I'm about to buy my first Prius (yea!), and went looking at some used ones, both at a used car lot (North Hollywood Toyota) and customer's cars @ the service dept. lot to get an idea of what color to get. It seems to me that Priuses other than white and black, show a distinct discolorization on the bumper fascias; anyone have experience w/this? I did a serch here and could find nothing on this topic. TIA P.S. Won't be buying from N. Hollywood Toyota - they want 5k over MSRP!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(solo2 @ Aug 10 2006, 08:11 AM) [snapback]300816[/snapback]</div> I hadn't heard anything about color fade. But I'm sure that over time all cars/colors have some sort of fade from the sun, weather, etc. Head over to Longo Toyota, South Bay Toyota, or Rancho Santa Margarita Toyota. They don't charge above MSRP (I'm sure there are others in the area, that's just the short list off the top of my head).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Rancid13 @ Aug 10 2006, 09:16 AM) [snapback]300856[/snapback]</div> Thanks for the tips on where to buy! As far as the fading, the thing that concerns me is that I was looking at cars that cannot be more than 3 yrs. old. Also, it was just the bumper fascias that were looked to be a different shade, creating an unwanted two-tone look!
Thats common on older Toyotas in silvers and tans, its not actually fading, its a characteristic of the paints bond to the urethane bumper as compared to its bond to the metal of the car. They've remedied it over the past couple years.
As of next month, our 2005 Salsa Red will be two years old. There is some color difference between the body and bumpers, but it has been that way since day one. Not enough for the casual observer to notice, but, if you are looking for it – and in the right lighting conditions - you can see it, but I would hardly call it two-tone. I have not noticed any uneven degradation in the colors over the past two years, so I'm not really worried about it. Hey, if the Zaino crowd hasn't cried bloody murder . . .
Er, I have a Seaside Pearl (Blue) and have recently sustained damage on the front (got hit by sizeable rocks on the hood). Now i have two dents with paint damage the size of a pencil eraser tip (near the toyota emblem). does anyone know if that will effect/accelerate deteriation(sp?). heh, maybe i posted in the wrong thread. I'll have pics soon and will see what i can do. Cheers!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Green Speed @ Aug 10 2006, 12:00 PM) [snapback]300988[/snapback]</div> If its not too bad, touch-up paint should work. If its more severe your insurance compresensive should cover it, less your deductable. It shouldn't affect your rate if it was road debris. On both our Subarus, we needed hood repaints, 1 headlight, 2 windshields, and 1 side glass due to freeway junk. Unfortunately, our deductables were $250 and $500 for each car. :angry: The damage on one, was over $2000, so worth it, I guess. My Prius got clobbered by a tire tread two weeks from new, and needed a new front bumper, grill and foglight, and passenger door repaint, $1300. Too much road junk on the freeway! Touch up paint wouldn't have helped any of our cars, but it may work for you.
If you're talking about the slight colour shade difference between the colour of the body and the colour of the bumper, it's normal. The two Toyotas we have right now (Titanium Metallic 02 Camry and Tideland Pearl 05 Prius) have slight shade differences between the body and the bumper. It's not noticeable under normal everyday conditions but once in a while when the angle is right, I can see the the difference. It's more noticeable on the silver Camry than on my Prius. The only thing I can think of is because the bumper is plastic so painting the plastic to match the colour of the body is difficult. They have gotten better but the difference is still there.
I don't think it's paint fade, as the color is still virtually identical according to my Sypder colorimeter, but the bumper paint no longer has the same gloss as the rest of the paint on the body and if the light hits it just right looks duller... I think this is quite typical of painted plastics- they just don't hold a gloss for quite as long, probably due to the interaction of all the plasticizers that keep the material flexible with the paint coat..
im sure all owners know that the rear plastic bumper top is a magnet for dust which could easily contribute to its faded look. but freshly washed, there is no color difference that i have noticed after over two years.
