dashmat

What's a dashmat?

 

Here's the one I got from DashTopper, you can see how it looks here. This is on a 2005 (which was ordered at a dealer, rather than from DashTopper's site).

 

I never really nuderstood this. The car doesn't look better with the dashmat in it i.m.o. and I haven't seen any car dash take damage from sun. My current car is over ten years old and th dash shows no wear and many friend run cars similarly aged and they look good. I suspect that modern dash material lasts a lot longer then the first plastic ones.

 

I've owned cars with a Grand Canyon running down the middle of the dash. Granted they're were older cars (and I was living in El Centro and Palm Springs), but a dash cover also helps cut down on the glare coming in at the right angle (plus you can stick things on it using Velcro ).

Different strokes for different folks....

 

Many older cars have large cracks. Modern materials have better UV protection, and the geometry of the pieces in many cases has been designed to avoid sharp unradiuses corners where expansion/compression stresses would be highest.

The Prius doesn't really need one, since the plastics used on the dash top are hard, not foam-backed vinyl like in years past (which were more prone to cracking). However, it can be much cooler to have a lighter colored mat on top of the black plastic dash, although the daytime glare is increased. After a year I ordered one (mocha) and will report how it works after it arrives.

 

I believe the dash area is the same shape for 2006 as it was for 04 and 05 model years. The surface has been retextured. Dashdesigns.com is a good place to get a well made dash mat in your choice of colors; they may be able to tell you over the phone since they carry an extensive data base for most cars sold in the US.

One advantage of a mat is that it drastically reduces the outgassing from the plastic dash that ends up leaving a film on the windshield. I also like the blue carpet vs. the sea of black plastic.

Bob