Wow, the pics look great. A few Q's, beware that I don't know much about paint and almost feel like I should find someone who can help me with this or do it for me, but:

If a shopping cart or something similar hits this cladding after it's painted, will that area need to be touched up?

Are there any disadvantages to having the cladding painted?

I think painting the cladding on a Proton would be a big improvement and look great.