The Optimized Car

November 2023, the transmission to my car died while driving down a mountain. Two weeks later I had a brand new car. 8 months later, I finished upgrading it.

Purchasing

  • 2024 Toyota Corolla Hybrid
    • Hybrid premium/fuel efficiency
      • The hybrid version is about $3000 more expensive than the non-hybrid version. The fuel efficiency goes from roughly 35 MPG to 55MPG.
      • So the question becomes, does the amount saved in fuel offset the cost of the green premium?
      • My brother and I created a small spreadsheet to calculate the total number of city and highway miles. In my case, it does. In approximately 2.5 years, I'll have saved enough gas to offset the green premium.
    • Interior
      • This is purely personal but I wanted a minimal interior that had buttons. The interior of this vehicle is incredibly boring and simple and that's exactly what I was looking for.
    • Features
      • Lane keep and dynamic cruise control were high priorities given the highway traffic I deal with
      • Apple carplay as well
    • Other Vehicles
      • I did scan through a handful of other cars but they weren't calling for me
      • At this point in my life, I wanted maximum ease, reliability and efficiency.
        • I'm not trying to get to the next red light faster
  • Costco Auto program
    • This saved me >$5000 on this vehicle
    • Costco already negotiates with dealerships and so I was able to get this vehicle just under MSRP.

Upgrades

  • Spare tire
    • This vehicle doesn't come with a spare but it does have space for one
    • EZ-spare was the easiest option for a donut
  • Cat shield
    • Living in the bay area, catalytic converters are stolen all the time.
    • Once I had this, I called a few auto shops, found the cheapest price and had it installed
  • Wheel locks
    • Found on amazon and asked a tire shop to install them for me
  • Front/Rear Dash Cam
    • Found on amazon and installed myself
  • Window Tinting
    • Primarily to reduce UV exposure on my skin
    • Secondarily to reduce heat in car
    • I had no desire to darken my windows
      • 70% Ceramic by 3M
        • I got all of my windows tinted including the front windshield. This is technically illegal but I figure if I get all of them done, an officer won't really notice
      • 80% and 90% do exist but no one offers them at a reasonable price

Additions

  • Cabin
    • Glovebox Pouch 1
      • Paper
      • Pens
      • OBD2 scanner (left over from a project years ago)
      • Registration
    • Glovebox Pouch 2
      • Chargers/Cables
        • Including Lightening/Micro-USB/USB-A/USB-C
    • Driver side door storage
      • Napkins
      • Moisturizer
      • Hand Sanitizer
    • Center Console (arm rest)
  • Trunk
    • Trunk organizer
    • First aid/emergency blankets
      • I didn't buy a kit but rather did a little bit of picking and choosing based on tools I knew how to use and I figured would be helpful
    • Emergency rope
      • I had these from many years ago. If push comes to shove, I think I could find parts of the frame I could tie these on to
    • Tire repair kit
      • Perfect for quick roadside fixes
    • Battery Jump start
      • While not needed for a hybrid... it's recommend you do not jump start a hybrid. It's so small and light that it feels reasonable to take with me. I can use it to help someone else
    • Vacuum
      • After hiking trips or once enough dirt builds up, I'll take this out and vacuum all of the major crumbs and stuff
    • Wipes
    • Upholstery brush
    • Microfiber
    • Squeegee
      • Used in the mornings when there's a lot of moisture on the windows

Outside the car

  • Self Serve Car Wash
    • For less than $10, I can clean my car better than the $25 automated systems. It takes maybe 10 minutes.
    • The very first time I used it, it was fairly nerve wracking but once I figured out the system. I found it to be very easy.
  • Fuel injection cleaner
    • I didn't go too deep on this but it's recommended by the internet
      • Obviously the internet is never wrong
    • applied every oil change
  • Notes document
    • This is simple, I've driving the car since mile 1. So every major thing that happens to the car, I write down in a notes doc on my phone with the milage. Every oil change, everything
  • Oil changes
    • This has not been optimized yet mostly since the dealership is still taking care of this for me.

Why do any of this? For me, my car is a tool to get me to a location. That's it. The better I take care of it, the better it'll take care of me. Also, I may have a slight addiction to optimizing 😅