Billisme

Hi everyone,
I picked up my new-to-me 2012 CT last month (April) and ever since I have been itching to do mods to it. Very first thing was to get it tinted. I felt naked driving around without tint plus in Florida it's almost a must-have just to survive during the summer. Here is how it looks tinted:
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Once that was done my next step was to make the car a little quieter inside. Pulling off the door panels I was really surprised to see the lack of any sound deadening inside the doors. This is my first "luxury" car so I expected something, any kind of deadening. So I added Ballistic Hollow Point sound deadener to all four doors and the hatch, both inner and outer door skin (sorry no pictures of the actual process). This made a pretty big improvment reducing the noise floor and actually improving the sound quality of the base audio system.

Now a simple mod but one that makes a big difference to me, I replaced the rubber antenna mast with a 3 3/8" aluminum mast from my job.
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I use my iPod alot and the one thing I hated about the CT is that the USB plug is right in the center console, and when the USB is plugged in it looks messy with no place for the cord to be tucked out of sight. So I removed the USB/3.5mm from the center console and relocated it to the glove box.
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Now my iPod is out of the way plus out of sight.

Now I'm left with filling the void where the factory USB/3.5mm jack was. Luckily the company I work for sells an USB/3.5mm jack that fits Toyota knockouts so it fit right in. I did not connect the 3.5mm jack to anything however I did connect the power lines of the USB to the factory USB power lines so if someone needs to charge thier device they can.
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I have a Motorola Atrix 2 and they made a car dock that when the phone is docked it unlocks a whole navigation and App screen plus it charges the phone. Since my 2012 did not have Nav but it does have the pocket in the dash I figured that would be a great place to put the dock. With some modifications (it can be returned to factory look by replacing the warning sticker and rubber mat) I put the phone dock in the pocket. When the phone is not in the dock I can close the pocket, however when the phone is docked it will not close, it's just too tall. The phone dock actually runs off USB power (5.1 volts) so I took a cig lighter to USB adapter, soldered the positive and negative leads and connected them to the cig ligher leads right at the pocket. The adapter is ran down to the glove box by the cabin filter cover so I can get to it if needed.
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I don't know if I would consider this a mod or not but the gear selector **** leaves something to be desired. I've looked at aftermarket ***** but haven't pulled the trigger yet so I decided to rotate the **** 90 degrees and you know what? It actually looks better that way.
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I needed to add a backup camera to the CT. I am spoiled by the one I added in out Caravan so the CT needs one too. Also the factory rear view mirror is in my line of sight (I'm a tall person, 6'5") so what perfect choice is there but to replace the mirror with one with a screen for a backup camera. The mount allowed me to move the mirror up to the top of the windshied to give me more visibility through the front while allowing me to see everything out the back.
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I've seen the cameras that replace the license plate light and they look good however I had the black, square, angled one that I mounted inbetween the license plate light and the hatch release button.
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So now with that in place I can see out the back of the car when in reverse.
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Since the car I bought was used, I noticed that the previous owner liked to scrape over parking stops. Since I can't really see the front end of the car it was hard to judge where the parking stop is untill you hit it. The mirror has a second input for another camera or even a source unit like a DVD or something. So I added another camera to the front end so I can see where the parking stop is so I don't hit it. I added a switch to one of the knockouts by the fuel door release that turns the camera on and off.
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Finally (for now) I wanted to get rid of the chrome trim above the grille. I also noticed that the grille below it is a dark grey color and not black like the lower grille. So I ended up Plastidipping the chrome trim and upper grille flat black. I removed the front bumper so I could remove the trim and grille so I didn't have to mask off the front end. As for the results, I think it changed the look of the car.
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Well that's it for now. So many more things to do...Rims, intake, illuminated dorr sills, the list goes on and on. Thank you for reading and feel free to ask questions.
Bill

Tennis100

Awesome start!! If you ever need any tips on mods, shoot me a message.

Dc5nomore

Great work.

Billisme

Thanks for the comments. There is just so much I want to do to the CT but time and money is in short supply.

dci4life

iTrader: (3)

I just posted a thread on my experience. I was given a ct as loaner car and got to test drive it for 4 days. Digging this car and its on the to buy list.

tsopranoMB

very cool!!!

LexusNN

iTrader: (5)

Very very cool, a lot of nice tech and creativity. Love the mods and more mods

vipdjason

iTrader: (3)

what brand is that back up camera mirror?

Billisme

It is the Ibeam TE-RVMC mirror which comes with a camera which I put in the front. the rear camera is the Ibeam TE-SSA camera. I liked the look of the TE-SSA and that is why I used that for the back.

vipdjason

iTrader: (3)

good looking out BILLISME!!

Lex_Giorgio

Do you have more pictures of the back-up camera and the quality that it puts out on the mirror?

How is it at night? And is the install easy? Any drilling required to mount that camera? Thanks in advance!

edgalang

I agree with all mods with the exception of the aluminum antenna. This is actually a downgrade from the stock unit for 2 reasons...

#1 Exterior antennas are supposed to be flexible (think automated car washes)
#2 Going from rubber coated copper to aluminum decreased the conductivity of the antenna by half.

It looks good though.

Billisme

it's a good thing I don't go through automated car washes
Since the roof antenna mast doesn't effect AM/FM and Sat reception it wasn't a big deal for me, it's just a cosmetic thing. I actually replaced that antenna with an even shorter black antenna.

Billisme

I don't have any screenshots of the camera picture. the quality is pretty good (otherwise it wouldn't last long in my car).
the hardest part of the install is just running the wires through the hatch for the camera. The camera itself is just held in with two screws.

Thankfully Lexus made a really simple vehicle to take apart

Ct200drive

You fellas are so knowledgeable, maybe you can steer me right. I park in lots of city lots and I want body side molding. Lexus doesn't support it post factory. I've looked at many sites but no luck. My Ct is eminent white pearl. Any ideas?