What did you do to ur Gen III Prius today????

Lowering springs I installed on Saturday This is what the abundance of Loctite does to a half inch drive socket. FYI if you plan on tackling this job as a DIY you will need one of these and a 22mm socket.

Overall, I'm thrilled with this. I love how flat the car sits now and the wheel gap is gone completely. My only regret is that socket since it was my grandfathers who died years before I was born. Either way, I think next up will be spacers for the rear wheels

 

Interesting. Link lists 6000K as the color temperature, which is bluish white, yet they look white in your pics.

 

I have a question for anyone that has the lower rocker side molding installed.

Those that have them, Do you believe they offer any protection against side door dings and dents? Or are they purely a cosmetic addition?

I like the way they look, but can't tell from pictures if they would functionally be any help in protecting the side. And even though I like the way they look, I don't know if I'd want to go with them purely for cosmetic reasons.

 

They're cosmetic. Even regular side moldings won't eliminate door dings entirely as there are vehicles of varying heights that can hit your doors above and below the moldings. They only way they'd work 100% if if you live in Priusland where people drive only Prius.

The best defense against door dings is practicing defensive parking (and don't overdo it like angling your car or going over the line as that only pisses people off and you run the risk of keying). No door dings on mine in the nearly 4 years I've had it. Otherwise, that's what paintless dent removal is for.

 

My experience with side moldings on various vehicles has been that they can sure help prevent a lot of door dings and side dents.

It's the horizontal line of defense against the vertical line of attack...as long as the offending door hits the molding first, you just saved yourself a ding.

Toyota doesn't offer a OEM side molding for The Prius. Seems like the "look" is just falling out of favor.

I hate the idea of NOT having any protection for the entire side of the vehicle. Defensive parking? Great concept, but in life sooner or later you are going to be forced to park somewhere relatively tight. And also? You can park in a very isolated area, and find out someone inconsiderate has decided to park next to you and swing their door open wide. Seems to me like often if you decide to park "alone" far from the maddening crowd, it only attracts people around you.

Then there are the holidays, shopping, and/or "events". Defensive parking often becomes an impossible approach.

But I'm still deciding. I did NOT realize until after purchase that Toyota themselves does not offer a side molding. The Prius Chat one is an aftermarket, and there are a few others. Went to 2 dealerships that just looked at me blankly when I said I wanted side moldings, then informed me only the lower rocker moldings were "officially" available.

Kind of surprised Toyota does not offer one as an OEM choice and option.

 

I don't sweat it. If that one tight spot is the only available spot I park there. I can always resort to paintless dent removal.

 

Sorry, not sure what to tell you. They don't look very blue to me.....

 

Which is fine. Just pointing out the discrepancy between what the ebayer lists and what we actually see.

 

I feel the same way as you!

I got mine from eBay and they look great , factory matched color and are from Toyota of Daytona I believe. Check it out!

 

installed a bushwacker brand rear bumper protector. Already had some scuffing from bags of dirt, had money available in my amazon account so bought it there for $40. Super easy to do and I think it looks great.

 

Today we plasti dipped the grayish color trim under the turn signals, really dont understand why it was gray in the first place. The black really pulls it together in the front, matching the grills and what not. Hope y'all enjoy! Also, ignore the ugly plate frame, Im awaiting my title in the mail to obtain my new Ohio plates, which the new redesigned has me ultra excited to get!

 

You could have removed the foglight blanks from the bumper cover before Plasti Dipping them. Instructions are in the OEM foglights thread. Would have saved you a lot of time spent masking off the front end.

 

hah, total time for complete project was 20 mins. Nothing to be worried about considering the beautiful day, but thanks for the heads up!

 

I have, but for the time being will just be sticking with what I currently have. This is actually the first car I've had without fogs

 

Just caught the for sale part... what are you going to replace your awesome Prius with?

 

My fog lights arrived today! Wrapped the lenses in yellow and I'm hoping to install this weekend.

 

Or you could've installed yellow bulbs.

 

Just installed a remote starter that allows me to remote start the car using the factory keyfob. Total cost is only $75 if you are OK with the range of the factory fob. With the t-harness, you only need to hook-up five wires (rx, tx, parking lights, push-to-start, and horn).

Thread and video to follow shortly.