I wonder whether a motivating factor for silver/grey cars is people’s experience of coloured cars fading
Vw used to have quite fadey paint – my ‘red’ polo was mostly pink.
Our 12 year old Ibiza has this starting.
I pressumed you had misspelt, and were questioning Fiat launching a new colour: Axis Grey, which would be a brave move.
I always thought it was bit of a strange idea to paint cars the same colour as the tarmac.
Boring/practical grey van and silver-grey car here. Van colour was our choice as it hides dirt and scratches well and looks clean even when it's soooooo not. I'd prefer the MINI in a bright colour - red or orange ideally - but this one was the best car I found secondhand.
Inlaws have had quite a few brave colour choices: yellow mk1 elise, yellow Boxster, yellow Fabia vRS and currently a turquoise (officially 'Snapper Rocks') BMW. I'm particularly taken by the BMW as it's an unusual colour on a car of this type/size where most are boring/reserved/sheep:
Chap I worked with had his astra in baby poo brown as a way of sticking two fingers up at the leasing company we had to use.
The first car I leased (BMW M135i) included metallic paint so I had Valencia Orange, it was ace.
The few after any paint was extra so I did have a nice flat red Golf R wagon before the default colours went grey. The egolf was Urano Grey which is pretty dismal one, not an on-trend lighter primer grey, not a deep metallic, just meh.
First car I've bought with my own money for a while (Leaf) I went for gunmetal grey - the free flat red was fine except for the blue bits of trim which it clashes awfully with. No other interesting colours (there's a "Sunset Drift" metallic orange, but only in other markets) so grey it was.
This afternoon I saw a Beemer in a Matt Army Green , 1st thing came to mind you’ll never get that looking shiny 🙄🙄🙄
Our car is Black , shows every mark 😞 we swapped from a Candy Apple Red because the price was right 😞😞😞🙄🙄🙄
It's harder than you think though- I'll be respraying my mx5 and the decision between something close to british racing green (renault vert anglais probably, it's metallic and lighter than BRG but manages to have much the same effect), traffic yellow, or ral 2000 yellow orange. Maybe I'll just go with grey, order some surplus from fiat for cheap
For me it's (sometimes) a very slight change in a finish.
I like Ti frames but dislike grey* bikes.
I dislike grey cars,but silver doesn't bother me.
A friend had a Shand built up for him,and from all the wonderful colours and combinations that they offered...
he picked flat(battleship)grey 😢
*Unless the grey is part of a mix
The only way to stop people buying boring coloured cars is to remove the boring colour as an option. The reason is obvious... who buys a new car with the intention of keeping it for decades? Very few people... most are just living with it for a few years before flipping it. It's not as personal a purchase as car brands would like it to be... it's a huge spend on something many people are doing the planning to sell on before they've even driven it. Probably a few flips down the line the normal folk get to buy... and old cars in boring colours look better than old cars in faded, scratched, dated, poorly patched up interesting colours. And the original purchasers know this. They're buying not just for themselves, but for future owners... assuming they care about what they'll get back when they sell the car on. Only those so rich that resale doesn't need considering go for the bright, interesting, quickly dating colours, when given the choice between them and safer boring colours... which is a shame. Would be great to have more interesting stuff out there parked up everywhere... let's face it, cars form our local landscape for nearly all of us (like it or not). Look out the window... see a car? Is it joyful, or joyless?
Nardo Grey, yeah shiny primer. Gunmetal for those that rock up everywhere, taking the bins out whatever.
VAG group have some nice shades like Blackberry. There's a metallic orange, thinks it's a PSA colour that actually looks decent on the right vehicle. Looked good on the old bubble shaped Seat Leon and some of the small Peugeots matched to all red rear light clusters. There's a vivid metallic green I've seen on them quirky pretend 4wd tiny box things that's a nice change.
Anyone remember the fashion for bright yellow sparked by the alternative Ferrari colour? Looked good on some cars Fiat coupes, Lotus and a few others until I saw it on the ugliest version of some small Renault, my god that ruined it forever for me.
Current car is red, as red is faster.
Did get interested in a Cupra Ateca until I realised that they all (in uk) come in the dullest colours ever. So much for Spanish flair!
Grey vs white ?
I picked white, it is nearly £20 less per month over the 4 year lease !
"How many people actually get to choose the colour of car from the full range? "
I did last time. Along with a proper spare wheel. Fold flat front passenger seat and height adjustable boot floor so I can carry 3.2M long items inside the car. Also all seaason tyres. Heated washer nozzles. Just chose boring metallic black for the colour though.
It was the one and only time I have specced a car to be built at the factory with a few options.
I did think long and hard about paying for a choice of paint but reckoned as I intended to keep it for 10 years (5 so far) a better colour than basic flat blue was worth £50 a year over my ownership of the car.
