RED 2022 xle prime question

When shopping for my Prime back in 2017, I saw a "blue magnetism" Prime on the dealer's showroom floor under florescent light and the color was a nauseating greenish aqua which reminded me of a swimming pool where the paint had faded and was beginning to grow algae. It was horrible.

Several months later, after buying my Prime in the gray metallic finish, I saw a blue magnetism prime outdoors in daylight and the color was a spectacular and very beautiful rich blue. (Yet another demonstration of why dealerships seem to be run by idiots.)

My first longer road trip in the Prime was to the Montreal Jazz Festival in 2018. I was surprised by the number Primes which I saw around the city, including this one in hypersonic red at curbside in front of Montreal's famous Schwartz's delicatessen:



The photograph does not do it justice. I would describe the red as having "depth" and richness. A very beautiful color.

Whether or not it's worth the extra cost, is a matter of personal opinion. I felt the US $300 extra was a frivolous expense for a paint color, but I had not seen it at the time I bought my Prime. In retrospect, I might have spent the extra money which really does not amount to that much when amortized over the many years I've had (and plan to continue to have) my 2017 Prime.

 

I love the blue magnetism/spirited aqua metallic, and I wouldn't want any other color!

White is alright though, and silver is tolerable. Red is not bad, but I would have liked a less orangish shade of red. I don't like the black, dark gray, and gold.

 

I quess you can tell what our choice in colors is from our avatar and we love it !!!!!!

 

I love the red.

Like any car, you have to maintain it. Even white or black or grey Priuses. BTW the GREY prius is very good looking too. The red with the black offsets for this Prius Prime is good looking too.

Just wax/claybar it once you receive the car and the paint will last you YEARS. It is a thinner paint than Lexus vehicles or other luxury brand vehicles.

So you MUST WAX/Claybar the second you receive it. Especially in this type of wet weather. Water + dirt and SPEED will eventually erode all paints in all colors.

Red white or grey/black = no exceptions. Well I need to be honest. The supersonic red and wind chill pearl white colors are extra added cost. I think they put on a few extra paint layers for those colors. If your MSRP sticker has a star * next to the paint color, that means the paint is a bit thicker. Only a bit.

Wax/clay still applies. Speed + cold + wind + water = slow paint erosion. You can even see the speed lines on your paint if you drive fast often.

 

I saw a red one last night under dim white LED light. It looked good, as it looks darker in dim light. My problem with red is that it doesn't have any contrast with the taillights, which makes it look dull and bland from the rear. Moreover, I had bought a Barcelona red metallic Corolla in the past, and I grew cold out of it, and red has poor peripheral visibility for humans, making it an accident magnet in certain situations.

Likewise, I don't think black blends well with the Prius Prime trim either.

Dark gray? It is pretty dull, I think.

Silver blends well with the trim, but it's a boring silver at the end of the day.

Titanium glow is not for me.

White blends well with the trim. I saw one last night in a parking lot, and it was very well-blended, pearly, and striking indeed. If you are OK with white, you won't go wrong with it.

I love my blue magnetism—unique, nice shade of blue, sporty, blends well with the trim, highly luminescent and visible.

At the end of the day, your color choice is merely a matter of your taste.

 

The red was worth it to me. Looks great, and yes it appears different depending on the light.

I just had the paint protection film applied to the hood, front bumper and mirrors. They did a great job, can't even see it. But it was expensive.

 

Note that Prius Prime already comes with paint-protection film from the factory on the bumpers and mirrors; so, it was a waste of money to cover those areas.

 

Please attach a link to your source.

Using Toyota's Web site to "Build" a Prius Prime, at the end under Accessories there is a front bumper kit and a hood kit.
If the front bumper had the film from the factory, why would Toyota also offer it as an accessory ?

 

I know, and I used 3M VViViD paint-protection film under my blue California HOV decals. You can see it protruding under the decal here:



Paint-protection film comes applied at the factory on the color-matched plastic mirror covers and color-matched plastic bumpers. You can easily see it if you look at the edges of the mirror covers. It is probably harder to see on the bumpers because the edges of the bumpers fold in, but I saw it when I removed my rear bumper.

 

My blue-magnetism 2021 Prius Prime Limited came with paint-protection film on the colored bumpers and colored mirror covers from the factory in Japan. I didn't purchase a separate accessory package, nor my dealer sticker lists any Toyota-port-installed-accessory or dealer-installed-accessory paint-protection film. (I didn't check the hood, but I doubt I have paint-protection film on the hood.) You can clearly see the paint-protection film in these photos:





Good job, Toyota! That's why I don't buy a Tesla/Ford/Hyundai/Kia—among dozens of other reasons.

 

I think other makes do this. I recall the Taurus/Sable having something at door corners. It may also be just a thicker coat of paint or the clear coat. Who does and where seems to come down to how vulnerable the area is.

 

A paint-protection film edge also seems to be seen in my California HOV decal photo under the fog light, and the texture/light reflection seems consistent with a film applied.

Perhaps this is something Toyota has been doing since the 2021 model year. I wonder how strong factory paint-protection film is in comparison to 3M paint-protection film.

On a similar note, my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (US model) came with a factory screen-protector film.

 

It is possible that a mistake was made, and factory applied protection got applied to your car. They realized the error before putting on the hood piece. Plenty of owners here to figure it out.

Ford has stopped the factory applied film to most of the Bronco line up as demand was too high. Production timing allowed for 2% of orders to have it. Orders were up to 14%.

 

Nope.

Some fighting couple broke my mirror cover while waiting for a turn signal, and I had to buy a replacement mirror cover. The replacement mirror cover came with paint-protection film.

Crazy fighting couple takes out mirror cover | PriusChat

You can see the paint-protection film clearly in the picture I posted in that thread.

 

It doesn't make sense that Toyota has a front bumper kit on their Build section of the official website.

I did not see those lines on my front bumper.
Interested if others owners can look at theirs.

 

I just checked again, and the paint-protection film is on all these areas: both mirror covers (one replaced with the OEM part) and both entire front and rear bumpers.

You need to look closely, preferably with a magnifying glass. You can see the edge of the film by the wheel wells. It is very close to the bumper edge and almost invisible.

Since bumpers and mirror covers are plastic, they scratch extremely easily without paint-protection film. That's probably why Toyota ships them to the factory with paint-protection film applied before assembly.