White cars are boring ... do they have to be?

[donoman]

I have 2 white vehicles that I care for. Before Autopia I always loved white because I could keep it clean and it really showed. Now, post-Autopia, I can keep the cars shiny but you can't really tell how much work I've put into them. It's hard to define "shiny" for my cars. And what is "Warm" when talking about a white car?



I have all the products from Rubbing compound to klasse aio and sg, even P21s. What else can I do to really make my white cars stand out? I've only used aio and sg so far. I'm wondering if the P21s will make my car look any different, or did i just waste 30$ on the wax?



Thanks!

Donovan

 

[donoman]

I have 2 white vehicles that I care for. Before Autopia I always loved white because I could keep it clean and it really showed. Now, post-Autopia, I can keep the cars shiny but you can't really tell how much work I've put into them. It's hard to define "shiny" for my cars. And what is "Warm" when talking about a white car?



I have all the products from Rubbing compound to klasse aio and sg, even P21s. What else can I do to really make my white cars stand out? I've only used aio and sg so far. I'm wondering if the P21s will make my car look any different, or did i just waste 30$ on the wax?



Thanks!

Donovan

 

[papi_jay]

on white I think polishing it out properly is 10x more important than what you seal it or top it with .



How the heck you see swirls and/or any and every other imperfection in white paint to be able to know what need worked out though ? I have no clue ...

 

[papi_jay]

on white I think polishing it out properly is 10x more important than what you seal it or top it with .



How the heck you see swirls and/or any and every other imperfection in white paint to be able to know what need worked out though ? I have no clue ...

 

[Tasty]

I know some people argue that white can have depth and such, but I just find white to be uninspiring. Silver is a close second, but can look pretty good with some work. I actually want a silver car as my next car because of the benefits of white, yet still get some pop if you work it right.

 

[Tasty]

I know some people argue that white can have depth and such, but I just find white to be uninspiring. Silver is a close second, but can look pretty good with some work. I actually want a silver car as my next car because of the benefits of white, yet still get some pop if you work it right.

 

[94BlkStang]

I have 2 white vehicles that I care for. Before Autopia I always loved white because I could keep it clean and it really showed. Now, post-Autopia, I can keep the cars shiny but you can't really tell how much work I've put into them. It's hard to define "shiny" for my cars. And what is "Warm" when talking about a white car?



I have all the products from Rubbing compound to klasse aio and sg, even P21s. What else can I do to really make my white cars stand out? I've only used aio and sg so far. I'm wondering if the P21s will make my car look any different, or did i just waste 30$ on the wax?



Thanks!

Donovan

I agree that white isn't as exciting as other colors, but it can definitely have some pop and a well detailed white vehicle can also be stunning. I was originally looking for a black Navigator, but also owning a black Mustang and knowing the difficulty of keeping it looking nice, I'm glad I bought this instead:

:grinno:

 

[94BlkStang]

I have 2 white vehicles that I care for. Before Autopia I always loved white because I could keep it clean and it really showed. Now, post-Autopia, I can keep the cars shiny but you can't really tell how much work I've put into them. It's hard to define "shiny" for my cars. And what is "Warm" when talking about a white car?



I have all the products from Rubbing compound to klasse aio and sg, even P21s. What else can I do to really make my white cars stand out? I've only used aio and sg so far. I'm wondering if the P21s will make my car look any different, or did i just waste 30$ on the wax?



Thanks!

Donovan

I agree that white isn't as exciting as other colors, but it can definitely have some pop and a well detailed white vehicle can also be stunning. I was originally looking for a black Navigator, but also owning a black Mustang and knowing the difficulty of keeping it looking nice, I'm glad I bought this instead:

:grinno:

 

[Accumulator]

on white I think polishing it out properly is 10x more important than what you seal it or top it with .



How the heck you see swirls and/or any and every other imperfection in white paint to be able to know what need worked out though ? I have no clue ...

Yep, same ol' same ol' it's all in the prep. White and silver cars can look absolutely stunning. Just look at 94BlkStang's post!



The blessing and the curse of colors like white/silver is that light marring doesn't show. Good in some ways but a pain when you want to see it so you can remove it. The same light marring will detract from the overall look- this can make the difference between "nice" and "holy [stuff]!!".



