mmarshall

In my reviews, I often gripe (with reason) about the way automotive color-marketing is done today, especially in the U.S. As often is the case with other facets of auto-production, cost-cutting often is noted in the paint department as well, though there is little doubt that the quality of today's paint jobs, with their multicoat and clearcoat protection, is better than ever before. The basic white paint job on my 1980 Chevy Citation, for example (arguably the worst-built car I ever owned) was so thin that you could see some gray primer-marks through it. Many other domestic paint jobs at time weren't much better....especially from Chrysler and AMC. Nor was the paint on my brother's old 1979 Renault much to look at for quality.

Fast-forward to 2013, and, of course, most of the paint-quality glitches of the past are long-gone (indeed, some Lexus and Audi paint-jobs of today approach perfection, and even the paint on my 25K Verano is quite impressive) . But other signs of today's paint/color marketing still point to classic bean-counting. All but gone, for example, are the nice two-tone combinations (Subaru held out with one or two of them on sport-oriented Imprezas until this year), and, in the U.S. market, only Mini still seems to offer them with different-color roofs. Another (IMO) annoying tendency, especially on many mainstream sedans and premium/luxury vehicles, is to stick with mostly (but not necessarily totally) dull, funeral-home shades that are about as exciting to look at as.....well, watching paint dry. , or something that my 9th-grade English teacher would have driven.

Well, I have to give an award, though, to one company, today, in the American market for tossing most of that nonsense out in the trash and doing, IMO, paint-marketing correctly.....Fiat. The color-palette on its 500, for a car that starts well-south of 20K, is just amazing. Some 15 shades (yes, you heard right......fifteen) ranges from some funeral-home shades (yes, if you do want them) to a wonderful array of blues, greens, reds, yellows, browns, and oranges....check it out here on their Build-Your-Own site.

http://www.fiatusa.com/hostc/bmo/CUX.../2DA/colors.do

Not only that, but all but two of these colors are price-standard (no extra-charge), available across-the board on most or all of the 500's trim-levels, and are readily kept in stock at Fiat dealerships, so you don't have to wait or special-order. And that doesn't even include the many different interior colors/trim packages that Fiat offers for the 500 (though we still don't get the Expresso-coffee-maker package they sell in Europe). But we do get the stunning coffee-brown/beige interior-package and Expresso-Brown paint package.

Now, in contrast, look at the Hyundai Equus, arguably one of the worst cases of automotive paint cost-cutting I've ever seen...a real shame, since it otherwise, IMO, compares at least fairly well to the admittedly excellent Lexus LS460 it was designed to compete against. True, the Equus has never sold in anywhere near the LS460's numbers (and probably never will)....but Hyundai is at least partly to blame for that. Here, even though its price generally undercuts that of the LS by some 10-15K, we have a top-of-the-line flagship luxury car that offers just four exterior colors....white, silver, gray, and black. In my book, that is nothing short of disgusting, and an insult to people who are willing to spend that kind of money. While the LS, of course, doesn't necessarily have circus-bright colors across the board either, it at least offers a lot more than just four dull basic colors.....and, as of recently, now offers the stunning Lexus Matador Red paint job, IMO one of the best in the industry. Shame, Hyundai....and also ironic, considering the many nice colors that Hyundai offers on its other, lesser American-market models.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Great topic. To add to your list of cars like the Mini with different color roof options, the Wrangler, Flex and Evoque also offer different colors

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

The new 2014 IS, being the young breath of Lexus, needs some modern oranges, yellows, and greens:





Even the CT200h has a brilliant golden yellow:

RX_330

I've been seeing browns make a resurgence and I'm loving it. I love the Sparkling Bronze on the BMWs.

mmarshall

True, the Ultrasonic Blue is the only color in the current IS palate that will really open your eyes, but at least ten different shades are offered......which, IMO, is a reasonable number. The Equus, in contrast, insults its buyers with only four dull choices.


I've seen it first-hand. I wouldn't call it brilliant...it's actually more of a mustard-yellow (The Honda Civic and some BMW models also had it a while ago). The only true bright yellow Lexus has ever done (outside of the limited-production LF-A) is the Solar Yellow used on the IS300 and SportCross models in 2001-2002. I owned a yellow IS300 myself......that's how I originally came to CL.

Aron9000

Porsche is another company that deserves a special nod for the sheer number of choices in paint/interior trim colors. They have 14 different colors for the 911 and 6 or 7 different leather choices. They'll even do a custom color according to the "build your own" thing on their website.

Although I agree most mid-priced/cheaper cars really get the short end of the stick when it comes to color options. Interiors you are lucky if you get to pick from tan, black, and grey.

dc893

Lincoln definitely needs some more colors.

I8ABMR

me too. I call it coca cola brown because it has that cool glow like when you hold soda up to light

Lil4X

US automakers struggled from the late '70's to the late '90's with the paint they put on their cars. Having worked out some fine enamel finishes in the '30's and some pretty but short-lived lacquer finishes (GM) by the end of the '50's, the air-quality boards of most states began clamping down on spray booths as early as 1974. Water-base paints seemed to be the answer for a time, but they were thin and usually very expensive to apply.

I worked for a company that produced oilfield equipment in Orange County CA, and by the time they'd achieved CARB approval of their paint line they'd spent nearly $3M on a paint booth and all of the gear required to render it environmentally safe. The water-base paint was worthless - thin and semi-transparent . . . . even after multiple coats. An item painted in the CA shops and put on a truck for shipment to Houston would already be showing signs of rust a couple days later when it arrived.

Our customers were furious. They were spending up to $750K for some of these products and by the time they got to the rig for installation they were streaked with rust. We had to repaint everything on arrival in Houston. We weren't alone. Automakers in California - and increasingly in other states with tightening emissions controls - were feeling the pinch. Paint was a joke - and worse, it was thin and turning to chalk in only a year or two.

Finally after months of testing, our plant hit on an environmentally-friendly electrostatic paint system - similar to what the automakers are using today. It produced a tightly-bonded finish that offered great rust protection and even gave a nice finish. Yeah, it was expensive . . . and it took a lot of re-training for the guys in the paint booth to learn to apply it correctly, but it saved the company a fortune. It sure beat us re-painting 30,000 pounds of iron with rattle cans in the backshop.

Several years later I picked up an old '92 Voyager minivan that had paint peeling off in hand-sized sheets. Chrysler Corp. was having difficulty marrying an environmentally safe primer to an equally non-polluting finish coat. The primer was outstanding - well, in that it adhered to the bare metal tightly and provided a surface impervious to rust. Unfortunately, their paint wouldn't stick to the primer for more than about a year or two when it began to flake off. You still see these early '90's Chrysler vehicles on the streets with big dark-grey spots on the upper surfaces.

I took the car to Earl Scheib for one of those $350 "paint any car" specials. The results were serviceable if not spectacular. They sanded the surface to get all the poorly adhered paint off and sprayed on a "binder" coat that was essentially another primer before re-coloring the car. It worked very nicely and gave us several years good service.

LexusNN

iTrader: (5)

I agree the new IS needs some flare and some colors to attract young buyers. The CT yellow was a failure though and was dicontinued

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

But it doesn't need to be continued every year.

Perhaps Lexus can do a special color that lasts only a year or two, just like the CT Yellow.

A daring color (without being a "Special Edition") can breathe a little bit of spunk to a dealership lot.

pman6

people like gray primer color.

gray gray gray

what you gonna do about it?


I'm surprised that with all the beige paint inside people's houses, people are not buying beige cars.