I was driving past the local Toyota Dealer (Redwood City, CA) and noticed these 5 White 2010 Prius automobiles. These are not Blizzard Pearl, but Super White (which I thought was not available here in the U.S.). These 5 vehicles are Model 1, with dark gray interior. Looks like somebody ordered a quantity of 5 as "fleet vehicles". Keith
The rental my son in law got from Avis in Jacksonville FL was flat white with a gray vinyl interior and no cruise. Several other cheapouts.
Is there a premium? I have to finally admit what I've heard for years that keeping a white car "clean" is much easier than dark. I waxed my Dark Gray Prius recently and it looked like hell almost immediately but my white car still going strong weeks later. However, when rust comes along it will destroy the appearance of a white car much faster and is impossible to hide.
Yes, for the white that is available to retail buyers there is a premium. It is called Pearl Blizzard White and it is very deep and pearl looking. Very hard to match. Very pretty color, if I do say so myself, as the owner of one. The Super White (the white you get on a Corolla) is just white. Not bad, but looks like a company car to me.
The only thing I don't like about Pearl white as that in certain lighting, the paint off the plastic bumper looks slightly darker than the paint off the steel body. Maybe super white is different. Rust? Never!!!!!!!!
Yeah I do like the pearl color more than the pure white on the prius. I am gunshy over rust as it's now threatening a different white vehicle I own.
OK, I just made an interesting discovery--my package IV purchased August 2010 in Denver (build date 4/10) is Super White. I had just assumed it was BP since that was the only white I was aware of. I did wonder why I never noticed any "pearl" in the color...duh. I am happy with the color, but this seems very odd that these aren't even listed on the Toyota web site as a possible color. BTW, the car has dark gray leather.
The salesman told me that the Pearl white paint actually had 3 layers: pure white, then the shiny sparkling Pearl, then clear coat. I don't know if he was just putting on his best selling pitch to get my extra $220 premium charge for the Pearl colour, but he did got me opening the wallet a bit more. Anyways, Pearl does look good. If you look carefully it sparkles with minute red, green and silver stars, very much like jewellery. I checked the paints of another white BMW and another white Acura, they are just sparkling with silver like normal metallic paints.
The obvious question here is whether they charged you for the Blizzard Pearl and gave you the regular white?
Hmm... I notice the window sticker under convience features only lists Power and Eco modes. No EV? Also was there smart key? I thought I remember hearing that Prius I fleet vehicles would not be equipped with the smart key. Also, given that sticker price, if you are not buying for a fleet, why wouldn't you want a Prius II? .....unless the absence of bits of sparkly fleck in your white paint is really that important to you.
Nope, no charge for BP--and I thought they just forgot to charge me and I was getting an even better deal--LOL. I just checked the window sticker and invoice--shows "Super White" as the color, and no "special color" charge. Edit: and no, I didn't pay sticker price--I paid about $2,600 below using Truecar/USAA.
Hmmmmm....if you look at the window sticker you'll notice a feature called "Smart Stop Technology"... ...what is that?!?
No EV or cruise or rear armrest or tonneau cover etc etc.... Blizzard Pearl is a 3-coat paint so he's not messing with you. The Prius has a 4-star driver safety rating?? The same as my smart despite having a knee airbag and a larger crumple zone?
