Rank 'Em: Car Make/Color for Ease of Maintenance

[Memphis_Blue]

I will be in the market for a new car in the near - hopefully very near - future. Prior to my discovery of AGO, I might have chosen my new ride based on websites or on lot impulse, but I have seen numerous mentions in this forum of "this company/car has the hardest or softest paint" or "this color is incredibly easy/hard to work with."

In the spirit of Letterman, I was hoping that some of the detailing vets could rank popular car makers (Ford, Honda, etc.) in terms of ease of maintenance (or "hardness/softness" of paint?). Also, I was hoping for "top ten" of paint colors (in terms of ease of upkeep).

So, let's hear it - what are your top (or worst) ten?

Feed back please

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Black and only Black. Nothing looks better than a properly finished black vehicle.

[mjlinane]

Generalities:
Silver metallic.
German (Audi, VW, MB, BMW). Recent vintage Hyundais have very hard paint, too.

Might as well go gunmetal wheels, too. ;)

[Kinalyx]

in my opinion, any color that is easy to maintain, is boring to look at. Golds, whites, silvers, all boring. Blacks, reds, oranges, even some of the darker greys, are much more fun to look at.

Whats the point of being on this site if you drive a car that is super easy to keep looking nice. I had a silver car, and never washed it, and it never looked all that bad. Even after washing it, it didnt look that much better, cause its a boring color.

Shawn

[BWG707]

I think pearl white can and does look great when properly maintained. It looks classy and usually makes all the trim and chrome really pop. Also it hides dirt and dings the best.

[walletless]

I have owned a white, and currently own a black.. white is WAY easier to maintain if you are regular.. and way too easy to screw up if you neglect it. Any etching and contaimination that builds on white takes some effort to clean. Black is more forgiving, but you HAVE to maintain it regualrly otherwise it looks horrible.

If I were to buy a new car today, it would be either white or black.. other metallic colors are tougher to find exact match touchups for.. and less forgiving if something goes wrong.

[92LX302]

White is easy to maintain while still looking good compared to dulley grey/beige/silver...


But after a winter... A white paint need much more attention!

[Capa1970]

Black is a second marriage. It is the prettiest when clean and the ugliest when dirty. It can rain a lot here and so I prefer silver.

[Memphis_Blue]

Black is a second marriage. It is the prettiest when clean and the ugliest when dirty.

Haha - well put, sir. :xyxthumbs:

[BrandonJ]

it could be just me but i do see some boring silver cars but my silver tundra is far from that, my paint pops i get a ton of compliments. id by my color again in a heartbeat

[bigez]

Silver is the easiest to maintain by far. Doesn't show jack squat as far as swirls, or even dirt. And, if you get a scratch, that's hard to see too. But I agree, it's not the flashiest color. But a good choice for a daily driver.
Now, if you like washing and polishing your car all the time, get black. Nothing looks better than a properly maintained black car, yet nothing is harder to maintain than a black car in my opinion and it easily shows every tiny scratch and swirl.

I don't find white all that great. It shows more dirt than silver, and still shows up scratches more than silver. Not to mention it I see a lot of yellowish looking white cars.

[Mike Phillips]

that some of the detailing vets could rank popular car makers (Ford, Honda, etc.) in terms of ease of maintenance (or "hardness/softness" of paint?).

Also, I was hoping for "top ten" of paint colors (in terms of ease of upkeep).




Most people pick the "car" they want and then take what they get when it comes to the paint. I can't say I've ever met anyone that picked the paint they wanted and then found the car that had it. :laughing:

Seriosly... the easiest color to live with and not worry about its visual appearance is silver metallic.

The metallic flake camouflages the swirls and scratches on the surface on low light settings because you're eyes see past the surface to the flake under the clear.

In bright light settings the metallic flakes act like mirrors and blind you if you try to look at the paint to closely for too long so... you look away... end result you don't see the swirls.


So if you don't care about the swirls and just want to wash and wax the car to keep her clean and shiny, go for silver metallic.


:)

[SON1C]

Mineral grey ford, looks great, neglected still looks good, cared for looks amazing

[SON1C]

A huge factor on my last vehicle purchase was the color lol

[andrew b]

Most people pick the "car" they want and then take what they get when it comes to the paint. I can't say I've ever met anyone that picked the paint they wanted and then found the car that had it. :laughing:

Seriosly... the easiest color to live with and not worry about its visual appearance is silver metallic.

The metallic flake camouflages the swirls and scratches on the surface on low light settings because you're eyes see past the surface to the flake under the clear.

In bright light settings the metallic flakes act like mirrors and blind you if you try to look at the paint to closely for too long so... you look away... end result you don't see the swirls.


So if you don't care about the swirls and just want to wash and wax the car to keep her clean and shiny, go for silver metallic.


:)

I'm in agreement on the care side of silver metalic...

But isn't it one of the harder colors to match when doing small touch-up work (i.e. rock chips)? Seems like the silver metalic touch up spots just never quite reflect the light the same...