Afraid to Admit I made a mistake with Misty Grey

Fred!! :wave: Where have you been??? Post pics, please! How long have you had the car?? Details, please!!

I am sorry to hear you and dsviv are unhappy with the Misty Grey. I'm a slob and I know it. (Unfortunately "Mud" is not a color choice.) I'm getting the dark grey. I'm sure you can do some interior decorating to make the car more live-able. It's so deflating when you're super-excited about your new car to have that one bug-a-boo staring at you every time you open the door.

 

Perhaps Toyota ought to rename the 'Dark Gray' interior because it is not very dark to me.

I have Dark Gray in my 2009 and it's Gray, not dark.

 

If you meant this question for me, I ordered a Royal Blue Prius (Ribbon Blue in the U.S.) . It will take another 3 months before it will be delivered I'm afraid.

 

There's an amazing thread in the Care and Maintenance forum specifing favorite cleaning, conditioning and polishing products and techniques: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...ing/62907-my-favorite-detailing-products.html

I hope you can find something to help you totally love your Prius!

 

Oh wow. Senior moment...actually year in my case. Forgot that you have a IV; no wonder teflon wasn't suggested - well perhaps carpets if that's a concern. As for leather, I'm not an expert but would suggest using 'search' above, and enter leather treatment or such. There have been many posts by Gurus on this topic, and I plan to take their advice.

It breaks our collective hearts here to see your initial post. Good to have the support and advice from the fine folks here. Sure hope it all works out for you - it will... Remember, "You Are Not Alone". (MJ)

 

Believe it or not, I'll share why I think you should be thankful to have the lighter interior.

The dirt or small scuffs are not an illusion. They are there no matter what color your interior is.
If your interior was black, like charcoal - the dirt and scuffs would STILL be there, but you couldn't SEE them. I'm glad my bisque interior is so light. I can see the dirt or "marks" or small foot scuffage or imperfections and, clean them so the car's REALLY clean, not just LOOKS clean. Capische?

Di

 

Seriously Dianne, you like the light colors because they show dirt and skuffs??? Couldn't you just clean a darker color even iwhenit didn't look bad? That way it always looks good. You gotta have a better reason than that.

Of course in the case of people that are "nuts" (and we've determined she is to some extent_ tugging your chain) and they are driving around wondering if their car is dirty then perhaps they need the visual reminder.

 

I had a similar situation many years ago. I was living in Ft. Lauderdale, and the car I wanted came in either black or linen (almost white) leather, and due to concerns about the sweltering summer heat, I went with linen. I was second guessing myself for a month or so, but once the new car anality (if that's a word) wore off, it was fine.

What I did was get black mats which is a great start. Then I bought a can of scotchguard carpet protector and sprayed the carpets. Applied Lexol leather conditioner on the seats, and Vinylex on the doors. All this made cleaning any dirt pretty easy. The biggest issue was the driver's seat, which I would use Lexol leather cleaner on a few times a year. For scuff marks on the doors from people entering/exiting the car, household cleaning spray worked great.

 

Okay got to put my two cents in on this topic. 2g Prius 2006 is a light gray inter. I had a few issues with it also. I then looked at some used Prius on the car lot with same inter and said Oh my! What have I got myself into? I was thinking this is the best the dealer could do with cleaning up this car, I am in real trouble. I believe I felt many of the same concerns you are having.

So the update on that 2006 three year later is, I did take my warning from seeing the used vehicles and tried to be super net. No food, no junk, left in car that could explode due to heat, and just did normal car wash and vacuum. After about 1 month, I started noticing my first issue, water marks, on the door handle, just rain hitting the door would leave marks on door, by this time I was slipping with my super clean rules, and notice that the sweat from my fast food drinks drips on to console and leaves marks on center console. Clean water again. Very ugly marks! With water making these kinds of marks (stains), I am now scared to even try a cleaner. At the 8 month point my interior not as bad as what I had seen at the dealer but I decided I had to do something or I would have no chance at being able to have a nice car. I purchased a Bissell Little Green Proheat Turbobrush, under $100.00 thinking above $50.00. This cleaner uses water, soap, etc. When I used it, I learned a few things. The cleaner was able to pull dirt out of fabric, and even spilt coke. However while cleaning the machine is dripping on place I had already cleaned, thinking no big deal leave the widow down let the vehicle dry out. So those drips from the Bissell show up as stains. I was bummed the heavy dirt gone but drips. So to shorten the story how you solve this issue and now only steam clean my car once a year is to use a damp Leather Chamois, do not use tones of water no cleaners, just damp leather and wipe. Car is left with new car smell because of leather. The other thing I found amazing is using a short stiff hair brush, it like scrapes dirt off then use Leather Chamois. Chamois can suck up spills don't rub pat, rinse and dry Chamois and repeat. Big stuff go get the Bissell.. it can look good even 3 years old.
Good Luck!

