JDM Prius ZVW30 Toyota Elegant Style Exterior Upgrade

I finally had time to order all the JDM Toyota Prius Elegant Style exterior chrome plated garnish upgrades, minus the lower rear bumper garnish since I have the Prius PLUS rear skirt installed. I originally asked my buddy back in July while on his way to Japan to pick me up a complete set of authentic JDM Toyota’s Prius Elegant Style package (front grill garnish, lower front bumper garnish and rear trunk garnish). I like these chrome accents because they are simple add-on accessories that really accentuates the great looking body lines of the redesigned front bumper and rear taillights found on the 2012+ 3rd gen Prius that is often an after-thought on darker colored bodies.

The total would’ve costed me approximately $525.00. When I did a little bit of researching on Yahoo! Auctions Japan in preparation to write my DIY: How to buy and import JDM car parts directly from Japan article in the early part of summer, I came across a front lower bumper chrome plated garnish replica selling for $50.00 (part # 08417-47010) and immediately informed my buddy to not pick up the Elegant Style components for me while overseas. Since they were available in abundance on Yahoo! Auctions Japan, I figured they will be readily available for some time. Now you’re probably wondering why I am buying a replica front lower bumper garnish vs. an authentic JDM Toyota garnish after going on a rant about fake vs. genuine lower door moldings in a separate article. The difference here is I willingly and knowingly bought the JDM replica part to save cash. With the fake lower door moldings which I bought on eBay, I was deceived when I had all the intention to buy genuine parts.

As mentioned in my previous entries, I decided to go the cheaper route because these exterior parts will be exposed to road debris and will be on the front line when it comes to colliding head-on with rocks and debris. Since the Prius is a daily driver and the primary vehicle for long road trips and not a hard parker, rock chips are a guarantee. I rather not spend more than I have to on brand new Toyota chrome accents only to have it chipped or cracked from road debris when I have alternatives — especially since they are really stick-on accents made of chrome plated mold-injected ABS plastic. Think of these accents as being similar to the chrome lower side door moldings by Toyota.

A little more searching yielded even more positive results. For example, I found an opened, but unused genuine JDM Toyota front chrome plated grille garnish (part # 08423-47030) for $35.00 normally priced at $160.00 on Rakuten and a ridiculous $280.00 + $48.00 shipping on eBay or $260 from Nigel JDM Parts.

A little further search, I found a set of opened but unused set of genuine JDM Toyota chrome plated rear trunk garnish (part # 08409-47010) for $30.00, normally priced at $150.00 on Rakuten and a ridiculous $269.00 + $58.00 shipping on eBay or $195.00 from Nigel JDM Parts.

Finally, I found a set of slightly used but mint condition genuine JDM Toyota chrome door mirror covers (part # 08409-47040) for $50. They normally sell for $105.00 on Rakuten and a ridiculous $185.00 + $55.00 shipping on eBay and $188.00 from Nigel JDM Parts.

All these parts costed me only $280.00 purchasing direct from Yahoo! Auctions Japan. This includes domestic Japanese shipment, handling, all Buyee fees, package consolidation fees, optional Buyee protective packaging service and EMS international shipment. So essentially, I saved over $245.00 vs. having my friend pick up a new and complete set of authentic JDM Toyota Elegant Style components from Japan. $245.00 is sufficient to serve three bone-in rib-eye steaks with sides for three and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon at our favorite prime steakhouse, Fleming’s.

To put this in perspective, I’ve paid less for 4 components of the Elegant Style package than I would’ve paid for a single lower front bumper garnish from eBay sellers or Nigel JDM Parts.

Had I bought the components individually from eBay, it would’ve cost me a whopping $1,225. Had I bought the parts from Nigel JDM Parts, I would’ve spent $875.00 (not including shipping).

Save yourself some of your hard earned cash and do-it-yourself! Then take yourself and your lady/family out on a road trip or to a prime steakhouse with all the extra cash you’ve saved!

Next up, Do-it-yourself guide on how to install genuine Toyota lower door moldings on your 3rd gen Prius. Ya, the ones on my Prius are still the fake ones I inadvertently bought off of eBay some time last year due to false advertisement. I haven’t had time to buy my own heat gun to pull off the fake moldings which I’ve re-surfaced with 3M automotive tape. They’re on the car real good.

To complete the Elegant Style look, I will be ordering the JDM side window molding kit by Toyota, part # 08165-47010.