Why do car mfgs quit painting cars blue, or red,

[look 171]

you know the real red and colors like Mexico blue or yellow we see on the 997s or maybe the GT3s? They are always off red, blue, or whatever colors. Just off. Is Porsche the only car mfg doing that? Orange is orange, not like that orange/brown color on the Lambo.

[ZAMIRZ]

They use data from past sales, focus groups and look at what the competition is doing and how it's selling to determine what colors or blends fit the personality of the car and profile of the person buying it. Once the potential palette is determined, swatches and sometimes entire cars are painted and go through rigorous tests to see how they age, including the fade characteristics and durability in adverse conditions. At the same time, they determine if any special coatings or blends are necessary to comply with environmental regulations and how they must pass on additional costs to the consumer.

If the market demands it and it's feasible, they'll offer more avant garde colors.

[Don Ro]

Cars' colors these days are silver, black, or white...variations of those 3 colors.
My '83 T-Bird Turbo Coupe's color was Bright Red...and it was bright red. Loved that color.

[Dantilla]

Saw a newer Special Edition Boxster in orange next to a Tangerine 914 at a recent Autocross-
The difference in color was astonishing! The old orange was gorgeous, the new looked pretty sorry next to it.

Someone said it was the new paint formulas Porsche is using that are supposedly more friendly to the environment.

[Jim Richards]

I love the early 911 & 914 colors. Even some of the 964 colors were pretty cool (too bad mine's only GP White). The new colors don't grab me at all.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Most people look at cars as throwaway appliances, not as things to actually enjoy or have fun with. How many people have fun buying a stove or a refrigerator or get hung up on the color of one? Very few. We here are the automotive equivalent of those who would.

Aww heck, just for fun, here are some refrigerators I absolutely love - cant stand the stainless steel look personally.

http://www.smegusa.com/smeg-refrigerators-and-freezers-exuding-style/

I like "weird", unusual colors on cars too. I'll never own another white, grey or silver boring one. Ditto black (my MB is black and I absolutely hate it - pita to keep looking clean, even if it looks good when it is, never again). Yellow, blue, green, orange or red for me!

[drcoastline]

Don't the reds, blues, oranges, purples, etc require more pigment and more coats to properly cover? I recall they cost more to buy because they require extra pigment to achieve the proper color. A lot could have to do with cost.

[89911]

I'm not sure how they pick colors. One mans "perfect" color is another's reason to completely avoid. Having just bought a car and considered many, many colors, I've wondered this myself. BMW really has a lot of boring color choices. If you want something brighter, your only choice is white. Everything else is muted shades of grey, brown, dark red, and similar. To me, the perfect color for a BMW was Estoril Blue, but that only comes out on a few cars rarely. I ended up getting Carbon Black Metallic. It's a really, really deep blue-black. Interesting enough considered I had jet black prior.

[VaSteve]

Most cars are appliances to most people. I live in the Burbs and own a silver minivan for the kids just like most of the other people around here. I think mine's a Toyota. I just look for the one with the stickers on the back and the checkered flag license frame. The shades of silver very from model year to model year, or maybe it's just dirt.

People that want to be "different" buy Honda Elements in burnt orange.

Manufacturers make what sells and then resells. Remember the 1993 Teal that was all the rage in 1993, and ONLY 1993?

I have seen bright red Volvo S70 sedan and 325 sedans. Doesn't look right, IMHO. Guy I know has Minerva Blue 996 TT. That's a real 1970's Porsche color. I think it looks terrible, but it sure stands out. I have a Rosewood Targa. I think it looks nice, but I saw a 997 TT in a metallic brown and it looked bad to me. In some ways, there's a reason women of a certain age shouldn't wear miniskirts.

[motion]

Getting color on a new baseline MBZ C250 is around $700 IIRC. That's not custom... just anything besides white, black or silver/gray.

[Jim Richards]

Originally Posted by motion

Getting color on a new baseline MBZ C250 is around $700 IIRC. That's not custom... just anything besides white, black or silver/gray.

Wow. That's lame.

[GWN7]

They don't make Red cars anymore? What are the crazy women going to drive now?

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by drcoastline

Don't the reds, blues, oranges, purples, etc require more pigment and more coats to properly cover?

For one year only, the early Miata was available in "Sunburst Yellow". Yellow did not cover well, so those cars were first sprayed white, then went through the paint proccess again for the yellow.

[motion]

Edit: I checked the site. Red is free, but everything else is $720-$1500 more. I see quite a few red C250s running around. But yeah, the color looks a little muted. Water-based paint maybe?

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by Don Ro

Cars' colors these days are silver, black, or white...variations of those 3 colors.

Flipping through the newspaper, came across a full-page ad from a car dealership.
Thought the ad was in black & white till one bright blue car caught my eye.

Took a closer look- Entilre page was in color. Every car except one was a neutral color.

[coldstart]

I'm torn as the exact car I want to buy isn't in the color I want. It is a very nice 2008 997 C4S which would become my daily driver. I already have a black 911 and it will be a pain to keep a black daily driver clean.

There is a lesser car in a nice blue but it has about double the mileage (and half the price).

A 911 is a want-it purchase so I likely am going to hold out for the right car in the right color at the right price.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Took a closer look- Entilre page was in color. Every car except one was a neutral color.

The economy still sucks. A boring/neutral color is conservative. Hot colors for hot times!

The other day, I saw one of those useless Chevy convertible pickups with the hard bed cover. It was bright red.

When I bought my BMW in 2004, I ordered it in blue. I'm old that most German cars, the dealer has to order the car. If the dealer orders, the dealer orders what he can sell. Silver, black, etc. Lots of luxury cars are leased anyway. You need that color to be resellable in 3 years.

My brother worked for Land Rover for a while. They accidentally dumped some red metal flake in the black paint and painted a bunch of cars that way. Sold them a "limited factory run" or something. Lemonade from lemons!

[scottmandue]

I think a better questions why (or how) do they sell cars painted snot green and baby poo yellow?

At a military base near me a guy has a Z4 painted Army green... at first I thought it looked weird but pretty cool once I got used to it.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Originally Posted by GWN7

They don't make Red cars anymore? What are the crazy women going to drive now?

Whatever their former husband had.

[cockerpunk]

there is a direct coordination between availability of car colors, and the economy.

don't believe me? google it.