rear bumper guard

Since the primary purpose of either is to prevent the scuffs that would otherwise occur you might base your decision on which would provide the better protection. For me a close second is the aesthetic appearance. Different colors of car and personal taste come into play for this one. Of course both of these purposes could easily be overshadowed by the potential of offending your wife.

Personally I like the looks of the Prius decal and prefer that over the slightly tougher black version. With a little care it will provide adequate protection. If your use of the car will entail heavy abuse for that area then the black version might still be worth considering.

You might try politely telling your wife that the bumper guard she got would be a great addition for a car that didn't have the Prius film protection but since yours already has the film it isn't really necessary unless you prefer the looks or expect heavy abuse. Can she exchange toward a set of those really cool lighted door sills?

 

I'm the other way....I thought the film looked kinda wimpy when I actually saw it...esp for ~70bux.

I bought the black bumper guard from PC Shop and I think it looks great on my Black V, esp if you shine it w/ some ArmorAll or whatever....

 

I have both the wimpy PRIUS decal on the back and the illuminated door sills.

The decal is fine, though I doubt it provides the same level of protection as the thicker "rubber" protector. Still, I like the look of the clear protector better. For me, the aesthetic was more important than the practical, and I told myself I was getting both with the decal. I suppose I did, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time selling the decal to folks.

The door sills are fabulous. I love the look. I have the Bisque interior, and I think the two go well together. I don't see that the interior color really has much bearing on the "look" of the door sills. The ooh! of the door sills shows only in twilight or night, and the interior color or the aluminum of the sill really doesn't enter into the color scheme.

 

There are pictures of them with the bisque interior in the installation photos referenced in the original thread (Picasa Web Albums - HTMLSpinnr (Rick) - 2010 Prius LE...). Look at photo number 28. My impression is that the paint color probably makes a bigger difference than interior color and that the blue of the LED's works very week with the white. I suppose it matches the theme in inside the Toyota logo that some people hate so much.

 

That's what I was trying to describe when I said it probably matters what color car it is. On a black car the black protector would look great. On a Sandy Beach....

 

Hmm. . .

Do you mean a Sandy Beach like this one?:



http://priuschat.com/forums/attachm...wrong-bumper-protector-fix-ditch-img_0740.jpg

BTW: This is ggood's car and comes from his thread: GST installed wrong bumper protector - fix or ditch?

 

I have the sandy beach and am planning on ordering the black bumper protector. I think it will look good-the solar roof, antenna, and tires are black also, so it makes a consistent two-tone color scheme.

 

why not leave it off until the decal gets scuffed?

 

I agree. Although the scrape will probably be on the bumper just past the plastic film.

 

OK, as an unintentional owner of a Sandy Beach with black bumper protector (thanks GST ), I have to say I got used to it and my wife kind of likes it (says it goes with the black spoiler). As others have said, it really doesn't matter on dark colored cars. On the other hand, black on white or red or any light colored car can look kind of jazzy. I was even considering getting black side moldings, but the wife doesn't like moldings in any color.

As for the OP, I too can't understand why anyone would get the black bumper protecter if the car already has the clear applique, unless they just like the look or are planning on hauling lumber every day.