Trick is to find a combination of lighting and viewing angle that allows you to see the marring. Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.



Get the surface smooth (i.e., remove the marring) and the light will reflect off it instead of *refract*. Then a LSP like KSG will work for the *looks* and not just for protection. And yeah, if you have the prep right a topper like P21S will make a difference. Or something like #26 if you want a "warmer" look.



Also, get anything that abuts the white paint (such as black trim) looking really good. The contrast will make the vehicle look great.



Gee, I almost wish I still had a white car...

 

[Accumulator]

on white I think polishing it out properly is 10x more important than what you seal it or top it with .



How the heck you see swirls and/or any and every other imperfection in white paint to be able to know what need worked out though ? I have no clue ...

Yep, same ol' same ol' it's all in the prep. White and silver cars can look absolutely stunning. Just look at 94BlkStang's post!



The blessing and the curse of colors like white/silver is that light marring doesn't show. Good in some ways but a pain when you want to see it so you can remove it. The same light marring will detract from the overall look- this can make the difference between "nice" and "holy [stuff]!!".



Trick is to find a combination of lighting and viewing angle that allows you to see the marring. Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.



Get the surface smooth (i.e., remove the marring) and the light will reflect off it instead of *refract*. Then a LSP like KSG will work for the *looks* and not just for protection. And yeah, if you have the prep right a topper like P21S will make a difference. Or something like #26 if you want a "warmer" look.



Also, get anything that abuts the white paint (such as black trim) looking really good. The contrast will make the vehicle look great.



Gee, I almost wish I still had a white car...

 

[Bill D]

Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.

Interestingly enough, I found my fluorescent garage lighting and a hand held fluorescent trouble light to be rather effective in spotting marring on my white car. I have the 1000 watt halogen stand that I swear by for dark colors but the white seems to reflect back too much of the light they give off, making marring hard to see. Indoors, the fluorescents do the trick as do incandescents. The incandescents range anywhere from the typical 75 and 100 watt bulbs we're all familiar with, to 200-300 watts . I check with the fluorescents and double check with the incandescents.



In terms of outdoors, at the right angle, sunlight can be quite effective as well and so when appropriate, I still pull the car outside and check there also. One interesting observation I made down here in FL was apparently the angle of the sun in the winter months allowed me to see some things I apparently otherwise couldn't this past Spring as well as currently. I would have to use the combination of both lightings :nixweiss

 

[Bill D]

Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.

Interestingly enough, I found my fluorescent garage lighting and a hand held fluorescent trouble light to be rather effective in spotting marring on my white car. I have the 1000 watt halogen stand that I swear by for dark colors but the white seems to reflect back too much of the light they give off, making marring hard to see. Indoors, the fluorescents do the trick as do incandescents. The incandescents range anywhere from the typical 75 and 100 watt bulbs we're all familiar with, to 200-300 watts . I check with the fluorescents and double check with the incandescents.



In terms of outdoors, at the right angle, sunlight can be quite effective as well and so when appropriate, I still pull the car outside and check there also. One interesting observation I made down here in FL was apparently the angle of the sun in the winter months allowed me to see some things I apparently otherwise couldn't this past Spring as well as currently. I would have to use the combination of both lightings :nixweiss

 

[imported_memnuts]

I love my white SUV. It POPS but not because of the LSP, which adds a lot, but because of what I do prior to applying LSP (Zaino) - PREP.



White will never be as eye-catching as a "look at me RED" or "Wow I'm shiny BLACK vehicle" (I have 2 red and 3 black vehicles). But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.



Besides, in this summer heat in southcentral Va, white is very comfortable as a daily driver. :woot:

 

[imported_memnuts]

I love my white SUV. It POPS but not because of the LSP, which adds a lot, but because of what I do prior to applying LSP (Zaino) - PREP.



White will never be as eye-catching as a "look at me RED" or "Wow I'm shiny BLACK vehicle" (I have 2 red and 3 black vehicles). But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.



Besides, in this summer heat in southcentral Va, white is very comfortable as a daily driver. :woot:

 

[94BlkStang]

Yep, same ol' same ol' it's all in the prep. White and silver cars can look absolutely stunning. Just look at 94BlkStang's post!



