I purchased a Classic Silver 2008 Prius (Pkg. #5) about 1 month ago. There is a very noticeable difference in the paint on the rear bumper as compared to the rest of the car - it's about two shades darker. Has anyone else with a Classic Siver Prius noticed this same problem. I'm wondering if I should talk to my dealer about respraying the bumper or if I should just live with it. Any feedback and advice is appreciated. Happy holidays to all !!!
I don't think repainting the bumper is a good idea. Factory paint is always the best. Overspraying the factory paint would probably chip off in later years. Marvin
I do not own a Silver Prius, but I can say that I've never noticed a mismatch paint color on the rear bumper of a new Prius or any new car for that matter. I don't think that I could live with a new car that has a bumper two shades darker than the rest of the car. That's not right. The dealer should order you a new bumper cover and have it painted and clear coated exactly as the factory would do it. I think this is a better solution than having the dealer repaint the existing bumper which, as Marvin pointed out, invariably results in more easily chipped paint.
When a vehicle is old (due to paint fading), even factory paint does not match automatically any more. It takes experiences to get a perfect match.
I'm guessing that your rear bumper was damaged at some point. Mine was damaged at the dealer when I took it in for a service. They replaced the bumper and repainted it. It's close, but not a perfect match.
I believe if you look around you will see this is a lot more common than you might think. The plastic bumper covers apparently accept paint differently that the metal bodies, causing the appearance of a differing shade of paint. Particularly visible on the metalic colors. Both front and rear of my 2005 Tidelands Pearl Prius are different than the body. That is the way it came from Toyota -no accident damage. I have seen this same thing on many other cars aside from the Prius. And no, I would not havethem repainted to try to correct the difference.
Thank you all for your feedback and advice - it's greatly appreciated. Cairo94507, you're right: I've noticed that the rear bumpers on other Classic Silver Prius' (Prii???) are a slightly different shade (usually darker), so apparently this is not too uncommon. I've decided to leave the bumper alone and live with it. Other than that, I'm enjoying my new car. Warmest wishes to everyone for a happy and safe New Year!!
I've got a classic silver Prius and was rear ended by someone who wasn't paying attention and destroyed the rear bumper cover.I purchased a new one and my body shop did a perfect match.A few months later someone must have backed into it when my wife was shopping and cracked the edge of the cover near the tail light.These bumper covers don't take much abuse!I may design a set of nerf bars to protect the bumper cover.