The good thing is that i work from home, so it is in the garage most of the time. When i do use something on the cladding i use this Natural Shine dressing.
Chemical Guys TVD_101_16 Natural Shine Matte Interior & Exterior Satin Shine Dressing (16 oz)
I also use it my tires. i really like it because it doesn't leave a greasy shiney surface, even though the name of it says "Shine". It really just makes everything look new.
I have looked into having the cladding painted but it is expensive because of the prep work that has to be done to the cladding. each piece has to be removed and wiped down with a cleaner, to remove any chemicals, like this dressing. Then it has to be treated with an adhesion promoter for the paint to stick properly, then painting. If you were to just sand and paint, the paint would more than likely start flaking off.
Some people have painted the cladding with Plasti-Dip, which looked pretty good, but as for a long term solution it wouldn't be good. I have actually thought about picking up the trim pieces, as i could find them, and having them color matched and installed. But the cladding is so different i almost hate to do away with it.
Every once in a while somebody will say something but more often i see people looking at it at stop lights. It is just one of those little things people see, but then a few seconds later think "wait, that is a hybrid?"....lol
I know my wife doesn't understand it, when u told her what I wanted to do, she said didn't you just get tires? I said yes, but I don't like how they look. She says the truck drives perfectly fine and looks like a tire. Lol
