Obsidian color in ES 350?
Mind you I am not the kind of person that obsesses over shiny new color coat. As long as the car ages gracefully - I am a happy camper....

 

I have seen complaints on how easily Obsidian shows scratches and swirl marks. It requires a lot of work to keep it looking prestine. I've seen people who neglect their paint, and it looks awful after a year. If you're not willing to put in the work/effort or pay someone to keep it looking nice, then I wouldn't recommend getting this color.

 

I have obsidian black and the amount of fine scratches and how easily it scratches is astonishing. But I heard its more of the new paint regulations that's supposedly more environmentally friendly but more prone to scratches.

 

There is no question that the obsidian (and other blacks) will show polishing swirls and fine scratches more than other colors, but those fine scratches do polish out fairly easily. On the positive side, the obsidian is, by far, the easiest color to match if you ever need paint work. Also, if you use touch-up paint to touch up pinhead-sized stone nicks, with the obsidian, those touch ups will be very hard to see unless you are looking at the finish from a few inches away. With most other colors, even carefully done touch ups of stone nicks are easily seen from a much greater distance.

I've had a several cars with obsidian or other blacks. Currently, my ES is nebula gray pearl, and my GX is obsidian. I actually worry more about the ES because I know that, if I should need paint work or even if I just need to touch up small stone nicks, it will be more difficult to do it well than it is with the black on the GX

 

i've had two vehicles that were black,both full-time jobs, show anything and everything. no way will i go dark again. it's just too much work keeping it nice.

 

Agree 100%. The dealers put the dark color cars in the showroom because under the lights they look great. In the real world your first rain, pollen etc. they need washing. Absolutely true about the swirl marks. IMO they can make a car look horrible. Get white , silver or cashmere satin.

 

It is VERY hard to maintain. Obsidian is very soft, scratches very easily. It looks fabulous when it's clean and polished, but if you're obsessive it will kill you.

If you like dark colors, get fire agate or nebula.

 

Thanks guys.....bad news - I got the obsidian....good news...I really am not that obsessive...really ....I have not washed my car in 3 years....

 

You have to wash the obsidian, or it's going to look terrible in short order.

 

So a brushless car wash with wax/polish would do?

 

Hahahahaha, no. The car wash will really destroy it. I'm not anti car wash, I use one all the time...which is why my car is silver lol.

If you really want it to look good over time and you're not interested in learning how to safely wash it yourself, I would hire a professional detailer to hand wash it regularly, and polish and wax it twice a year.

After a few trips through a brushless wash it will look like this:

 

That sucks.... How much would that cost in NJ...

 

You can find a good detailer who will come to your home or office and wash it for $35-40 probably.

 

If you don't wash it, you'll never see the swirl marks .

 

Actually, it is showroom lights that will make polishing swirls more apparent than light from any natural source. If you put a black vehicle that does not have polishing swirls in the showroom, it will look great in that light, but, if you put one with even minor polishing swirls in that light, it will look worse than it will outside because minor polishing swirls will not be readily seen in natural light.