Just out of curiousity...

...anyone know why Toyota only did the "gray textured plastic trim" on the 2003 4runners and never again after that? Where there issues? Problems? Or did they figure the public was more attracted to the ethstetics(sp?) of a a 1-color body?

Only reason i ask is because i replaced a rear-panel due to scratches (thank you Home Depot shopping carts!) and the salesman at the Parts Dept. gave me the "..why would you wanna replace something that looks bad even breand-new?" speech.

The only issue was appearance. Many potential buyers opted for the Limited (which did not have the cladding) instead of the other models because of that. They stopped the cladded models in the Spring 04 if I remember correctly.

He doesn't sound like a very good salesman, knocking your ride like that...but I digress....

Colored body cladding was "in" then...with the Chevy Avalanche, RAV 4, Honda Element, 4Runner, and others all trying to get that rugged NERF look. Problem is that those pieces faded in the sunlight, and not evenly in some cases...Ford Explorer being the most egregious offender with "sunset" fade marks where the mold was filled.

I suggested in another forum to sand them smooth and repaint, but of course then you have to worry about repainting when they get scratched. To serve as body protectors, they do the job well enough...I imagine the replacement piece you bought cost less than having the fender dings removed and repainted.

I didn't really care for the Avalanche when it first came out, now it's kind of grown on me and I don't mind it as much. But it still looks heavy from all that cladding. The 4Runner did it better I think.