Tinted Window Film From Japan Toyota

We ordered this for our car, and looked at one with the tint... But it`s much lighter than it looks on the illustration. The Prius version was pretty close to transparent - almost a stretch to call it "tint" in my opinion.
It`s an IR/UV cut film, and only available for the back half of the car. It`s mainly marketed as to protect children who may have no ability to move out of direct sunlight when sitting back there so they don`t burn, and it doesn`t hurt their eyes.

 

They also sell a sort of "tire cozy" you put over your tires for traction in the snow. Anybody know how well these work?

 

I believe we went with clear, but maybe it was smoke. There was very little difference between the two... I let my husband select because it was so small a difference. It covers all the glass other than the windshield, the small front corner windows, and the front door windows.

We do not actually have our Prius yet - we ordered on 7/1, so are not scheduled to receive it until February. out:
Everything will be installed at the dealer - we do not have the know how to risk putting something like that on by ourselves. Especially with how bad tint looks if you make a mistake.
We didn`t really go for too many special options on this car. Door edge guard looks terrible, in my opinion, as it is not the exact color as the paint. So it really stands out. On black, the chrome ones look cool but we have ordered Aqua, so it would look bad.
Most things in this car we plan to have specialty installed - LED lighting at the feet and in the middle console, navigation system, etc.
The dealer options we ordered were glass sealant coating, IR/UV cut tint, soft luggage tray, premium horn, and rear step guard.

We are still debating whether to order the colored rear spoiler. If the black looks too out of place we will buy it. I am lucky to be very good at parking and have a large home parking space, so no sensors or cameras.

 

It is because of the difference in process here. I believe in the US there are a set number of cars shipped there and that is all - they are split between dealers. So there is a limited number of each type, some easier to get, etc.
In Japan, you order at your dealer and they send the order directly to Toyota who will put the car on the line for you according to your choices. Normally this only takes like 1 or 2 weeks - maybe 3 or 4 when a car is very new and popular. There is no model easier or harder to find, and no "settle for 2nd or 3rd choice" because it is all ordered and nothing from a lot.
This time, with the Prius, Toyota very much underestimated interest and sales so in no time there was a back log of orders that continued to get bigger and bigger faster than they could be produced. I think 5 times more orders than had been expected. So the demand is much higher than parts supply and speed of production. They have raised production some, so I have heard talk that it is possible that it may be cut by 2 months... So maybe we will get the car in December if we`re very lucky!

We currently own a 2003 Toyota WiLL Cypha. It will be 7 years old when we get the Prius, so we are only eligible for 100,000yen and tax waiver.