Prius side moulding installation heads up

Thanks for posting! I installed my mouldings today and learned this lesson the hard way. No harm done, but I was mildly panicked until I got it all sorted out.

 

Hi Margana,

I have those bumper strips. If you want to see pictures of them on my car, see my pictures here:

http://priuschat.com/forums/ca-san-....html?highlight=bumperdefender.com#post460797

BTW, I think that the manufacturer and distributor is BumperDefender.com, and you can buy them at BumperDefender.com for a little less than eurobumper.com.

Regarding the lack of finished points, I don't think the strips need them. When similar strips come on factory cars, they frequently don't have finished points either.

But you do need the anvil type cutter to cut them properly and cleanly (anvil type cutters have one cutting blade on top which drops down directly onto the flat "anvil" bottom; as opposed to "bypass" type cutters, shears and scissors which have two cutting blades which "bypass" each other).

However, you may already have such shears in your garden shed. They are identical to anvil type pruning shears. In fact, they're one and the same. Indeed, the ones sold by eurobumper.com and BumperDefender.com are the exact pair of anvil type pruning shears sold at Home Depot and other places under the "Fiskars" brand name.

If you do get these bumper guard strips, you'll need an 8' strip for the rear bumper, and two 3.5' strips for the front bumper (one strip for each side of the front license plate holder). Those lengths will enable you to cut the strips at the crease surrounding each wheel well (see below).

For the rear bumper strip, I would install it so it is above but touching the center crease that runs the length of the rear bumper.

For the front bumper strips, I would install them so they are as close as possible to being above but touching the center crease, but avoiding the round toll hook cover on the driver side of the front bumper as much as possible. I think that you can get away with covering only the bottom 1/8 of an inch of that round toll hook cover.

For both the rear and front strips, I would extend the strips to the crease that encircles and is around two inches from the wheel well opening. If you look at my pictures, you'll see what I mean.

Be careful when you install them. I think it would be useful if you had another person stand back ten feet when you're gradually stretching and pressing down on the strips. That person could make sure that you're laying them down straight, without that wavy look that I have at two spots on my rear bumper strip.

Good luck. Feel free to PM me if I can be of any help.

P.S. If you're mainly concerned about protecting your rear bumper, you can consider getting one of those black rubbery mats that hang over and cover the rear bumper. The best looking one is made by BumperBully.com. You can see a picture of it on my car here: http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/50916-someone-hit-my-prius.html

Then as to the front bumper, you can get little, black, round, spool-like, rubber bumpers from NoBump.com/GirlsLoveWheels.com, which attach to the top two screws of your front license plate. They'll protect your front bumper a little, and protect the rear bumper of the parallel parker in front of you. You can see these little bumpers in the first group of photos I've linked for you above.

 

Margana,

For the BumperDefender.com or eurobumper.com bumper guard strips, did you get any color samples besides the Pewter Sand?

It seems that there might be 2 or 3 other color samples worth getting that sound like they may be a possible match to your Driftwood Pearl -- the Bronze Beige, the Beige, and maybe the Heather Silver.

 

If you do get the full length strips, you'll have to experiment with the location of the front strips.

Unlike the rear bumper, the front bumper's crease does not run the length of the bumper. The top edge of the air dam grille is above the crease. Then the front license plate holder interrupts everything. Then you have to account for blocking off as little as possible that round tow hole cover on the driver side.

If I could have a do-over of the front strips, I think I would see about installing them at a location similar to the rear, i.e., touching but above the crease from the wheel well to wrapping around the corner, then either continue going straight across along the crease to the license plate or angling it slightly to accomodate the higher top edge of the air dam grille. But before removing the plastic to expose the 3m sticky side, you can experiment with the location of the strip to find what suits you.

BTW, if I didn't live in NYC where we frequently have to squeeze in and out of parallel parking spaces that are only a little longer than our car (which means that out of necessity, parallel parkers have to "tap" the bumpers of the parked cars behind and in front of them), I think I might not get the bumper strips if I wasn't satisfied with the color match. But in my case, I was satisfied enough with the color match anyway. I think that the bumper strips actually look pretty good.

Finally, if you don't feel like installing the strips yourself, you might be able to find a good body shop that will do them for you for around $50. Your dealer might do it too. But my dealer actually sold the same strips for $300 installed. Which means that they charged over $220 for labor!

Good luck. And congrats on your Prius.