I suppose the thing is now you can have a car wrapped in whatever colour you want nowadays.
I hate paint on cars as it’s fragile and expensive , I’ve got a pearlised white and tbh I’d have rather had a solid white. Hot country and white works better for me , my black glass roof could be used for frying eggs on mid day.
I think the whole user replaceable panels on the original smart cars was great and just years ahead as you could change colour in a few hours or fix car park dings.
Anyone remember the fashion for bright yellow sparked by the alternative Ferrari colour? Looked good on some cars Fiat coupes, Lotus and a few others until I saw it on the ugliest version of some small Renault, my god that ruined it forever for me
There’s definitely a sweet spot colour for each car - the 80s turbo body red 911’s yum yum.
I like silver grey, but not grey. Silver grey has nice highlights and low lights and looks like the metal that they’re generally made from. I like that.
But, metallic bronze like my old Z4M was a magical thing.
I actually find most blue cars to be a bit dull, especially darker blues. It’s in many ways more conservative than black.
Red can look great or very cheap.
I care very little what colour my car is, I suspect few people do.
BTW, it's grey.
I care very little what colour my car is, I suspect few people do.
This
I've had green, white, red (2), blue, black (2) and now silver.
I think it suits Fiat and the cars they do. Bold bright colours on large or premium cars are a bit bold though, which isn't what many owners want.
Do red-painted cars still fade to a patchy pink these days? Or has paint tech improved? Can’t beat an 80s Guards Red 911 Turbo but don’t see them around much.
Yes, it has. Reds are mostly metallic these days, which doesn’t tend to fade as much, and paints are all water-based with a clear coat which, as I understand it, is formulated to protect against UV.
I suppose the thing is now you can have a car wrapped in whatever colour you want nowadays.
True, but you do realise it costs as much for a wrap as it does to have a car resprayed.
who buys a new car with the intention of keeping it for decades? Very few people… most are just living with it for a few years before flipping it. It’s not as personal a purchase as car brands would like it to be… it’s a huge spend on something many people are doing the planning to sell on before they’ve even driven it.
Me, for one. My last car I kept for fifteen years, it was four years old when I bought it. It was dark metallic green, but I wasn’t fussed about it, as I wanted an Octavia TDi and they didn’t do bad colours.
My current car I wanted a specific model and spec, and again I didn’t care about the colour, because Ford only did certain colours in the ST-Line spec, and I liked all of them, so again, I didn’t care what colour it was, it just had to be a semi-auto ST-Line. And I intend to keep it at least as long as the Octavia, but it’s going to be much better looked after and maintained!
I actually find most blue cars to be a bit dull, especially darker blues. It’s in many ways more conservative than black.
What's known in the trade as doom/caretaker blue. Yup you get less trade in for it.
My first car had one of the best paints ever. Two tone, light metallic blue over metallic silver complete with Alloy wheels on an original t plate Mark 1 fiesta. Loved that car even though I had to share it with my sister. Some k**** nicked it and rolled it over a roundabout.
Looking back it’s been a large selection of black estate cars mainly since then bar a short hiatus in a lovely blue metallic S3
I did see a lovely green Audi yesterday. No idea of the model but it looked recent/new.
Edit: District Green. Looked better IRL than the website.
Me, for one. My last car I kept for fifteen years, it was four years old when I bought it.
I’ve also bought a second hand car and kept it fifteen years. Never had any intention of doing otherwise. But that’s rarely the case for people buying *new* cars, who are the ones picking what gets painted. And then when you were picking the colour of a *new* car… did you go boring? Or did “not care” mean you ended up with something colourful by chance?
True, but you do realise it costs as much for a wrap as it does to have a car resprayed.
No it doesn’t. A wrap is £1300-£2k dependent on size and colour choice and how much of the shutlines are done. A respray is £4K-£10k with the same options.
The wrap will last at least 5y.
On a foggy morning, the last thing you want coming toward you is a fog-coloured car.
Only if one of you is on the wrong side of the road!
Sensible option is to have it wrapped or vinyl sprayed, the boring paint is brand new underneath at resale time.
A local place does the vinyl spraying, and makes money peeling it off again a few years later!
My own car is two tone, white above and filth below. It will stay that way until it dies.
When I win the lottery - Porsche Cayman in Miami Blue!...
[img] 
?width=1200&fm=jpg&auto=format[/img]
How many people actually get to choose the colour of car from the full range?
What I forgot to add was the one new car it was either choose from those on the production line (which were some months away) or add another 3-6 months to get exactly the colour and spec choice we wanted.
My dull (not a) Fiat
My dull (not a) Fiat
That rules! So right.
Hang on... "not a" Fiat?
[ went down rabbit hole ... now want an Arbarth 500E in chartreuse/acidgreen that I could never afford ]
What I forgot to add was...
...what colour new car you bought.
