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About to buy a 2008 Prius - Color Choices for Visibility and Efficiency and Dirt ?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by hiremichaelreid, May 8, 2008.

  1. hiremichaelreid

    hiremichaelreid New Member

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    Hi !

    I'm in Ottawa, Canada and I'm about to buy a 2008 Prius. I'm buying it because I think it's a masterpiece of engineering and a very practical choice at current gas prices.

    I was considering Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla when I realized the $4k in tax credits I can get here (for the next few months only!) put the total cost of ownership in the same territory (or even better! :)


    So. any feedback on color choices for visibility, efficiency, dirt and graceful aging ?

    I like Black, Red and White in that order.

    I'm looking to get a Clearbra or Clearshield or whatever it is. I've heard it might be better not to put these on white. (?)

    I guess white is most efficient as the car is cooler in summer, so the AC doesn't have to work as hard. I don't think black helps much with heat in winter. I wonder how much a difference it makes and if red's closeness to infrared indicates it reflects heat well.


    I think red is most visible to pedestrians and other cars in snow, rain, dark etc. Yellow is better but I don't like yellows. White is perhaps next most visible although it can hide in snow. Black is invisible at night, when your lights are on anyway and I usually use lights in the day too anyway. But black is more visible than silver or grey. Grey (gray?) is often invisible.


    I've heard white hides dirt better, for those periods of winter when it doesn't make sense to waste money on carwashes.

    I have a black car now and it looks great, but yes, there are many swirls that show on glossy black paint after 14 years.

    I've heard that black may be the rarest color (or rarest common color ?). That's cool with me. If black is the outlaws color, then perhaps it just doesn't fit the image of most Prius drivers ?

    Thanks!
     
  2. JRMurray

    JRMurray Magnetic Gray is the only way!

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    My previous car, a C230, was silver, which was great for hiding dust and dirt. However, I didn't really like the Prius in silver (mine is Magnetic Gray Metallic).

    The Prius looks great in black, but you indicate, black is hard to maintain. White makes the Prius look somehow heavy, in my opinion. I haven't seen too many red Priuses around Vancouver, but I think the colour is pretty sharp.
     
  3. judymcfarland

    judymcfarland Queen of Moral Indignation

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    Consider the silver pine - good at hiding dirt but more visible than white in the snow. (Not that I'm prejudiced or anything.)
     
  4. KK6PD

    KK6PD _ . _ . / _ _ . _

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    Well,
    White shows dirt first ...
    Black is invisable at night ...
    Silver is quite reflective ...
    Silver Pine is greenish???
    Blue is cool ....
    Pearl is necklace material ...
    Red is considerably more aerodynamic and the fastest and most fuel efficient ...

    Seems simple to me ....

    Pat KK6PD

    and Yellow is for Taxi's
     
  5. la cucaracha

    la cucaracha New Member

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  6. neon tetra

    neon tetra Member

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    I've owned a black & a white car b4 & they both look wonderful right after they're cleaned...but filthy a few days later.

    I just got the gray & with all the pollen around it's not too much better.
    Silver or one of the lighter ones would probably be best for hiding dirt imo.
     
  7. Sheepdog

    Sheepdog C'Mere Sheepie!

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    WHAT PAT SAID! Not to mention that Red Prius drivers are inherently more discriminating, intelligent, and attractive people who are the center of attention wherever they go!

    :humble: IMHO of course!
     
  8. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    if looking for something that hides dirt. get what ever is closest in color to dirt... gray or brown i guess. silver in some areas.

    fact is, they all come with a pretty shiny clearcoat that shows EVERYTHING very well. but at a distance, its not too bad. and its been my experience that winter makes any car color look dirty...

    enjoy your Prius, you have made an excellent decision
     
  9. ForTheGlory

    ForTheGlory New Member

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    Was that article a joke? I think it recommended every possible color for a different reason.
     
  10. hiremichaelreid

    hiremichaelreid New Member

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    Thanks all.

    Yeah, to heck with the analysis. I'm buying Black because I think it looks so cool :)

    Black is the "outlaw" color. Works for me.

