Protecting my Bumpers

I think most people around here buy those products to protect against the occasional road rock. That being said, i think it really depends on the amount of damage you're talking about. if it's a small scuff here or there, i'd say they'd probably work fine. If it's small dents and deep scratches (say, from metal license plates), they probably wouldn't help very much... the black fabric aprons may halp against scratches, but i bet you'd have to replace it often cause it would get torn up. My advice: in some areas, you just can't protect a car like you may want to, and you may have to let the bumper do its job of protecting the rest of the car from the 1MPH collisions when some idiot is trying to park.

 

You may not have the option, but I will go out of my way, walk further and park in a non-parallel parking place just to avoid such a situation. I, for one, think parallel parking ought to be banned! :lol:

 

Last week while at a Home Depot, I went out to my car to find another '06 Seaside parked right next to mine. That prius had a black bumper guard that went all the way accross the rear bumper. It looked think enough to prevent parralell parking scuffs. I usually see the specific Prius ones that cover just the corners. I decided that I might want to do the same to mine, but I haven't really started looking yet.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(brandon @ Aug 21 2006, 03:38 PM) [snapback]306951[/snapback]</div>

no, not banned... just require that everyone have a parking assist button! that'll solve all the problems... until someone uses it to try to parallel park the wrong way into oncoming traffic... oh well, Darwin will step in then!

 

There's no protection from the people who were taught to back up until they hear the sound of breaking glass. I've watched people who don't use the mirrors, or turn their head when backing in...they just wait for the bump, be it the car behind them or the curb. I don't get it. I learned to parallel park in a car so big that the Prius would fit in it's trunk!

 

I personally like 2" bumper protector strips which will protect your bumpers from most parallel parking scrapes (chipped paint on rear bumper from a car's front license plate bolts; corner scrapes to front bumpers from your turning into a parallel park; and corner scrapes to rear bumpers from another car turning out of a parallel park), but will not protect your bumpers from a heavier collision.

bumperdefender.com has nice color matched strips for a good price (about $80 for front and rear). You can get 4 free samples from them to try to match your car's color. I like their bumper protector strips because the color is impregnated - it goes all the way through. Compare, for example, the popular side moldings sold on this site where the color is painted on and can scratch and chip off to expose the white or other color undercoating.

I have a Magnetic Grey Prius, and found a pretty close match with bumperdefender.com's Dark Grey. It looks fine. And if I cared enough for an absolute color match, I could have spray painted the bumper strips with Toyota Magnetic Grey paint, which if it chipped, would expose the pretty close match of the bumper strip with its impregnated color.

Also, nobump.com has these small (about 1") round bumpers that get screwed into the top screw holes of your front license plate. These give you some protection, but probably protect the rear bumper of the car in front of you more from getting dinged by your front license plate screws when you parallel park.

If I can figure out how to do it, I'll post pictures later of both the bumper strips and license plate screw hole round bumpers. PHOTOS ARE NOW ATTACHED:

[attachmentid=9600]

[attachmentid=9601]

 

Another good trick at least for the rear bumper is to install a trailer hitch and have the ball left on. I started doing that on my old SUV and never had a problem after that..

 

I'm waiting for Ranch Hand to come out with a bumper for the Prius.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ZenCruiser @ Aug 21 2006, 07:46 PM) [snapback]307276[/snapback]</div>

What are the sizes for the front and rear that you brought? I am planning on buying some... \

Thanks

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DreamcastDC @ Jul 11 2007, 11:37 PM) [snapback]477309[/snapback]</div>

I got the 2" wide bumper guards.

The two (one on each side of the license plate) FRONT bumper guards were 3.5' long = $31.50

The one REAR bumper guard was 8' long = $36.00

I also ordered the anvil type pruning/cutting shears from them (I had to write them about it because I couldn't find it on their website). I think they charged me $12.00.

Plus $10.00 shipping for everything, for a total price of: $89.50.

Also, as I mentioned in my post, they give 4 (actually, now I think they limit it to 3) free color chip samples so that you can try to match your car's paint as close as possible.

Also, if you end up getting the bumper guards, you may want to check out both bumperdefender.com's installation instructions, and another vendor's more detailed installation instructions -- eurobumperguard.com.

Feel free to email me directly at [email protected] if you have further questions.

Good luck.

 

This has to be one of the best tips I've seen on this site!! Thank you so much!



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boo @ Jul 11 2007, 05:03 AM) [snapback]476684[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Angelique @ Jul 13 2007, 01:08 AM) [snapback]477954[/snapback]</div>

Thanks. I felt the same way about your tip about trading in the OEM Integrity tires at a company-owned Goodyear shop (and getting a $300 credit) so long as there are no more than 500 miles on them. But unfortunately for me, I got your tip too late so I'll have to pay full price for the AquaTreds [EDIT - I meant TripleTreds] or ComfortTreds when I get them.

