Do bright car paints get annoying?

[caesar]

Looking around at dealer car inventories, the most popular car colors are black, silver, and shades of gray. I don't know if I can live with orange or bright yellow. But how about red? Do bright colors get annoying after a month or two?

 

[Steve Williams]

Every one of my cars over the past 20 years have all been black.

 

[garylkoh]

When I was young, I owned a bright red "pocket rocket". Seemed that every cop on the road took greater attention, and every other fast car on the road wanted to race.... Since then, it has either been dark blue or black. However, my current car is a light metallic grey/blue and I haven't had the same sort of trouble.

 

[Ron Party]

I've owned only 2 cars in the last 20 years. Both were/are silver.

I thought I read something, somewhere - you know how that goes - about people who are successful in business have a penchant for driving green cars. Color of money, perhaps?

 

[amirm]

Looking around at dealer car inventories, the most popular car colors are black, silver, and shades of gray. I don't know if I can live with orange or bright yellow. But how about red? Do bright colors get annoying after a month or two?

I had a red car and did get tired of it. I don't think this is an issue today but red used to be one of the most expensive colors to create. As such, red cars did not have the same longevity. The red color I liked was in the showroom. Once some of the shine went away, even though it was slight, it was enough to change the feel of the color.

BTW, if you look up resale value, you see that it is lower for colors other than the ones you listed.

My current car is black. It shows a lot of dirt and upkeep is harder. I didn't pick it. It was the only one available. I do like the formal look it has though.

 

[mep]

When I was young, I owned a bright red "pocket rocket". Seemed that every cop on the road took greater attention, and every other fast car on the road wanted to race.... Since then, it has either been dark blue or black. However, my current car is a light metallic grey/blue and I haven't had the same sort of trouble.

That's why they call it "arrest me red."

 

[Bruce B]

probably the coolest colors I've seen on a car was a pearl orange on a lamborghini. I don't usually like wild colors, but that one was done tastefully.
I have a candy apple red motorcycle now... does that count?

 

[JackD201]

For me it really depends on the car. Just like clothes, some folks can carry colors better than others can. I think red looks great on anything with 2 doors and a short wheelbase. From there the words "it depends" will crop up a lot the exception being Fire Engines . The only sedan I seem to like in red these days is the new C-class.

I hear what Gary is saying about being in a red car and everybody seemingly wanting to race with you. I get it all the time when driving my 10 year old e46 M3. Nobody ever bothers me when I'm driving my silver C63 AMG. I do love sneaking up on an unsuspecting Porsche Carrera or M5 now and then for cheap laughs.

 

[audioguy]

The whole issue of red cars and police attraction surely comes into play when the red is on a well recognized high performance sports car. Red Miata is probably not a problem. Red Porsche, Lamborghini, McLaren, Viper or (fill in the blanks), is a sure way to draw the attention of a police officer. I speak from some (expensive) past experience.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I've owned just about every colour of car (red, black, blue, green, grey and even one brown)...I want a white one next!

BTW: Ferraris should only come in Red!

 

[DaveyF]

Black isn't for me.. been there and done that. If you live in a hot climate, black is a non-starter. Do like some of the more pastel colors, depending of course on the car

 

[AMP]

I've had a few red cars and own one now... 2003 BMW M5 in Imola Red... nothing like a 4 door 400HP family sedan in one of the best reds ever done! On the downside as a non-metallic color it shows swirls, scratches, and dirt as bad as (or worse than) black.



My favorite color for anything I drive regularly is silver as my OCD extends to the condition of my car and silver is just so much easier to take care of. Current fleet is 3 silver cars, one dark gray metallic, one metallic black, and one red.

 

[JackD201]

That's eerie Amp. We're 2 Silver cars, one pearl white, one dark gray metallic, one metallic black......and one Imola Red. You've got some fantastic looking clear coat there. Looks like my '01 M3 has had one detailing session too many and needs some freshening up.

 

[Steve Williams]

could also be from that bright Philippino sunshine Jack

 

[AMP]

That's eerie Amp. We're 2 Silver cars, one pearl white, one dark gray metallic, one metallic black......and one Imola Red. You've got some fantastic looking clear coat there. Looks like my '01 M3 has had one detailing session too many and needs some freshening up.

There's a reason why I hardly ever drive this one. It's just too much of a pain in the neck to undo the damage from washing off all of the Arizona dust. What you see here is the result of 3 days of paint correction. It's still not perfect, by any means, but it's about as close as I'll ever get. It helps to own an automotive business and have an excellent detailer on call.

My M3s are silver... and get driven much more often

 

[JackD201]

That too Steve. We're pretty near the equator. Amp's M5 looks like it just got out of the showroom yesterday. To think the pic was taken in the shade. Nice score there. I agree with swirls showing on non-metallic paint.

Paint that's likely to get you in trouble with the cops too are matte paints. I saw a Matte Gray SLS recently and it looked absolutely aggressive while the Iridium Silver looked beautiful.

 

[JackD201]

There's a reason why I hardly ever drive this one. It's just too much of a pain in the neck to undo the damage from washing off all of the Arizona dust. What you see here is the result of 3 days of paint correction. It's still not perfect, by any means, but it's about as close as I'll ever get. It helps to own an automotive business and have an excellent detailer on call.

My M3s are silver... and get driven much more often

Could you describe the correction process Amp? It would be much appreciated

 

[caesar]

I've had a few red cars and own one now... 2003 BMW M5 in Imola Red... nothing like a 4 door 400HP family sedan in one of the best reds ever done! On the downside as a non-metallic color it shows swirls, scratches, and dirt as bad as (or worse than) black.

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My favorite color for anything I drive regularly is silver as my OCD extends to the condition of my car and silver is just so much easier to take care of. Current fleet is 3 silver cars, one dark gray metallic, one metallic black, and one red.

That generation of M5 is the best looking car BMW has ever designed. And it is still breathtaking. It has been downhill for BMW design until the very recent 5 series, IMO. What a disaster. I wonder how many sales they lost because of the severe looking cars.

 

[caesar]

So what are the exact virtues and benefits of metallic paints? Pearl effect paints?

Is it worth it paying for them?

Thanks

 

[amirm]

That generation of M5 is the best looking car BMW has ever designed. And it is still breathtaking. It has been downhill for BMW design until the very recent 5 series, IMO. What a disaster. I wonder how many sales they lost because of the severe looking cars.

They certainly lost me as a BMW 5 series buyer. It always looked like a step backward not forward in design.