Bumper scrapes and scratches

[alva]

How obvious are bad scrapes and scratches on silver Prius's? Any silver Prius owners with scratches, or people who know about such things for any reason at all ? Thanks.
I'm going to buy a Prius and may get silver even though it's not my favorite color, because I think it would show up the scatches less, due to the metallic color under the paint.
The bumpers are very unprotected. Opinions on best looking bumper guard and where to get it?
Thank you.

[Bill Merchant]

[font=Comic Sans MS:5dba53efdb]Hi Alva. I'd like to suggest something I haven't got yet, but will really soon — clear paint protection film. There are several threads on hear about 3M, ClearBra, and so forth.

I have a Silver Cloud and I'm going to have to touch up the paint on the front bumper, the hood, and one of the side mirrors before I get the paint protection. The undercoat seems to be dark, so a paint chip shows up as a very visible black dot. The bumpers are soft, so one of the chips there is actually a tiny cut in the plastic.

As for protecting the top of the rear bumper, I'm going to have them put some of the clear film on it, too. You can also get this film for the headlights, and fog lamps if you get a package with them. [/font:5dba53efdb]

[Ray Moore]

Chips under the silver are a very dark gray that look like small bugs that need to be washed off.

[alva]

Thanks for info, Bill Merchant. Very helpful. I'll follow up here with my bumper guard outcome, in case anyone else has similar interest. When you live in LA. with street parking only you can just about count on damage.
The insurance solution is a lower deductible on collision, because someone scratching your bumper when you aren't in the car comes under collision. Getting bumper paint damage fixed (in L.A., for instance) costs $500 even for smaller scrapes. So in that case of course you want your collision deductible lower than $500, if you are in high likelihood of braindead people scraping your bumper and not leaving notes.

[seeh2o]

Alva,
I live in LA - you must know my neighbors - the brainded who scrape and scratch and don't leave notes! Where I live I must park on the street. I have a white Prius and the bumper under the paint is black (I learned the hard way), so if you are trying to avoid showing the inevitable scratches and scrapes go for black.

[Grdn2]

"Opinions on best looking bumper guard and where to get it? "

An alternative to the clear film bumper protector is a hard black plastic bumper protector. I often have to slide stuff into the back of the car, and I didn't think the plastic film would hold up to the abuse. I purchased my pumper protector on Ebay from Deland Toyota. Type in "Prius bumper protector" in your search. They usually have 3 or 4 up for auction at a time. I was able to get mine at the lowest bid. They delivered promptly & I installed it myself with the double sided tape provided.

I am not affiliated with Deland Toyota, just happy with my purchase.

[mkaliski]

I typed in Prius Bumper Protector and found several rubber pads but none were listed a being for a Prius. Is there a specific pad that fits the best? Thanks.

[Bill Merchant]

[font=Comic Sans MS:534a39b2b0]See here.[/font:534a39b2b0]

[Grdn2]

Alva, the link Bill shows is not the item that I bought. Although the picture shows a rubber protector, the description sounds like the vinyl film.

When I recieved my item I noticed COROLLA in raised letters on the underside of the item. However the item fit perfectly so I didn't care. My invoice as well at the part number as posted for the auction item was #00016-47015.

I just now searched Ebay Motors for a Corolla bumper protector and they have several listed with the same part number 00016-47015 and the picture looks like what I received.

If I were you I would email Deland Toyota and ask them if this is the same item that they previously sold as a Prius bumper protector. Personally I don't care what they call it as long as it fits and looks good.

Hope this will work for you, good luck.