Result of First SF-Bay Area PriusChat Meet

[Gen2]

First I wanted to say that I think our very first in-person meet was a great success. Thank you V8CobraKid for leading us on the way.

It was a beautiful sunny day in the low to mid 70s and we had a net turnout (by my count) of about 15 cars. 1 Classic, 13 Second Generation and 1 poor unexpecting passerby that we waved in with his second generation Driftwood, just in time for the photo shoot.

This was a lot of fun for Dixie and I to meet all of you. We enjoyed all the friendly faces and different viewpoints. The stories were great, OK so I told a few stories myself, but the information and good cheer was flowing freely. Even the employees that were supposed to be watching parking lot in their electric golf carts came over, gave us an impromptu demonstration on the agility of a golf car - OK so he was showing off. (Electric envy? Maybe he wants a Prius when he grows up?) Such is the impact the the Prius has on the world. After the showing off demonstration, one of them was nice enough to take many pictures for us and we thank him for that.

My thanks to whomever discovered that the golf course parking lot had space for us to take pictures - well done.

This meet was certainly far more successful than I expected and my hopes are that it just keeps getting better every we we get together.

I did a lot of talking about various car care products and methodologies at this meet. And we were asked how we kept our Prius looking so good. I promised that I would tell all online which i will do, but in a set of different posts. Hopefully I will get one or two posted today and will continue until I answer everyone's questions. If I forget to post something I promised you, or didn't promise you, please speak up. The free flow of different ideas one fundamental thing to making us a great nation.

The first post will be about the digital pictures everyone was taking so you should be seeing that momentarily.

My final thanks to Danny for creating the PriusChat environment. You did a great job and the result of this meet is proof that it just keeps getting better. And thanks to all our new Prius friends for such a fun day.

Thank You,
Bob and Dixie.

[Gen2]

Here is a link to the digital photos my wife and I took today. For those of you that haven't already done so, I highly recommend that you try Shutterfly out.

You can store and share all your digital photos with anyone for free. They will print what you want in a variety of sizes on profession photo paper (exactly the same as for film prints, and their quality is unbeatable. Shutterfly has won every editor's choice and other award you can win in their category. They have great online tools to put banners on your photos and do simple corrections (red-eye, cropping, etc.) and they can also print photo albums, mugs, aprons, hats, cups, and large format prints. They can also burn you CDs so you don't have to use up all your disk space at home and they act as a backup to your hard drive if you do have the disk space.

Dixie and I used to be early employees for Shutterfly and can attest for the attention to detail that they put into their products.

Since the first 10 prints are free you have nothing to lose to try them out and we can all have access to each others huge Prius photo library at no cost.

I hope you enjoy them as much as Dixie and I have.
Bob

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAN3LFu5cuWLJmA

[jkash]

Great pics. Thanks for posting them. It is really fun to see all those Prius in one place at one time.

Jeff

[Gen2]

Originally posted by Gen2
I did a lot of talking about various car care products and methodologies at this meet. And we were asked how we kept our Prius looking so good. I promised that I would tell all online which i will do, but in a set of different posts.  

OK, I received a lot of questions on the clear bra on our Driftwood Prius.

First I'd like to say that anyone that is interested in getting one, please post here so I can get a count. Based on this count I will negotiate with the owner of Clear Armor andsee what kind of a discount we can get. It is possible to get just one or two pieces but he is most willing to give discounts if we get a lot of people in there and all order the full kit.

Clear bras on automobiles were invented by 3M. It is a clear polyurethane film of various thichnesses that attach to your car via a removeable adhesive. 3M officially calls it Scotchguard Paint Protection Film Solution. Unfortunate it is commonly called by what a local or online reseller calls it but I am only taking about the official stuff here (http://cms.3m.com/cms/US/en/2-168/clelFFC/view.jhtml). This film is so tough that it will deflect small rocks and other debris without damage to your paint. It also makes cleaning up insect strikes much easier (some insect strikes will leave behind a yellow spot that does fade away - you didn't see any yellow spots on my Prius today a a testimonial to that).