See pics

Prius 2006 2g - a set on Flickr

 

Here is what I think. My 2006 Prius is Black and I remember I was very set on that shade for the exterior. My mother at the time told me I should get the Silver and that in the long run I'd be happier with Silver over Black. I said no no no! I wanted Black. So that's what I got. I knew I had made a mistake immediately when I first saw how dirty the car got even after just washing it. I yearned for the Silver and everytime I'd see one on the street, I would sigh and say I should have gotten that color instead. But here is the thing. I knew I made the wrong choice but I absolutely adored the car regardless of color and told myself that next time I'd get the right one. So I have now waited 3 1/2 years. My new SILVER car should be here in the next couple days.

My point is, even though I hated the black color, I have loved my car to bits and it didn't take away from my adoration for the way it drives and everything else it offers. I totally understand what you are feeling knowing that you don't like your Misty Gray interior, but I promise you that it won't stop you from loving the car and after a little while, you won't even be thinking about the leather anymore. Just tell yourself, next time you will get Dark Gray and that is that. The car is fabulous in any color combination. Just enjoy it

 

Yes, but it's always easier to clean what you can see.
I have had folks tell me "I want the darkest interior you have, the light colors get dirty so fast..." and it seems amusing. It would BE as dirty or scuffed it was white. It just wouldn't look it.

:washing:

 

You're welcome - expect the Shrink bill in 10 days. Can we have your insurance info?

I really hope the CA Prius Marketing folks are hearing all this. Seems as if the concensus, for quite a while now, is that the '10s interior choices leave some to be desired. Misty and Bisque too light. And in general, materials and color combos not grade A.

 

If anyone hasn't seen these colors in person ... the bisque is practically as light as the Misty Gray imho.

 

Mistakey Grey Interior?

I really have nothing to add, much good sound advice throughout the thread. The really positive thing is we live in a time inwhich very, very good and simple to use cleaning products exist.

I think I'd follow the more agressive clean as you go policy. Plus really, try to enjoy. While you've discovered that the lighter colors are going to result in a little more effort in keeping visually clean, the flip side is that a well maintained Misty Grey interior looks great, IMO.

I had a black pick-up once and used the same attitude. It was really a monster to keep clean but I loved it because when I did, I thought it looked great.

 

Yeah, that bothered me some, but it is brown(ish) tinted which is what I want. I think it too will be a challenge to keep clean.

 

Normally I get the tan interior because that is what I really like. But upon further inspection, the Bisque is just too light for me. And the fabric feels almost like felt. I know it will grab on to any dirt and be very difficult to remove. It might not be so bad with the leather, but I'm getting cloth.

 

There are a lot of different perspectives to view this from. 1) You are blessed that you can afford a new car 2) you are getting a great car with excellent FE in at a time when the world economy is falling apart and 3) the only adjustment you are making seems to be the lightness of your interior. Many of us are first time Prius owners from Luxury Brands either as our last car (or the one before).

It was a BIG step for me when I left my Infiniti FX45 to go into the Camry Hybrid. Now I'm a believer and the Prius is a logical next step but as a "non" green purchaser this is a large step. I see other people on here leaving Lexus, BMW and other premium brands to drive a Prius. That's going to be a shock initially. All sort of things went through my head when I traded my Infiniti. My friends thought I was crazy, most casual acquaintances thought maybe I had lost my money. My family just thought I had lost my marbles. Anyway it was a big step and I took it. It was the right thing for me to do.

I lived with gray interior for 67,000 miles in the TCH. Never liked it, but it didn't bother me as I was getting almost 600 miles of driving with a 17 gallon tank. I remembered that every time I got in the car. Amazing thing is the money didn't matter. I just wanted to use less gas. THAT was where I amazed myself. I looked at the Cadillac CTS before deciding on the Prius. Seriously. Couldn't do it.

You'll be happy