MrsSB is looking for a new car - it's a big purchase so she wants to get it right.
One of the three colour options she's considering is black (glossy metallic if it makes a difference), although it's in 3rd place. We live on a country road that's often muddy in the winter - how hard is it to keep a black car looking good?
(it's a little sports car and allowing it to get grubby isn't an option!)
Easier than a a white one.
If you want it clean and looking ncir, dont get black. We had 2 black cars and hated them
Now, I only have 1, theu get dirty straight away and show up EVERY LITTLE mark.
I would avoid at all costs, esp if it needs to be kept in good nic
I've got a (non matellic) black car and a metallic silver van. The black car always looks dirtier than the van.
I'd rather have nicer brighter colours, but they were the right cars at the right price, so clolour didn't come into it at the time of buying them.
What car?
What are the other colour options?
Please say one of them is like Fabio's bike 😁😎
White is surprisingly good at looking clean, also a big advantage when it's hot. Black is a nightmare if you aren't into cleaning cars.
Silver hides alot of dirt.
PS keen car 'cleaner' here and we've white, blue and silver at present.
Black will show dust and road spray quickly.
Black metallic car owner here, gets very hot in the summer & rarely looks clean, metallic black is completely pointless too. Wouldn't get another.
Edit +1 for silver cars
I have a black car and a white car. They both look dirty at the same speed, IMO, just the white one looks somewhat better with dirt on it. But you can still tell that they are both just as dirty, if you know what I mean. It's not like the white looks pristine when the black looks filthy. When you're close up the white is still obviously dirty, and if you care enough to pay attention then both will still look dirty IMO.
As someone else has said, silver hides a lot. Very Dark cars (even if not black) show dirt and also show small scratches
currently own a black metallic car, and have previously owned another black metallic car.
After the first one I said never again, but unfortunately some cars just look better in black, so this one had to be black.
I think black is the most difficult colour to keep looking nice, so if you are the type that washes your car once every 6 months, its going to look pretty terrible, but if you wash it weekly its not too bad.
Get it ceramic coated , it makes quite a difference to how long it stays looking nice for. You dont need to pay a pro hundreds to apply it (although I'm sure a professionally applied ceramic coat will last longer), I use Auto finesse Lavish ceramic foam applied using a foam lance, just spray on after washing, and rinse off, it makes quite a difference.
sorry, people clean their cars? i thought that only happened when it went into the garage for its annual service?
oh, i'm with henry ford in that all car should be black - although i hasten to point out that this is pretty much the only view of his i wold support!
We've a black and a silver car....the black car gets cleaned more (although that's still rare as lifes too short for car cleaning)
After owning a black van I wouldn't have another one. Constantly polishing and waxing it, whereas my grey car seems to stay clean a lot longer and it's only when it gets washed that I realise just how dirty it is.
My Wife's car is metallic black. When it's clean and has been give a wax, it looks amazing. In the summer, it will perhaps look good for a couple of weeks, before general pollen and dust dulls it a bit.
In the winter, you basically wash it and then by the time you have driven a mile down the road it looks filthy again.
Best car I had for looking clean even when pretty filthy was my old Ibiza. It was a kind of mid-grey colour that hid the dirt really well - probably because it just looked like dirty grey to start with. The wheels always given the game away though.
I have a black car and a white car. They both look dirty at the same speed, IMO, just the white one looks somewhat better with dirt on it. But you can still tell that they are both just as dirty, if you know what I mean. It’s not like the white looks pristine when the black looks filthy. When you’re close up the white is still obviously dirty, and if you care enough to pay attention then both will still look dirty IMO.
Agree with this. previous car black, current one white.
Although a muddy road was the OPs concern, dont forget the general winter road salt/mess. will make a black car filthy in minutes, barely noticable on a white one.
A white car you can clean to a passable standard with a hose, or even a good rain storm. The black one I had to clean, dry and wax to get any sort of decent appearance.
Never again.
We have gone from Black to a white car and white is easier. Black looks dusty really quick and if you don't wash it carefully/properly you will soon have clearly visible swirl marks in the top coat.