The blessing and the curse of colors like white/silver is that light marring doesn't show. Good in some ways but a pain when you want to see it so you can remove it. The same light marring will detract from the overall look- this can make the difference between "nice" and "holy [stuff]!!".



Trick is to find a combination of lighting and viewing angle that allows you to see the marring. Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.



Get the surface smooth (i.e., remove the marring) and the light will reflect off it instead of *refract*. Then a LSP like KSG will work for the *looks* and not just for protection. And yeah, if you have the prep right a topper like P21S will make a difference. Or something like #26 if you want a "warmer" look.



Also, get anything that abuts the white paint (such as black trim) looking really good. The contrast will make the vehicle look great.



Gee, I almost wish I still had a white car...

One of my biggest complaints about waxing a white car is trying to get thin coats and complete coverage. It's hard to see the wax on the vehicle. On my picture above, my process was DACP for some troublesome spots, #81 for the polish followed by VM, then topped with EX P and then S100. :buffing:

 

[94BlkStang]

Yep, same ol' same ol' it's all in the prep. White and silver cars can look absolutely stunning. Just look at 94BlkStang's post!



The blessing and the curse of colors like white/silver is that light marring doesn't show. Good in some ways but a pain when you want to see it so you can remove it. The same light marring will detract from the overall look- this can make the difference between "nice" and "holy [stuff]!!".



Trick is to find a combination of lighting and viewing angle that allows you to see the marring. Even though I always say that fluorescent light sucks for spotting marring, it sometimes works very well on white (it does *NOT* work on silver though!!). Maybe Bill D will chime in about what he uses to inspect his white Cadillac.



Get the surface smooth (i.e., remove the marring) and the light will reflect off it instead of *refract*. Then a LSP like KSG will work for the *looks* and not just for protection. And yeah, if you have the prep right a topper like P21S will make a difference. Or something like #26 if you want a "warmer" look.



Also, get anything that abuts the white paint (such as black trim) looking really good. The contrast will make the vehicle look great.



Gee, I almost wish I still had a white car...

One of my biggest complaints about waxing a white car is trying to get thin coats and complete coverage. It's hard to see the wax on the vehicle. On my picture above, my process was DACP for some troublesome spots, #81 for the polish followed by VM, then topped with EX P and then S100. :buffing:

 

[94BlkStang]

I love my white SUV. It POPS but not because of the LSP, which adds a lot, but because of what I do prior to applying LSP (Zaino) - PREP.



White will never be as eye-catching as a "look at me RED" or "Wow I'm shiny BLACK vehicle" (I have 2 red and 3 black vehicles). But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.



Besides, in this summer heat in southcentral Va, white is very comfortable as a daily driver. :woot:

A perfect example happened to me during the fall when I was at a soccer game with my son. We had parked the Navi on the other side of the field so we had a perfect view of it at night under the lights. Just in front of it was a white Expedition like you see every day of the week. I look at my son and ask him if he sees any difference between our Navi and the Expedition and he says that ours has a glow to it while the Expedition looked flat. That's the difference between a white car that's taken care of and one that isn't. :grinno:

 

[94BlkStang]

I love my white SUV. It POPS but not because of the LSP, which adds a lot, but because of what I do prior to applying LSP (Zaino) - PREP.



White will never be as eye-catching as a "look at me RED" or "Wow I'm shiny BLACK vehicle" (I have 2 red and 3 black vehicles). But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.



Besides, in this summer heat in southcentral Va, white is very comfortable as a daily driver. :woot:

A perfect example happened to me during the fall when I was at a soccer game with my son. We had parked the Navi on the other side of the field so we had a perfect view of it at night under the lights. Just in front of it was a white Expedition like you see every day of the week. I look at my son and ask him if he sees any difference between our Navi and the Expedition and he says that ours has a glow to it while the Expedition looked flat. That's the difference between a white car that's taken care of and one that isn't. :grinno:

 

[imported_Sullybob]

[quote name='blkZ28Conv']

But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.

:werd:



I agree :2thumbs: My white Expedition looks amazing at dusk. It's really hard to explain but at night it just glows

 

[imported_Sullybob]

[quote name='blkZ28Conv']

But nothing shows more attention to "detail" than a really well "detailed" white vehicle IMHO especially at night.

:werd:



I agree :2thumbs: My white Expedition looks amazing at dusk. It's really hard to explain but at night it just glows