For more than nine years I was driving a 2014 Prius Plug In. I got it brand new and really put on the miles as it had over 420,000 miles with all the driving I had done. I had been to all 48 states in the mainland USA with it as well as Canada so as sad as it was, it was time to say goodbye. It was just last Thursday that I traded in my old Prius for a brand new 2023 Prius Prime. My new car is an absolute beauty. Here it is.
Congrats FarTraveler! I drove a non-prime in black when I first test drove one at the dealer! Love the rainbow speckles in the paint! (For you without the black exterior, you can still see the rainbow speckles in the black mirror paint! Same color!)
I am on a waiting list for a black Prius Prime SE myself. You must have got one of the last 2023 models. Could you post more pics?
So have you ever owned a black car? I've always wanted a black car but I heard they can be hard to keep clean, you really got to make it look like a bowling ball. I guess I'll be going to the carwash quite a bit.
Mine had just been manufactured in Japan, or it was in its last stages of being manufactured, when I spoke to the dealership about wanting a new Prius. I visited another dealership where they were planning to build a Prius just like the one I got but the plans got scrapped, so I ended up getting my Prius at Morristown instead of West Caldwell. If they hadn't scrapped their plans to produce the one that they were going to sell at West Caldwell you could've had it since it would be just like mine, if you want a black Prius Prime SE which is what mine is. As I said in my last post, I've heard black cars can be hard to keep clean but they're beautiful. Will post more pics when I take them.
My worry is not cleaning. If you don't clean a black car, it becomes a gray car. I'm worried about safety (visibility) and heat absorption, which are documented issues with black cars.
Well when I talked to the dealer he told me that they were getting a black Prius Prime coming in, which was just what I wanted. So I reserved it and ended up buying it.
Then you just have to take more trips to the carwash, problem solved. Visibility for black cars would only be a problem at night if you don't use your headlights. But with headlights it shouldn't be a problem. As for heat absorption, I will have to see how that plays out in the summer.
Actually, red cars are a lot worse in showing dirt than black cars. As I said, black becomes dark gray when it is dirty, which is still acceptable. Dark blue is probably worse than black, too. Visibility will be somewhat less than for light-colored cars in daylight. As scientific studies show, the interior will run hotter than a white car's, and the A/C will do more work as a result.
