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Front bumper replacement and RAV4 Prime first impressions

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by spudnut, Oct 27, 2023.

  1. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2016
    145
    158
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    Location:
    Idaho Falls/Pocatello, ID
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    I bought a pre-painted (with an exact color match) front bumper for my '13 from an outfit called "paintapart" $407.00 with free shipping. I just got done installing it, (after watching numerous youTube videos) my local dealer estimated "at least $2,000.00," so I think I made out OK. It's a fair bit of work, learning how all the plastic fasteners work, it takes a fine touch more than anything, almost dainty in some cases. Buying the right hand tool for the fasteners helped a lot, and only 10 bucks.

    I ended up using some sheet metal screws on the plastic under body parts as they were pretty hammered already from off road and deep snow driving.

    I bought a 2021 RAV4 Prime (plug in) 2 weeks ago and am prepping the Prius for sale, making it look pretty again! I sold my 2000 RAV4 a week ago, the new 4 will offer better economy (I have free electricity/solar, and 99% of my driving will be covered by the 40-50+ mile EV range) than the plug in Prius but also have AWD, which I absolutely need where I live. It's been an interesting transition, I'm actually driving slower now on the interstate (80 mph limit), I drove the Prius at 75, any slower and I felt like I was perpetuating the wimpy Prius driver image, MPG aside, and the funny thing is in the 4, which looks pretty much like all other generic SUV's, I feel I can "get away with it." As a former Prius driver, I kind of looked down my nose on SUV's, which is part of the fun of being a Prius driver, knowing we have the best MPG in most cases, the new 4 changes all that.

    Oddly enough, it's also quite fast, with a combined HP of 302 , and a zero to 60 of 5.4 seconds Long road trips, my Prius kicks it butt on MPG though. But like many people, with the vast majority of my driving being less than 40 miles per day, I should be able to make the tank of gas in it now last for months. Seeing the Toyota engineering expertise in play is interesting while also being familiar to this nothing but Toyota's for the last 40 years driver. Still a fanboy of the brand! I'm putting together my ad for my local sale, it will be interesting to see how fast it sells in this day of high gas prices. 113 K miles, real good shape, I'm thinking 10 to 12 K will be my asking price.
     
  2. bbrages

    bbrages Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2023
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    Location:
    St. Louis
    Vehicle:
    2005 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    I had a regular set of trim tools, but I got these for my bumper removal (headlight replacement):



    You don't need all three, just one of the pincer-type pliers is probably sufficient. I used the spreader tool a couple times in the job, too.

    How good is the color match with the paintapart? I saw on their site you can send them a piece from the old bumper or a fuel door to get a better match.
     
  3. spudnut

    spudnut Active Member

    Joined:
    Oct 4, 2016
    145
    158
    0
    Location:
    Idaho Falls/Pocatello, ID
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    Got it out in the sun today, it appears perfect. If not, it's so close I can't tell any difference, being white helps, assuming a darker color may fade more?
     
    bbrages likes this.