My wife and I, after an exhaustive process, have decided to get a Prius II. The colors we like are black or possibly gray. Here's the thing... We've never owned a black car. My wife has never put a sponge on a car in her life. I wash the cars in a spray bay carwash (with the pressure washing wand thingy) every once in a while -- well to be honest, very rarely. Are we nuts to get a black car? And if so would gray be much better? I suspect I may not care if the car looks terrific, just as I don't care if my current maroon Ford truck looks good. Am I wrong? Will black force me into a life of car-washing drudgery?
No nutsier than wanting white! Try to buy from a dealer with free car washes. Almost all do that nowadays.
Silver hides it best. Black hides it worst. I own a black car and it forces me to wash it all the time.
I've always had either black or white cars. Black definitely shows more dust but you buy it for the look, not maintenance. Another advantage of getting the Prius in black--it hides the split hatchback glass, which I think looks disconcerting in other colors. Also, hides the black side view mirror stalks. But if you're getting the solar sunroof, Blizzard Pearl is the way to go. Solar sunroof on black is kind of a waste.
I've had a black Corolla for years now and the poor thing does not get washed enough. It does not look that bad. Only during pollen season. I thought about getting the gray Prius because I thought it would match the dirt better. lol. But the hubby wants Black, so that is what we are ordering.
My 2010 Prius is both. The silver body looks clean all throughout the summer, even if it is dirty. The black glass roof almost always looks dirty... from up close, where every spot & streak is quite obvious. Fortunately, from a distance it still looks pretty nice. .
In my 20's I owned a black pick-up. I will admit I enjoyed maintaining it. It wasn't drudgery to me. When clean, I thought it looked great. Plus I learned a few tricks to maintain longer. Twice a year, I'd spend the better portion of a day very carefully waxing with a high quality wax/protectant. Those were the 2 big "effort" days. Usually I did 1 in spring, and 1 in fall. Protected for the Winter, Looked good in the Summer. What I found was that with the use of a California Car Duster, I could keep the Black looking good as long, or longer than most other people with any other color car. Every day or so, I'd run the duster over any spots of dust showing, it seemed to work great and was effortless, took seconds. If I drove through a lot of dirt, or things started to get too bad for the Duster to handle? I'd then do a quick bucket spray wash. With a good wax applied that was relatively easy as well. So I felt like I dedicated 2 days a year to really working at keeping the finish looking good, and the rest of the year the maintenance was pretty easy. In anycase, my preferences are now #1 Black, #2 Gray. I like Black because it is classic. Seems like metalic colors will go through cycles of popularity. Suddenly you'll see ton's of a metalic red, then for a while green, now it seems Blue is popular. But Black is an "always" around color. Sure it's just my opinion, and as I said I actually find detail maintanence an enjoyable part of vehicle ownership. But I certainly wouldn't hesitate from getting black based on what might be a marginal amount of additional effort needed to keep it looking absolutely clean. All vehicles show dirt, black is just more "honest" about it.
That's disturbing to me. You say almost always looks dirty? As I have already posted, I don't mind being obsessive about keeping something clean. However, it has to be able to be kept looking good. So does it ever look clean? Would a Rain-X applied product help? Ugh, the more I hear about the solar roof, the more I wish Toyota would of just offered a plain old moonroof sans solar panel. Everytime I get onboard with the panel, I hear something that gives me pause.
Dondoh, Black is really beautiful ----- when it's clean. When it is dirty, black cars look filthy. If you don't plan on washing it regularly, don't buy black. Keith
You might check out The Prius Drive Through Videos. They have chosen a Black Prius. Will give you a good idea how it will look with useage and no cleaning.
You are nuts to get a black car, based on how you describe yourselves. Nuts. My last black car was... well, MY last black car! And, I work where we wash our buyers cars for free, mine too, and I still wouldn't get one!
black is high maintenance... when taken care, it looks awesome... but it shows every single swirl, scratch, flaw or dust particle. You need to use a very good wax to maintain it's looks. do NOT use wax/cleaners unless necessary. plus you HAVE to wash the car in a shady area, otherwise the soap/water dries and leaves waterspots or the car waxes will leave streaks... I am still waiting for my Prius IV (and it ain't black!!!)...
I agree with John. I had a beautiful black Tacoma extra cab 2001, never clean, minutes after you washed it it was dusty. I think that dings also show less on the lighter colors. I don't mind rinsing mine off now and again.
In a word--yes. Black is the most high maintenance color. It looks great right after detailing...for a few minutes. Then every bit of dust, dirt, fingerprint, etc. shows--and it shows all the swirl marks. I had a medium gray BMW (anthracite gray) 10 years ago and it actually wasn't bad at all. I haven't seen the new Prius gray in person to see how dark it is, but it will certainly be better than black. You may want to do yourselves a favor, and get a sliver car.
Wow, I'm begining to doubt my own sanity. My black truck didn't seem all that difficult to keep looking good most of the time. Of course I did keep it waxed and maybe it has to do with the rain in Oregon? A good hard rain was often like a self cleaning. It was years ago, maybe I just have forgotten how hard it was to keep clean? Damn, now I leaning towards Gray. I just can't go with White or Silver or Red or Blue for that matter.
I have a black 2006, and it still looks great. I'm not the fussiest of people about car washing, but having a black car has prompted me to wash it a bit more often, maybe even as much as three times a summer. Get what you like and stop worrying. Tom
You're only nuts if you think the black will stay clean. If you don't care if your car is dirty looking then you should get whatever color you want to get. I think the Winter Gray would be a little bit better at hiding dirt, etc. It's got a bit of a blue tint to it. If you want your car to look clean at all times, and you get a black one, then yes...it will force you into a life of car-washing drudgery.
I love this site. Post a simple question, get a pile of reasonable responses. Thanks to all. Really. After reviewing all the arguments... it's lookin' like Winter Gray here in NC...
