TorontoIS

I am trying to narrow down my colour choice on the IS 350. For low maintanence I think that the Tungsten Pearl is the colour of choice. However, I really love the Matador Red and the Smoky Granite. For those who have these colours, how do you find them for maintanence? Do you find that these colour show dirt very quickly and thus are a lot of work to keep clean looking? I love these colours but I'm coming from a dark blue car and was hoping for something with less maintanence. In the winter it would be nice to not always feel like one is driving a dirty car without having to wash it everyday. Thanks.

Cali_Girl

Yes, it shows dirt easily. My husband is a proud owner of a smoky granite. Maintenance is high because it shows dirt easily. Daily commute will do it, especially with all the new constructions around us. He is fortunate enough to park in a covered parking structure at work. At night, the car stays in the garage. Things like rock chips and scratches also show easily with SGM than a light colored car like tungsten or crystal white. I think the key is at least weekly washing and a good detailing job every so often. A clear bra would help too in reducing the number of rock chips.

tazdevl

Matador red.... not uber high maintenance. Does OK with dust and pollen, still looks OK. Also, it's not as popular as Smoky Granite, something I like. I've seen 2 other Matador Red IS's in the central coast/LA/San Diego area.

As previously mentioned, get paint protection film installed. I'd recommend www.ventureshield.com, have it professionally applied.

unit74

iTrader: (3)

I just let mine get dirty and wash every few weeks........ I'm on the freeway so much it's impossible to keep looking showroom new so screw it.


But I rarely see another red, and plenty of silver, black and SMG's running around. Go with the black interior as well. The cashmere shows everything and grey doesn't compliment the red at all. Black naturally goes with the red paint.

jsquared

i have a matador red and i like how it's not so popular. anyway, i wash my car at least once a week. i don't like driving it dirty, especially with all the brake dust on the rims. it rained here in san diego pretty bad and i was out driving and my car looked like someone poured bags of dirt on my car. first rain, so my car got all the dirt from the roads. anyway i gave it a good 3 hour wash. it won't get as dirty as the black/white colors, but even when it does, it isn't too noticable. i'm just a little crazy about keeping my car clean, that when there is a little dirt, i wash or spray detail it.

9520G

I was in fresno a couple weeks ago and saw a matador red with the stock chromies, it looked absolutley amazing!!! I sometimes wish I had that instead of the crytal white.

uthatch

The Matador Red doesn't look too dirty even if the car is pretty dusty. It hides pretty well. Plus,EVERYONE that sees the car in the sun says what a nice color it is. In the shade it's kind of muddy, but it's really brilliant in the sun.
Not sure about compliments on the Granite as I don't have the color. But like mentioned above, you don't see many red IS's.

BottomsUp

Everyone has SGM. Go for the red.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

I've only had my matador red for two weeks, but it hasn't shown me any issues yet... There was a busted fire hydrant at night that I didn't see, and it got sewer water all over my car (I almost cried). The next morning, even though it clearly got the car a little dusty-looking, you couldn't really tell unless you were close up. Then we got some rain that afternoon, and it looked good as new all over again.

But IMO there is no other Lexus color that looks nearly as drop-dead GORGEOUS in the sunlight as the matador red. Combine that with a probably-low maintenance, and you have the reason I went with red over black... Well that and black/SGM are done to death on IS's...

EDIT: It looks like other red owners have almost the exact same thoughts as me, haha.

txguy977

I know, Our Red is amazing! I clean it every week, but the wheels is hard to keep up with...

ABC

my granite gets dirty quick. But it still looks amazing, even with alittle dust on it

TorontoIS

Thanks for the opinions guys. It sounds like the Matador Red is sort of medium maintanence. Less than black or smoky granite, but more than Tungsten. I think I'm leaning heavily towards the Matador Red. I've always wanted a red car and that Matador red looked great in the showroom. I have a red Vespa GTS now, the problem is that it is a Ferrari red so they'll clash in the garage. Worse things could happen.

unit74

iTrader: (3)

I'm full of shiate guys..........My wife was looking at the car today and said.....are you gonna wash that thing.......well, 4 hours later and a wash with Zymol, Meguires clay bar, wash again and then Meguires gold wax.....


So my Matador on black looks like a porno on wheels this afternoon.....

Magellan

I agree. The first time we really saw our matador red IS in sunlight we were blown away. It looked like those cars you see at commerical auto shows with complimentary spotlights on them; leaving you wondering what kind of wax they used to get it to look like that.

In terms of showing dirt, it is no worse than most cars, except for black I guess, which I'm sure is much worse.

Evitzee

Notwithstanding all the other comments, a light colored car in silver/white/beige spectrum is easier to keep clean. I own a Tungsten Pearl IS and it is very forgiving in day to day driving. You can slop through a slight shower and the car still looks good. Dark colors lilke SGM or Matador Red Mica will have a higher maintenance quotient. If you don't mind washing the car it's no big deal, but I like the low maintenance of a silver color. This is something only YOU can decide.