I got my 05 Prius last week, and this week I just received some of the kits I ordered from Coastal Tech. I ended up installing three of them last night - the cig lighter always-on mod, the EV-only mod, and the XM radio - all at the same time to reduce the number of times I had to take trim off the dash.
The cig lighter always-on mod was a piece of cake. Took about five minutes once I got the hang of CoastalTech's slightly odd wire taps.
The EV mode mod was somewhat difficult just because of the tight space behind the right side dash. There are three electronics boxes right there, with hundreds of wires and very little service loop. Plus which, you really only have room to get one hand in there. Between having one hand, and having very few spaces to both look into the area and get light into the area, going was slow. But I did it in a little over an hour, and it worked without much trouble. I don't know how difficult it is to remove the right hand dash structure, but it might be worth it if you're doing this mod. That is, even if it takes you 30 minutes to get it off and 30 minutes to get it back on, you're probably still ahead of the game.
The XM installation went very quickly. Some notes:
-You don't have to move the white plastic 'computer module' much at all to reach behind the radio. I took out the screw and just reached behind the radio; the module obligingly slid out of the way as my hand pushed against it.
-An inspection mirror helps immensely in this process. I could see what I had to clear away and where the plug had to go.
-The pictures on the CD helped a lot. You don't really need them - the text is clear and self-explanatory - but it's helpful to do something, look at the picture, and realize "yeah, that is where it goes."
-Open question - why two RF connectors on the XM antenna? My Roady only needed one coax connector.
I have the XM installed except for the external antenna (it's inside the glass for now.) I have to convince myself the wire won't cause leaks around the hatch frame seal; I'll probably finish it in a few days. In the meantime the tuner works 90% of the time - the antenna is often shaded by the posts around the hatch so I'm not getting 100% coverage. I'm sure that will be remedied by moving the antenna outside.
Now I'm just waiting on the 2" hitch receiver/box. Once I install that I can stop making my wife nervous by disassembling the brand new car.
The cig lighter always-on mod was a piece of cake. Took about five minutes once I got the hang of CoastalTech's slightly odd wire taps.
The EV mode mod was somewhat difficult just because of the tight space behind the right side dash. There are three electronics boxes right there, with hundreds of wires and very little service loop. Plus which, you really only have room to get one hand in there. Between having one hand, and having very few spaces to both look into the area and get light into the area, going was slow. But I did it in a little over an hour, and it worked without much trouble. I don't know how difficult it is to remove the right hand dash structure, but it might be worth it if you're doing this mod. That is, even if it takes you 30 minutes to get it off and 30 minutes to get it back on, you're probably still ahead of the game.
The XM installation went very quickly. Some notes:
-You don't have to move the white plastic 'computer module' much at all to reach behind the radio. I took out the screw and just reached behind the radio; the module obligingly slid out of the way as my hand pushed against it.
-An inspection mirror helps immensely in this process. I could see what I had to clear away and where the plug had to go.
-The pictures on the CD helped a lot. You don't really need them - the text is clear and self-explanatory - but it's helpful to do something, look at the picture, and realize "yeah, that is where it goes."
-Open question - why two RF connectors on the XM antenna? My Roady only needed one coax connector.
I have the XM installed except for the external antenna (it's inside the glass for now.) I have to convince myself the wire won't cause leaks around the hatch frame seal; I'll probably finish it in a few days. In the meantime the tuner works 90% of the time - the antenna is often shaded by the posts around the hatch so I'm not getting 100% coverage. I'm sure that will be remedied by moving the antenna outside.
Now I'm just waiting on the 2" hitch receiver/box. Once I install that I can stop making my wife nervous by disassembling the brand new car.