I bought my wife a black Prius V Wagon a couple of weeks ago and we love it! Love the extra room, love the great MPG love the design, love everything about it. Two weeks later I went back to the same dealer traded in my car (Nissan) for a 2012 Prius II (Blizzard Pearl). I wasn't as interested in the V, wanted something less "wagonish" and a little more sporty, along with the touch screen and tech advancements (over the 2011 model), the MPG goes without saying...I am also very happy, except for one thing. Why did they put black alloys under the silver covers? (And they're not particularly stylish) Why not make them silver just like the original? They almost look like steel wheels. That ended up being a bit of a disappointment for me. At first it didn't bother me but once I got home and popped off the covers and took a good look at what was underneath, I wasn't impressed. Not that I have anything against black wheels. In fact, with my white car and tinted windows, black wheels can like kind of fly, but ascetically these wheels just don't do it for me. After I get my windows tinted (on Friday), the next order of business will be shopping wheels. It may be some time before I actually purchase them though, since buying two cars in the last two weeks has put a major crimp in my bank accts. Does anybody know if 17 inch wheels are ok for my model? Thanks.
I don't like the 2012 stock wheels with the covers off but I think with the wheel covers on they look good, MUCH better than the 2010/11. If you can find a set of the 17's from a Prius 5 or even the PLUS ones sure, put em' on.
Yes, you can upgrade to factory 17" although they're hot commodity and hence expensive. I personally think the 2012 wheel covers look way better than the silver 2010/11 alloys with or without their covers.
Not going to dig post, but saw unhapiness coming a month ago. I think they look good with the covers, but I'm cool with covers. I don't tend to like Black wheels on just about any car. Bronze on white body, nice. Silver always good. black doesn't pop.
Saw this coming month ago.... http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...490-2012-prius-now-dealers-6.html#post1457516 1/25/12 Pics above. Oh, I don't know about that .... whole lot of people will want to remove them because they are plastic wheelcovers. It might be a stink in threads to come. Personally, I don't care. It's a Prius and I like my plastic wheelcovers ..long as they don't fall off
I think the best looking solution is if someone makes a snap on chrome trim ring that fits the stock wheels, kind of like the old steel wheels of the 70s had. It would highlight the wheel give it a deeper dish look. This would look good with both black or silver wheels, with the chrome center cap and lug nuts. If anyone knows of one that fits the stock 15's, please speak up.
I wouldn't expect much OEM. Nicer wheels are plenty aftermarket and for the 2012 I do prefer the wheel covers on instead if I'm riding around 15"...but after going through the 17" aftermkt wheel thread, I swapped mine out.
I was just thinking along the lines of an inexpensive trim ring. Most prii I see (including myself) dumps the cheap hubcaps and snaps in the toyota center cap. A chrome trim ring would complete the transformation at minimal cost. I cannot see an OEM ever doing this, for they want many thousands more for the 17" wheels. This is a product, that if priced correctly could sell tens of thousands.
I thought about putting them on a lathe and turning the edge very lightly with sandpaper. You could also polish it up this way, very easily. That is a good idea about the chrome trim ring.
Even if you polish the stock wheel, you still have that multi step edge. A trim ring would cover that with a smooth transition that could go into the recessed area at the spoke end. I called a few vendors and noone makes one. There is a real opportunity here. I image EVERY 2010, 2011 and 2012 prius owner (with stock 15s) would welcome the improvement. With over 100,000 annual unit sales, it is reasonable that 5% buy the rings at say $50 set. For the last 3 model years, that amounts to $750,000 revenue. A small price for tooling up.
