LexFather

I think for the first time this is happening to me. Not sure I really want a black exterior anymore. Its odd to see the car in another color and think "I think I should have gotten that"....

I'll start a thread on black cars some other time

I'm thinking I should have went back to my cocaine white, PDW or the gunmetal grey......

Sigh...

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

I originally wanted Black Sapphire Pearl when I got the IS. I liked the color because it reminded me of my dad's old Legend . But they didn't have it with the options I wanted so it was either take the Tungsten with the options I wanted, take the BSP with less options, or special order and wait it out. I didn't feel like waiting or taking fewer options

Stormforge

tired of washing your car every other day just to keep it clean?

bagwell

had a black car ONCE, NEVER EVER AGAIN!!!

they look good but they are too hot (I live in Texas) and too hard to keep clean with f'in swirl marks.............

LexFather

How about I don't wash it

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

I am thinking about painting my SC430. Or trading her in for a lighter colored one...

ho0n

I got the Neptune Blue Mica RX330, then wished I got the gloss black, then the gloss white.

LexLaw

I'm sorry Philip, I forgot what color is she again??

pvmike1

Yeah, the grass is always greener. When I had a light colored car, I often wished it was black with blacked out windows. Now that I have that, I miss not having to wash the car all the darn time.

Now I think, if it's a small car, then I'm okay with black. Less vehicle to wash that way.

tex2670

I wanted Breakwater Blue or Matator Red for my IS, but would have had to special order to get that color with my option packages, so I settled for Tungsten Pearl. And every time I see either of the other colors, I think I should have done the special order.

<VENOM>

I kinda wish my 09 Maxima was black, it's dark slate, but my 06 was Black and I got so freakin tired of spending a weekend cleaning it only to have the smallest thing **** me off, you only need to own a black car to know how many water related things will be attracted to your car and the nicer the shine the more likely.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

She's Midnight Pine Pearl.

Dark exteriors are difficult to maintain. I always have preferred lighter colored cars.

Ehjay

when we got our tacoma we wished it was black instead of silver after a while. then a few months later we wished we got it in white.

mmarshall

If you don't mind me asking, why did you choose black to start with? For the macho image? You know it is difficult to take care of, and hot in that GA sun.

But, to answer the question on the thread topic, I think that some of the color remorse, besides just buying a car on an impulse, can also be traced to the fact that a lot of car companies, IMO, just don't offer enough different colors to start with, particularly with brighter colors and pastels. (I've mentioned that quite often in car reviews). Much of that, of course, is cost-cutting....the fewer colors you offer, the less paint has to be ordered, and the less work is done cleaning/re-filling the robot paint-guns in the plant. I myself like two-tones, but that's another area where we see cost-cutting......most companies that offered them (like Subaru, for instance) are phasing them out.

And some companies, particularly European ones and on a few American-badged vehicles, have a silly extra charge for some shades......usually metallics and pearls.

As far as changing paint color on a car once you have it, the easiest car I know of to do that on (in the American market) is the Smart-for-Two. Not only because of the car's diminutive size, but the fact that the car comes with easy to snap-on/off body panels that are already color-finished at the factory. Want a different color? The Parts Department at the Smart dealership just orders a couple of new door and fender panels, a tiny hood, and one or two other small body parts; they arrive already corrosion-proofed and painted, ready to go, and bingo, the old ones snap off and the new ones snap on. The local Smart dealer in my neighborhood (at the time I reviewed the Smart, in February of 2008) says they charged about a thousand dollars for the job...parts and labor. That's a lot less than what a good paint job (not just an Earl Scheib special) would cost in a reputable body shop, especially changing color, where a lot more work is required underhood and inside door panels. Older Saturns, with the side plastic body body panels, could also change color more easily than the average car, but, even with them, you still had conventional metal hoods, roofs, and trunk-lids.

Suneet

I highly reccomend against painting the car another color.

I had a silver LS400. I decided to paint it smoky granite mica. The car got totaled a year later. I immediately regreted spending all that money on a paint job.