    Black is "high-tech" looking.

    Black is masculine.

    Black is rare in Prius's.

    Black shines nicely at night.

    Black has been OK'd by my wife. :)
     
  11. la cucaracha

    la cucaracha New Member

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    The point is made. Color opinions vary.
     
  12. canesfan

    canesfan Culture shocked...

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    I think the Driftwood will hide dirt the best. We used to have a car in a similar color and it never really seemed to show dirt.
     
  13. Flying White Dutchman

    Flying White Dutchman Senior Member

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  14. penbed

    penbed New Member

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    If you have not had black before be ready to clean often.
    I just sold my black Mercedes SLK and bought my new red Prius.
    Black shows EVERYTHING,also any mistakes when waxing will stand out.
    On the flip side-when cleaned and waxed it really is stunning.
    I have had my Prius three weeks and love it!!
     
  15. freshmtt

    freshmtt Dachshund Addict

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    I have had my Driftwood Pearl for 3 weeks now and I just LOVE the color. It was actually my 3rd choice in color but I am very very happy with the color. The light beige/tan color is really good at hiding the dirt. Although I have been very anal and have washed it more than 1 time every week so far and have already waxed it once.
     
  16. hiremichaelreid

    hiremichaelreid New Member

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    Waxing ? What's that ? :) My grandfather would wash his Lincoln daily and wax every second day, but not me...


    I've had a black Stealth TT/AWD for 12 years and I take it to the "you-wash" or drive-thru washes every 2-4 weeks. Works for me. I'm surprised how good it looks after 14 years given my lack of attention.

    I don't care about the swirlies and I don't care about dirt most of the time. In winter there's no way to keep a car clean anyway.

    Nice, shiny clean cars are definitely cool, but I personally don't want to spend much time or money on it. Not that there's anything wrong with that... :)
     
  17. ECHELON

    ECHELON New Member

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    Hey michaelreid,

    Welcome aboard. Don't forget to visit the Canadian forum. I have black myself, but only because the dealer didn't have white. And it's either black or white because they are solid colours. The rest are pearls or metallics which - in my experience - were a pain to fix when you get a stone chip. FYI, Toyota clear coats are soft, therefore you breathe or sneeze the wrong way, the clear coat will scratch. Good luck. :)
     
  18. hiremichaelreid

    hiremichaelreid New Member

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    I'm happy to report I placed my order for a black one today. ETA is 12 days, coming from port of Vancouver to me in Ottawa, Canada.

    I joined the APA, a Canadian car consumer organization, and got a pre-negotiated price of $1k off of MSRP. It all went smoothly.


    I added a 3M Clearbra for $350 and a paint protection package for $300. I've heard elsewhere that black needs it the most.


    For the 2008 model year, I'm getting $4k in rebates from the government(s). The federal portion of $2k disappears for 2009 MY, so I wanted to ensure I got a 2008 in my color.

    With the above and the gas savings, I figure I'm getting the hybrid technology almost for free ! :)

    Looking forward to my black "Priups" and future PHEV !
     
  19. ECHELON

    ECHELON New Member

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    If this is what I think it is, then you just got scammed.
     
  20. hiremichaelreid

    hiremichaelreid New Member

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    And what do you think it is ? If it's useless I feel reasonably confident I can reverse my decision.

    It's "Platinum Shield paint protection". I read something somewhere about some of these things being nothing more than fancy wax. A quick google search doesn't give me any definitive answers, but I saw the opinion in two places that waxing your car 2-4 times a year is better than this paint protection and not waxing.

    Edit: OK I read around, and sure enough this is what many of the dealers use and it's virtually useless. AFAIK though, the 3M ClearBra is good. I'll check some competitors to see if the $350 for that is competitive.

    Perhaps I'll see how easy the dealer is at removing that item from our agreement. I'm the one that brought it up; it wasn't pushed on me or anything. I'll get help from the APA if they give me any trouble, but I imagine they'll realize that and be friendly. I'll see...