Has anyone put a contrasting color body side molding on the Prius, ie, Black on white, silver on white, any color but white on white?
I know of two people who have put body shop black side moldings on their non-black Prius. One had a Seaside Pearl blue. The other had a Magnetic Gray Metallic. I also know of one person with a Seaside Pearl blue, who put body shop black bumper guard strips and Seaside Pearl body side moldings on his car.
The side moldings are just painted plastic strips. You could have them repainted in a color that was only a few tones off, lighter or darker than the body color. I can see how this might look very nice as opposed to the sharp contrast if you limit yourself to the standard Prius body colors. This might be considered complementary as opposed to contrasting side moldings.
I think there are some colors of car that a black molding would be highly effective on. One guy at hybridfest this year had a Salsa (very deep burgundy red) Prius. He tinted the windows very dark and put on a black shark-fin antenna...I believe he had some sporty black rims as well...the effect was awesome. black moldings, I think, would have enhanced that. I can't get to/post my flickr photos from work, but if you wanna dig through them look in my "Prius" collection at the Hybridfest 2008 set and you may be able to find that car. Flickr: efusco's Photostream
I have black side moldings on my 2004 "sand beige" Prius. They were put on in my driveway when the car was a week old for $85. JeffD
Here's a photo of Wired's silver Prius with black body side moldings: [imglink]http://priuschat.com/forums/avatars/wired.gif?dateline=1225654915[/imglink]
Re: Chrome line in body side molding FWIW, I don't think that I've seen these posted before: Pre-Cut Painted Bodyside Molding With Chrome Line
What a great idea! Hadn't thought of that & so glad you posted this just before I order strips for my new baby- 2009 Magnetic Grey. I wonder which would look best on it, silver or black? Anyone have an opinion?
I think Magnetic Gray with black side moldings and bumper guard strips would look good. The black would pickup the black accents throughout the car (B pillars, window frames, rear window triangles, windows paint, black on top of windshield, underbody spoilers or whatever you call them, license plate holder, windshield wipers, interior black accents, etc.). If I were going that route, I'd consider doing it all with the standard black moldings/strips that body shops have. Personally, I went with color keyed or color matched side moldings and bumper guard strips for my Magnetic Gray:
I put simple, wide, black side moldings on my Sand Beige 2004 Prius 5 years ago. I liked the way they broke up the flat expanse on the sides of my Prius. JeffD
