What is more important?

Grimm · 11-01-06, 05:41

Some of the comments I've seen recently about not ever owning a black car intrigue me. So what is more important to you, having a clean looking car (ie: silver), or having a beautiful color car that looks dirty quicker (ie: black)?

For me it's a no brainer, give me the black or other dark color. My car hasn't been washed in almost a week and is a bit dirty, but it still has a ton of shine to it and looks way better than any dull, clean looking silver car.

Joshua312 · 11-01-06, 05:48

Silver is not always dull if done right...

But I still prefer dark colored cars like you - - I would never trade my red, except for maybe a dark mica with lots of flake

I wash my car twice a week with ONR and it's not that hard to maintain...but black would kick my butt

More pics to compare the differences...http://autopia.org/forum/showthread.php?t=79691

Bigpoppa3346 · 11-01-06, 06:00

Eh...Black, but only if it is Ceramiclear or some other form of scratch resistant clear. A perfectly prepped black finish is stunning, but unless you wash like Accumulator does or have mar-resistant paint, I wouldn't get it. Silver is great for a daily driver, as it hardly shows any dirt. With regards to silver being dull, I have gotten silver to look like *amazing* when done right. Any well done silver should look excellent, even when compared to a well done black car. On well prepper silver(ie. no swirls/marrs, burnished to a mirror like shine with Menzerna), I use Collinite 845. It is the most reflective product I have found on that color(in the shade, you get noticable, glossy reflections), while being clear enough to allow very nice flake pop. My lecture of getting silver to pop aside, for *me*, a black daily driver is just too much work.

Grimm · 11-01-06, 07:06

See you guys are missing the point though. I'm talking about seeing a silver car sitting next to a black car both after they are dirty from a week of driving to work. Sure, a silver car can look nice after a good polish and wax, but look at it after it has a week or two of road grime and it just looks dull when it's dirty. While the black may show more imperfections, it still looks great to me even when it's a bit dirty.

BlackElantraGT · 11-01-06, 08:30

I own a black car and that nice shiny look doesn't last very long unless it's a garage queen. It's pretty frustrating to spend all that time washing your car only to find it dusty and dull the next day.

I think silver could be made to look great too depending on the paint/shade of silver.

I'd rather have a car that looks clean most of the time than one that looks extraordinary for a very short time.

CleanGSR · 11-01-06, 09:17

My black car is my daily driver and it's a pain. If it was a weekend car or garage queen, then I'd definately rather have the black. But being a daily driver I wish my car was a ligher color....even white.

percynjpn · 11-01-06, 10:32

Though a chore, black, dark blue and (esp British racing) green are by far my favorites.

mcnab · 11-01-06, 10:37

I've got a black daily driver right now. If I could do it all over again, I don't think I would. I consider myself pretty anal about keeping it looking clean, and even I have pretty much lost my motivation over winter.

I'll wash my car on Saturday afternoon, by Sunday morning it's already dirty. The dew comes in over night, then the dust/dirt settles on the now wet surface and by noon it's already dirty.

If I could do it again I would go with a high metallic blue, wine red, silver or championship white.

Alex_Perry · 11-01-06, 11:48

I'm a fan of white. I think it looks best at night under ambient light such as streetlights, store lights, etc...

Accumulator · 11-02-06, 09:14

I'm sure it won't surprise any of the regulars here that I voted for silver.

IMO a really well-detailed silver car will look better more of the time, with a lot less work. I drove black for years, but I had to wash a few times every week to keep it looking OK. With silver I don't, and it has to get a lot dirtier than I let it before it starts looking truly dull. With black, even a thin film of dust makes it look *to me* like it badly needs a wash. I'm just not gonna wash a car as often as I have to with black.

Scottwax · 11-13-06, 04:58

I have my first and last black car. The only way I'd own another one is if it was a garage queen. Black just isn't a good color for me on a daily driver, too much work to keep it looking as close to perfect as possible. I keep mine as a 5 foot car right now, too frustrating to keep it any better.

Mr_Elusive · 11-15-06, 07:09

BLACK! I don't mind washing all the time, there's nothing like looking at a clean black car with lots of souveran