Team-BHP - Toyota Fortuner + Changing it's Colour

Dear Sudhir,
Many congratulations on choosing the Fortuner. clap:
Excellent car for your jungle outings!
The camo car cover is the best option of them all.

Went through your website - excellent photos!
Are you also affliliated with the NGC?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilanjanray (Post 2079326)

Sudhir,

Amazing photos! Why haven't you updated your trip reports?

I am buying a Fortuner too (Black), and am teaching myself DSLR photography. Hope to run across you someday in some jungle. I visit Mudumalai/Masinagudi pretty often - once a month, almost.

Nilanjan. Sudhir has already essayed his trips on his website.
Have a look - The Jungle Look/info/trip-reports

Cheers

Hi Everyone,

I'm considering changing my Fortuner's color from Grey to White or Silver. The reason being a dark color, heats up fast in hot weather.

I'm aware of the RTO procedures. Nandi Toyota gave me a quote of about 1L.

The question is, is it worth it? Finally, I understand the car has to be dismantled to perform the painting but when they put everything back together, would it be as perfect as it was before, or would there be rattlings, loose fittings etc?

Even though its a official dealer who is doing the job, would it be as perfect as a factory paint?

regards,

Nitin

Rs. 1 Lac for 5 extra seconds of discomfort in 2 months of Summer in a 3300 feet altitude hill station like Bangalore? Totally not worth it. Anyway, the heat difference between a grey car and white/silver car in the sun won't be very perceptible. Meanwhile, for the first 2-3 minutes, roll down all the windows and run the AC at the coolest setting at the highest fan speed.

But when your car is all scratched up after 5 years of driving around in Bangalore, then go ahead and change the colour.

Nothing can be close to factory paint. But there are a few shops who can beat that. Changing color is a painful job, as seats and other interior parts. Even doors might be removed. Fitting back everything together "can" cause problems. Try get some knowledge on youtube. There are plenty of educational videos. Then you can decide.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitinbose (Post 2758626)

Thanks smartcat, point well taken. What about visibility between Grey and White? Is there any cost effective solution to this, such as installing white slide claddings etc?

- In broad daylight, there should be no difference between visibility of a grey and a white/silver vehicle. If the driver of the oncoming vehicle is not able to see your grey vehicle (that too a Fortuner) in broad daylight, then he is blind as a bat (or worse) and you might need to take some pre-emptive evasive action! :D

- At twilight, a white coloured vehicle would be more visible than darker coloured vehicles - logically speaking. But you can easily get around this issue by switching on the parking lights (or the low beam headlights) at 6:30 PM on the highways/ghat roads.

- At night, there would be no visibility difference between light and dark coloured vehicles - since headlights do the job of signalling other vehicles of your presence.

For a car that's relatively new and / or in good shape, I'm never big on a colour change. Reason : Changing the colour of a car is a far more cumbersome job than repainting it in the same colour. The former requires a completely strip down. On the other hand, you could get away with top work & an overcoat with a repaint in the same colour.

Stripping a vehicle down means you have lost that "factory" build quality. Please avoid. Best for you to enjoy the Toyota factory build :)

Installing a good set of DRL's in front will also help with visibility for oncoming vehicles.

High powered horns to announce your arrival also helps in increasing others awareness of you on the road !

I switch on the driving lights sometime before sunset. Helps greatly in other vehicles getting a heads up...

You might also want to put the LTD yellow sticker at the back - that is visible from far away.

Nope change of colour within the first 5 years is a bad idea. RTO is not really the problem, that can be handled, the removal and fixing will not be upto factory quality and you could develop a few rattles plus the paint quality of a dealer cannot match that of the factory besides this would be on existing paint vs the factory paint that was laid on bare metal. So unless you are taking care of scratches with an overcoat this is a bad idea.

For visibility at night you can fix radium reflective strips at certain - not too visible in day time - locations.

Suggest you stay with the current colour. Initially the Grey on the Fortuner had a longer lead time and some dealers were quoting a premium for it. I infact feel the Grey is the best colour for the fortuner - matches its looks the best.