Had black before and it always looked mucky. Now have road-grime-silver* and it's ideal for not looking that mucky, when it is mucky.
*called something else but forget what.
Black car with drug dealer tints for the win! 🙂
I've had both, I find black is much worse for showing dirt quickly. In winter, salt shows up straight away on it, first journey after being washed. In summer, it gets pollen and dust showing up straight away. It shows defects swirls and holograms very badly too.
Also I seem to have people constantly pulling out in front of me as if my car is invisible. I don't remember that with any other colour I've had. Even worse for it than the 'motorway surface grey' Fiesta I had once.
Only ever owned one black car. Never again.
Purposefully chose metallic grey for our van when ordering as it hides the dirt and small scratches brilliantly. Had a white van before and would happily have another. Yes, white shows dirt but as already mentioned looks better with dirt on it than black.
Just please don't get something in primer grey.
Agree with most of the above. Back on the day my white calibra looked gloriously sparking after a quick hose down - lived that car. Lived in a flat at the time so only ever got a petrol station jet wash but always looked mint
Some years later I had a plain black Audi - I polished it once when felt the urge, spent a whole morning on it, it looked amazing. Went inside for lunch and an hour later it was covered in pollen - I might as well have not bothered. Never polished it again.
Best car ever was a dolphin grey metallic Audi - basically the same colour as road grime. It polished up nicely if I felt like it but continued to look fine even when filthy
Weve got a classic Saab in black now - cleaning that up for the occasional show is sort of a hobby now and it does look amazing when done, but most of the time it looks grotty
In short, get a black car if you love washing cars and like a challenge, but not if you want some that looks nice for minimal effort
We've just changed from a Black Focus estate to a White one . The Black one was such a good price 4 years ago £18K with just 6 miles ( not a typo) on the clock !But have to agree it looked brilliant sat on the drive after cleaning with Auto Gym it was a shame to drive it 🙄 The worst thing that stood out on it was that Saharan dust after a rain storm 😔
Was a bit dubious about White but I guess it can't be any worse? 🤔Time will tell .Seem to remember cleaning the Black one after a week! Soon got fed up with that 🙄
My current car is black. I wasn't keen on getting black as Ive had previous ones and they have scratched easily.
I think this one has had some kind of paint protection on it before I bought it and it does stay way cleaner than I thought it would and hasnt scratched. Maybe just Merc black paint is better than Ford ?
In the winter it does look dirty and I just leave it for a few weeks.
This pic was taken after a 3 hr drive through heavy rain in crappy weather
Current car is black and would not have another. Dirt in winter, dust in summer so it always looks dirty, shows marks and fine scratches and swirls far worse than a white or silver car does. I'd have white over black personally, depending on the car as some look awful in certain colours.
Dirty white looks like a shade of white, dirty black looks dirty, though if you look close you see tar spots on white.
Look great when clean. Look bad a few minutes after they have been cleaned. <br /><br />
Dark grey would be a good shout.
I’ve had a few black cars now, yeah they show dirt but not as bad as made out. My current metallic blue once is probably just as bad.
I once took a white car to get a quote for a new sill. The first words from the body shop guy were “ah, that’s good it’s white”.
Last car was white, current is black. No aircon, during the really hot weather it was hideous. It takes longer to get looking clean and looks dirty faster.
Any imperfections except rust show far more. Rust stands out a mile on white.
FunkyDunc
Free MemberMy current car is black. I wasn’t keen on getting black as Ive had previous ones and they have scratched easily.
I think this one has had some kind of paint protection on it before I bought it and it does stay way cleaner than I thought it would and hasnt scratched. Maybe just Merc black paint is better than Ford ?
In the winter it does look dirty and I just leave it for a few weeks.
This pic was taken after a 3 hr drive through heavy rain in crappy weather
Almost certainly a ceramic coating.
Mercedes paint in particular is known for being hard, i.e. resistant to scratches (and difficult to polish). However as far as I know that makes no difference to road grime sticking to it.
