[BIF]

Yay, it's here!

I have taken it out of the box and inspected it, and it looks fantastic. It's virtually the same well-built and good looking unit that I had on my Miata so long ago! The only difference is that this one is bigger, to fit that large Prius windshield. As such, this one has three retractor units per side, and hence; the increased cost.

I have already shot some close-up pictures of it, and in a little while, I will install it and take pictures of how it looks on my Prius.

Okay, I'm probably jumping the gun here....but assuming that it will fit....I already love it, I love it, I love it!!

Anybody want an ill-fitting, always-in-the-way crappy Axius foldy-cardboardy sunshade?

Heh, actually, I'm thinking about cutting the Axius shade into two side-window sized pieces for those ESPECIALLY hot days that I have to park with one side or the other facing the sun for long periods. I'm thinking maybe I can make some sort of a velcro-tab-fastening system or something for a snug fit into the window "wells."

More to come...

 

[BIF]

Installation complete!

Looks great, works great; probably the next best thing I've one besides buy my Prius!

Have pictures; what's the best way to share them here?

 

[BIF]

Hee, hee..I cheated!

I created a Yahoo "photo album," then emailed an invitiation to myself. I received "BIF's" invitation, clicked on the option to view the photo album, and voila!

I now have a URL to give y'all!

http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/pearce ... 80&.src=ph

Please note that I removed a few annoying backgrounds and sprayed over some geographically identifying landmarks... But the pictures of the sunshades should be clear and easy to understand.

Hope it works okay, becuase I'm unable to test it (the photo album) as if I'm not me; ie..I am always automatically logged on to Yahoo, so maybe I'll have no problem, but somebody else might?

Anyhow, would somebody else check that URL and please let me know whether or not you can see my photos?

Oh yeah, I hope I don't get in trouble with the good folks at Yahoo! I know they want to sell prints.

 

[Barbara in LA]

Hi BIF,

Your photos are there. You can also post them here by going to the top of the page and clicking on "Album".

Congrats on your new purchase!

 

[AgentElrond]

Oh yeah, I hope I don't get in trouble with the good folks at Yahoo! I know they want to sell prints.

What's to get in trouble? If someone wants to order prints of your sunshade, they can, right?

 

[BIF]

Thanks for the confirmation that my photos are visible, folks!

*** FOLLOWUP COMMENTS ***

Here's the web address for AGS: http://www.agsint.com/eclipse.shl

The fit for the 2004 Prius is nearly perfect. I have to be a little careful when deploying it, because of that wire that goes from the auto-dimming rear view mirror to the windshield, but it still works fine, and it still takes less time to deploy the Eclipse than it did to work either the twisty-hoopy or the foldy-cardboardy units. See that one picture in my album with the green circle over the center area, and you can see what I mean about the rear-view mirror thing.

I forgot to mention that when you're driving, they slightly reduce the usable width of your windshield. This was never a concern for me, because I loved them on my Miata, which had an even smaller windshield than my Prius. But I thought I should at least mention it here.

The good: They don't get in the way of passengers, nor do they move around while you drive. The retractors hold them pretty firmly open, and the center strip of velcro holds them pretty firmly in the deployed position when you're parked. Three retractors per side will raise the price, but I think it's the right decision.

They are fabric, not paper, so I'm thinking they can possibly be cleaned...I'll have to check on this to be sure. I don't think I ever cleaned the ones on the Miata, and because it was a convertible, they did get dirty during the 4 years I had them on the car.

The small black adhedsive anchors would have to stay attached to the windshield, but the big pieces can come off for windshield cleaning or winter storage.

That's all for now. I'll make another post if something significant comes up, but I don't expect any problems.

Have a great weekend, everybody!