[cliffie1946]

I got my body side molding for my 2006 Avalon from Carson Toyota. It was about $100 including S&H. Easy to install if you are careful with the measurements. Looks great and works great.

[benbeaux]

Originally Posted by boojive

What a wonderful car! My new baby is a 2006 XLS in Indigo Ink! I just upgraded from a 1997 Camry LE. I hate to lose an old friend in the Camry , but getting the Avalon makes it a no brainer. Next thing to do is body side moldings, window tint and remote start. Where is the best place to order, online, OEM Toyota parts? Is it better to get the OEM remote start or go for another? Let me know Avalon lovers!

I got the side moldings at 1sttoyotaparts, they were about $112 shipped.
Watch not only price, but shipping. When I bought mine, the guys I purchased from were the cheapest, all things considered.

Buy good tint...Huper Optik or FormulaOne Pinnacle. You'll need nonmetallic tint due to the antenna in the back window. Both of these have a lifetime warranty & won't turn purple in 3-4 years like most cheap tint. The heat rejecting properties of these are also nice. You get glare reduction & heat reduction vs jst glare reduction with a lot of tints out there. Pinnacle for our Avalon ran $420. Yeah, not cheap, but worth it.

The same place that sells quality tint may also do quality alarms & installs. Viper or Clifford is the way to go. Remote start & a good alarm in one package. Factory stuff is junk.

May I also suggest X-pel headlight covers? Keeps the wear & tear down on the lights. About $50 online. The tint place may also offer this.

HTH

[boojive]

Thanks guys...I was wondering if the VIP auto start , which I see on ebay for about 300 bucks, is a good way to go. I checked on Best Buys web site and none of their auto starts are compatible with the Avalon. The better tint will be the way to go. I'm selling my 1997 Camry and will use some of that money for the tint and auto start.

[bobstcyr]

Hey all.....kinda put the horse behind the cart.....already posted in the fuel mileage thread before say hi.....looking forward to some good exchanges and info...

My 2006 Avalon is my third and enjoy it escept for the current issue over the fule mileage concern...

Bob

[inov8]

Regarding the VIP remote starter, I suggest you read this message thread before deciding if it is right for you.

07 Remote Starter Help

[boojive]

I went to Best Buys web site and it said the Viper wasn't avail for the 2006 Avy.....After reading up, I will skip on the VIP factory remote start....Thanks for the heads up.....

[smuook]

Do not waste your money on Huper Optik or Formula One Pinnacle tint. It's not even close to being worth the money. I had Huper on a Cadillac I used to own and was not happy with the optical quality of the rear window... in order to make it with the total solar rejection that is has, they have to make the stuff twice as thick as other tints which makes it harder to apply correctly. Huper also has a greenish hue to it... if you like that.

As far as the interfering with the radio, that's garbage. It's exactly what the ceramic sellers want you to believe. My buddy has owned a a professional tint company for 17 years and has NEVER had any complaints on Toyotas for this problem. I checked with him before I got mine installed. The only cars that ever had this problem is BMW and Mercedes, and is what more a function of their radio system than the tint. Just cause you pay $500 for your tint job doesn't mean it's worth it.

I have Madico Onyx installed on my Avalon. The company has been around for a long time and is very durable. It is a metallic film and has absolutely no effect on radio performance on my Avie. It's not dyed and therefor won't change color... the lifetime warranty backs that up also. It has excellent heat reduction and low reflectivity... and it would be better than Huper if it was as thick as Huper. I'm not saying that Madico is the only choice... but you might consider other options than ceramic and keep the $250 you save for beer.

Here's a good site if you want to read more about films:

TintDude.com - Window Tinting

[mlincoln05]

What have people here done here to add an mp3 player. Is there something that can fit in the tape deck slot and look factory as well as hook up to the factory radio?

[smuook]

I had the same question... I brought it to 2 professional installers and the both said they don't recommend messing with the JBL system. I wanted to put a dvd player instead of the tape player to feed rear monitors. Then I thought I could play the movie over the unit through the tape feed. The problem is JBL has a history (mainly during there Ford years) of being notoriously finicky and hard to modify or alter. One installer even said that he won't touch a JBL system. I know that the tape player connects via a LAN cable. What the head unit will do if it doesn't recognize a tape player in it's place is uncertain? I did searches to find more technical data about the JBL system and came up with nothing.

The cheap way is to just get a tape to go in the deck that has the mp3 connection on it. You could even route the wire through the center console and come into the storage under the arm rest if you want to make it look cleaner. Not a high tech solution, but it would work.

Monster - iCarPlay Cassette Adapter for Apple® iPod™ - AI CAS-ADPT

[mlincoln05]

Thanks for the info. Iwanted something that sounds crisper thn the tape ipod adapter. I think I may go with the usa spec that connects to factory radio. It also allows one to control through steering wheel.