No manufacturer can paint cars properly any more though IMO, almost every car I see has terrible orange peel. The worst I've seen recently was a Ferrari! I've genuinely had better results from a rattlecan.
(it’s a little sports car and allowing it to get grubby isn’t an option!)
I think it being a "nice" car gives you a little leeway with the cleanliness. Mine's a "nice" car in very dark metallic grey and it looks stunning when properly clean, but even filthy it still gets the nod of approval/thumbs up/"rev it mister" from kids and petrolheads alike.
A ceramic coating can apparently help with keeping it looking lush but I'm yet to convince myself that the £1000+ I've seen quoted is worth it. £1000 is a lot of jet-washes.
Said I'd never own another black car after the first but have owned about 3 or 4 since. Pain to keep clean, looks great when they are though. Would have another 😀
but I’m yet to convince myself that the £1000+ I’ve seen quoted is worth it. £1000 is a lot of jet-washes.
try the auto finesse lavish ceramic foam stuff I mentioned earlier in the thread, it gives an exceptionally good result for virtually no effort and costs about 30 quid, I'd say 80% as good as a pro job, assuming the car paintwork is in good nick to start with. Its obviously not going to fix defects like would be fixed if you paid a pro hundreds of pounds, and if the paint needs a polish first its not going to do that,and I doubt it will last as long, but its remarkable in what it does for such little effort.
ive got a black car.
Polished its like a mirror. Lasts about 30 seconds after youve finished though.
I would pick a lighter colour. the difference was about 4-5k for me though so a no brainer to pick a black one.
I've got a black XC60. But, i bought a ceramic coating to put on it. Took me a day to prep and another day to apply. Cost me £200 in all.
But it looks nice most of the time, so i thought it was worth doing.
I had a black 911 with ceramic coating. Still showed every single swirl and scratch, however fine. On the other hand, it looked a million dollars after being detailed. I wouldn't buy black again. There's a reason silver cars are popular.
try the auto finesse lavish ceramic foam stuff
I will do just that. Thanks for the recommendation.
What car?
What are the other colour options?
It's a 718 Boxster (4-ish years old) [yeah yeah.... humble brag]
My current car is silver and she doesn't want a silver one. I think we can safely say that black is no longer an option!
A Boxster - got to be Miami Blue!
Don't go boring! 🙂
And not black - Porsches aren't meant to be black.
I have a (very) dark metallic blue car.
I live on a dirt track.
It looks filthy incredibly quickly.
The previous fire engine red car (pretty much the same model) took a few days (in winter) to look filthy.
On the plus side, i do so many miles that *all* cars look filthy within a week.
Plus it's a company car, so i don't much care beyond making sure it's ok when it goes back.
I once took a white car to get a quote for a new sill. The first words from the body shop guy were “ah, that’s good it’s white”.
White is very hard to colour match though.
A Boxster – got to be Miami Blue!
yep, miami blue or shark blue
My last 3 cars have been black, every time I say I wont get another then the next car ends up being something hard to find with a particular engine/spec/age/condition and colour is always the bottom of my priorities.
Always been into my cars but I can't get my head around spending every weekend cleaning and polishing them so just vac out the worst of the filth left by the kids and give it a quick wash when I can't read the number plate.
Our old, battered pickup is silver and looks mint after just showing it a jet wash, my black car I could spend all day on and to be fair would look great for 30 mins until it rains/is driven/gets dusty.
If theres an option for anything other than black then go for it!
I have had three black cars, all bought because they were the best I could find/afford at the time. I would not have another unless I had no real option for the reasons outlined above. Strangely enough they were also the three least reliable cars that I have owned, particularly the Citroen BX 16v…coincidence?
Surely all colours are just as dirty
Having tried many different colours of car , by far the best I’ve had for looking clean when it’s actually filthy is Metallic Gold. Was a common option back in the day but now well out of fashion.
Silver is probably the best compromise though
I tried to order my current car in this colour : Atacama Copper. Wasn’t available in uk spec cars