If you have any questions about ordering or installing the bumperdefender.com bumper guards, feel free to contact me directly at [email protected].

Go Ohio (I went to school about a Prius gallon of gas from you).

 

Has anyone put the bumberdefender strips on a Classic Silver? Just curious which of the many Silver colors, is the right match... (I've ordered 3 samples, but they've not arrived yet...)

 

Thanks. Though it may not have been such a great tip after all, some people who tried to get the same deal I got were disappointed with the results. So, I guess only certain select Goodyears were doing it. So far I'm very happy with the ComforTreds but I'm still a bit anxious about winter...crossing fingers and toes everything works out fine.

Thanks again for the invite! You may be sorry for it though (I can envision me being totally lost and filling your in box with thousands of questions)!

Hmm...school as in college? Did you attend Ashland University? Sorry, sometimes I'm too curious for my own good! -Oh, and how do you like the big apple?




<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Boo @ Jul 14 2007, 02:10 AM) [snapback]478537[/snapback]</div>

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Angelique @ Jul 15 2007, 02:03 AM) [snapback]478986[/snapback]</div>

As in Oberlin College in Oberlin, Lorain County, Ohio.

The Big Apple is fine, but getting way too expensive for my tastes --- $250,000 buys you a condo parking garage space. So I park on the street and really need bumper guards, side mouldings, etc. (e.g., my rear bumper got gouged and scratched up by a parallel parker the first day I brought the Prius home).

Re installing the bumperdefender.com bumper guards: It's easy and fast but nonetheless a tad tricky to install them right. I think there are basically 3 issues:

-- Location/placement (I have my particular preferences as you may be able to tell from the pictures).

-- It's somewhat tricky to do a pristinely clean cut of the bumper guard because the bumper guard is 2" wide and the cutter's blade is about a half inch shorter.

-- And generally you have to be real careful when exposing the sticky side and pressing the bumper guards into place because the glue is really sticky (once it's on, it's on - I don't think you get a do-over for more than a quarter or a half linear inch of the bumper guard at a time) - this is especially true for the rear bumper guard because of its 8' continuous length.

But overall they are still easy and fast to install.

BTW, you get a $10 rebate when you email 2 photos (front and rear) of the installed bumper guards to [email protected], bringing the total all-inclusive price of the bumper guards to around $80. Cheap.

 

I just got the color samples and for Magnetic Grey the best color match is Flint Mica Grey. It's darker than the Dark Grey. I'm considering the 1" protectors purely for aesthetic reasons, comments? Also, what do you guys think about using the corner bumper guards on the doors?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Loail @ Jul 15 2007, 04:02 PM) [snapback]479203[/snapback]</div>

COLOR MATCH: Wow, that's great re Flint Mica Grey. It sure sounds like it's a better color match to our Magnetic Grey. Too bad for me that Flint Mica Grey wasn't even available when I ordered my bumper guards a few months ago.

1" BUMPER PROTECTOR: In my opinion 2" is aesthetically much more pleasing, is closer to what most OEM bumper strips look like, and is most appropriate for our Prius. Remember, the Prius has a big butt - especially the rear bumper part with its long skirt. I do not know, but I suspect that a Prius with 1" bumper protectors will look kinda like the fat guy in the Speedo.

CORNER BUMPER GUARDS ON THE DOORS: I too thought about that and also about possibly using the front or rear bumper guards on the doors. I ended up concluding that I couldn't cut the bumper guards well enough to make that nice tapered point the Toyota/PriusChat side moldings have. Also I think those side moldings are thicker (stick out more) so they may be more protective. Ultimately, I concluded that the Toyota/PriusChat side moldings would look and protect better than having the Bumper Defender bumper guards on the door, and I ended up ordering the side moldings from the PriusChat Accessories Shop a couple of days ago. If you can afford to wait a while, after my side moldings come in I'll probably put them on my car within a day or two, and can post pictures of how my car looks with the 2" Bumper Defenders on the bumpers, and the Toyota/PriusChat side moldings on the doors.

P.S. I see you live in NYC also. Feel free to contact me directly at [email protected] if you have any questions, or even if you need an extra pair of hands and eyes to install your bumper guards/side moldings.

 

Thanks for the advice. I decided to go with the 2" front and back in flint mica, I'll let you know how the installation goes later this week. I also decided to purchase a pair of those nobump pads in clear.

 

SUPPLEMENT RE FRONT BUMPER STRIP:

When I installed the front bumper strip I elected to locate it on a line that ends up covering up the bottom 1/3 of the tow access hole - see picture below:

[attachmentid=9849]

I figured (perhaps mistakenly) that this wouldn't be a problem in the event I ever have to get towed. I figured that either the tow driver can still go through the exposed top 2/3 of the tow access hole, or we could pry back or cut/punch through the bumper strip as necessary.

Thoughts, anyone?