Ther 3M film is so clear that you cannot tell its there unless someone points out the very fine line where the film ends. I have never had anyone say anything about a line across the hood if I didnlt tell thiem its there in the first place.

The kit that Clear Armor made for the prius covers the nose, grill, complete front bumper, front valence (below the bumper), both mirrors, all door edges, gas cap door opening and top of rear bumper.

You can have more film made to cover any and all parts of the car. It the pattern is not in thier computer, they will custom make it for you.

FAQ

How much does it cost? I don't know. We were having so much fun watching the install that I just handed him my credit card. If we get enough people interested, he will offer us a discount which I will post here.

How long does it last? Other vendors offer a 5 year warranty. I received a limited lifetime warranty when I had these guys install it for me.

Will it turn yellow? Not in the 10 years it has been on the market.

How do I clean it? Just like the rest of the car.

Do I need to wax it? No, you do not.

Will my paint fade under it? No it will not fade. There are UV protectants in the film.

What if my car needs accident repair? The film is removeable. Insurance companies will normally pay to have it replaced.

Isn't it not as clear as the competitio. No. It is just as clear. As most of yu saw on my Prius, you can't see it on the car, only the fine line where it terminates. The 3M film is somewhat opaque before application (as I showed today with that sample piece I passed around) but is crystal clear after it is properly applied.

Can I use it to protect my very expensive headlights? Yes. That was the first automotve application for the film before they figured out that it would work on the paint just as well.

Does it reduce the light from my headlights? No t will not noticeably reduce the headlight output, but I did not have instrumntation to test it. We just tried it by eyeball and it looks great. Again, if you saw my car today, you saw that my headlights looked crystal clear despite the headlight film being so thick (30 mils).

Would you recommend the 3M film to your parents and close friends? I already have.

Is the competition any better? Despite all the bragging, I have not seen any proof that they are any god let alone better than the 3M film. Its your choice, use he time proven leader who invented it or a Johnny-Come-Lately that applies a clear adhesive and makes boastful claims. I asked myself, if they are so good then why do they only have a 5 year warranty when I can go to Clear Armor, have them install it and get a lifetime limited warranty.

Did 3M really invent this silm to protect US attack helicopter blades in the Gulf War from the severe abrasion of the sand? Yes, they did, and it was a complete success.

are you really goig to try and get us a discouted price for us? I already have negotiated with the owner. He just needs to know if we can get enough people in there and he will offer us a good discount. Just let me know if you are interested (not a commitment to buy anything) and I will work it out with him.

Bob

http://www.cleararmorinc.com/products/

[Gen2]

Originally posted by jkash
Great pics. Thanks for posting them.  It is really fun to see all those Prius in one place at one time.  

Jeff

You are welcome, Kash. I am so glad you enjoyed the photos. Thanks to everyone figured out to get us all aligned in such a cool way, this will make an excellent historical photo.

Bob

[V8Cobrakid]

Awesome Pics. Thanks to everyone for showing up. I'll start thinking about our next meetup. I've already been suggested some awesome ideas. Had a great time. :mrgreen:

[aforkosh]

The pictures I took are posted at Priuschat Bay Area Photos from Al Forkosh (AL4KOSH).

I have cropped and processed the originals to emphasize the people and cars.

[Gen2]

Originally posted by aforkosh
The pictures I took are posted at Priuschat Bay Area Photos from Al Forkosh (AL4KOSH).

I have cropped and processed the originals to emphasize the people and cars.

Alan,

Nice shots. I like the cropping. I was thinking of how to do it myself, and you have shown me the way.

Thanks,
Bob

[eak354]

nice pics! thanks for sharing!

[Gen2]

Here are 5 of the same photos I previously posted, but with very severe cropping. I that think this enhances the look opf our cars.

Enjoy.
Bob

PS If you order any photos from Shutterfly to be printed, they will be printed at the original full resolution.

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EeAN3LFu5cuWLJug