I hand wash mine once or twice a month. In between times I run it through a touchless carwash. There is one down the street that the owners kid (13) will clean your rims and tires before you go in for a small tip. I am GLAD to give him a tip to do this because touchless car washes fall short on the wheels. When you live in Florida where it rains almost every afternoon you learn not to care to much.

 

Very happy with my "old man tan" aka desert sand mica, and I only have to wash it once every two or three months.

 

Smart move Randy. I did my Titanium also and it always looks good and is easy to clean....But I worry about the PPF yellowing over the long run. Time will tell.

 

I had the ClearShield film by Bekaert installed, and it is warranted for 5 years specifically against yellowing (among other things).

 

You see now why I have bought all White cars starting back in 1981. We then lived near Dallas, Texas and the white color helped reflect back some of that hot July heat. My wife was the one that told me that white don't show dirt. I said no way, but after some heavy rains and looking at dirty cars I started paying attention.

I also found that white cars may be safer. Go to a car dealer at night and you can see the white cars really stand out most times over the other colors. I'm 67 years old and need a car thats more visible during the day and especially at night.

In the south, the white exterior and gray interior is easy to resale or trade. In the early 80's I read in a car magazine that in the previous year, white cars were the most popular selling color. The following year it was white and also light blue where the most popular colors. I have no idea what colors sell good today. I head on television about three years ago that silver was becoming very popular.

Toyota has done a really great job with there many colors that are not really very dark.

 

Good points. People get emotional when choosing colors. Getting a "green" car to save energy and then getting it in black in a latitude that has hot summers where the a/c works overtime is sort of an oxymoron of sorts. As far as trading or reselling a car of various colors you only need to look at any Hertz or Avis lot. Those are the colors that are easy to resell. Not many tideland pearls and many more light colors than dark.

 

Bought my TCH on-line in June '06. Had no choice of color for 'loaded' car.

I am thrilled with the brite-white and grey interior.

Perfect for year round Tampa area driving.

 

rmorrow, can you please explain what the super hard clear coat is? Are you refering to the paint protection that the dealer sells or are you actually getting a body shop to spray on another layer of clear coat? Either way, if you don't mind, can you tell us how much it costed you.

Thanks

 

It may be ok to have white cars in the hot south. That may not be the best color for the cold north. Especially where it snows a lot.

The Toyota dealers have a fancy name for that extra finish they apply at the dealer. The saleslady told me it was a 3 step process. First they hand apply the compound, second I guess after it drys then rub it into the clear coat. Third, they use a soft wheel to buff it out to a shine. In the old days we called a similar process like that, glaze. Im not sure what this is they use. I would think it's a high profit add on to aid the sales people in negotiating a price.

Our local dealer has a extra sticker on the window showing $499 for this service. I rather not have anything added to the factory paint and finish. I don't usually keep cars long enough to matter. I'm sure if it was down to buying the car or not they would not charge for this service. I'm usually have the dealer order my car anyway.

I have seen some domestic car dealers (including one VW dealer) in Dallas with stickers showing $699 make ready fee. I think everyone knows that the car manufacture pays for this service before the car is put out for sale.

 

On the other hand, I find my Aloe Green hybrid to be the easiest car I have ever owned to keep clean. It just doesn't show the dirt! My last Camry was a silver color, and I thought it was good at not showing dirt, but Aloe Green is even better.

I do have mud flaps installed and maybe that makes some difference. I also had paint protection put on the car (Platinum Shield).