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What Color is Your Daily Driver?


Dave@Moon

What Color is Your Daily Driver?  

75 members have voted

  1. 1. What Color is Your Daily Driver?

    • WHITE
      15
    • BLACK
      11
    • GREY/SILVER
      5
    • BLUE
      10
    • GREEN
      11
    • RED
      14
    • ORANGE
      0
    • BROWN
      0
    • YELLOW
      1
    • TAN/GOLD/BEIGE
      8


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There is an interesting thread currently on the Buick forum concerning the lamentable lack of color options on some cars. In the discussion there is an undercurrent of an assumption that us "car guys" would likely drive a more colorful vehicle on average that the average buyer. I thought it would be interesting to see if that's true for us.

I've arbitrarily picked 10 color options. You must choose one of them. Pick the color that best describes your automotive daily driver. If your car is purple then you must pick either red or blue, if it's turquoise then pick either blue or green (which ever you think is closest), etc. Also unless you don't have a car or SUV, do not list the color of your truck. I think it would be more informative to eliminate the more practical aspects of truck purchase from this (highly scientific :rolleyes: ) analysis.

The colors to pick from are WHITE, BLACK, SILVER/GREY, RED, GREEN, BLUE, BROWN, YELLOW, ORANGE, TAN/GOLD/BEIGE.

Enjoy! :)

Edited by Dave@Moon (see edit history)
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We have two daily drivers. Which one do you want??

Don

Unless it's only used for special occasions (i.e. a Corvette only used on weekends), post the color of the newest daily driver your family has. I posted the color of my wife's car. used (literally) every day.

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GM says mine is Waverley Maroon, ICBC (our provincial insurance corporation) says it is red. I think if you don't have maroon to choose from it is brown. Any suggestions from the vintage pros????

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GM says mine is Waverley Maroon, ICBC (our provincial insurance corporation) says it is red. I think if you don't have maroon to choose from it is brown. Any suggestions from the vintage pros????

I would call most maroons a "red" color, but it is entirely up to you.

===============

The initial results so far differ significantly from the automotive population as a whole already, as I suspected.

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my daily driver ('89 bmw) is red. as red as can be. the color was not a choice because of buying this car was due to it being so cheap (under $100) because it was wrecked... my wife's last car (prius) was black by choice... however it was totaled a month ago by somebody running a stop sign. that car is replaced by a scion xb that is brown with a touch of green. hides dirt well. but... she prefers black or purple. our last new pickup ('99 toyota tacoma) was purple. we put 223000 miles on it. sold it because I need a heavier tow vehicle. now I bought a 3/4ton '91 red suburban. but... i prefer white...:rolleyes:

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This is not going to be accurate as far as seeing if people want more interesting colors for 2 reasons.

1. For the last 10+ years, color choices have been much more limited. So if I buy a new car, even tho I would want some exciting color, it is not going to happen if all that is available is shades of gray. So if I buy a gray car, that does not mean it is what I wanted. In fact both daily drivers are rather bland colors. But we complained about the bland color choices when we bought them and were not happy about it.

2. Purple, Pink, Coral, etc. are far more adventurous color choices than plain red as would be classified by your chart. Same with bright aqua, lime green, chartreuse, etc. not being the same as a dull dark green.

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The wagon is silver, the truck is two tone gray and maroon. Boring as hell and I swear sometimes I believe traffic lights here are programmed to detect and stop a gray vehicle.

When I went Marquis hunting, after several months I was beginning to think Ford painted them only white or gray, neither of which I wanted. I looked for over a year before finding a blue one with good miles.

###

I really think that's been part of US auto manufacturing's troubles- they don't offer attractive exterior colors, instead pushing mainly white or gray shades. You can forget the interior. I mean, come on- how many shades of gray or tan plastic and cheap fabric can you offer?

We have come full circle to the Model T. Any color as long as it's black, one neutral color for interior, and coil packs for ignition.

Tom, I remember how refreshing that Teal color GM had in the early 90s was compared to the drab Teutonic grays and silvers that permeated the 80s. Trouble was, Teal then became endemic to the point I really disliked the color. People painted everything Teal.

I'll give it to the Asian carmakers. They realised their American markets might want a little color in their lives and came up with some interesting colors, while the Americans plodded along with white and gray, continually watching sales drop.

Edited by rocketraider (see edit history)
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Unless it's only used for special occasions (i.e. a Corvette only used on weekends), post the color of the newest daily driver your family has. I posted the color of my wife's car. used (literally) every day.

__________________________________________________________________

Thanks Dave, the newest car (SUV) is black, the other is a Truck and it's silver-we use this vehicle the most.

Don

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This is not going to be accurate as far as seeing if people want more interesting colors for 2 reasons.

1. For the last 10+ years, color choices have been much more limited. So if I buy a new car, even tho I would want some exciting color, it is not going to happen if all that is available is shades of gray. So if I buy a gray car, that does not mean it is what I wanted. In fact both daily drivers are rather bland colors. But we complained about the bland color choices when we bought them and were not happy about it.

2. Purple, Pink, Coral, etc. are far more adventurous color choices than plain red as would be classified by your chart. Same with bright aqua, lime green, chartreuse, etc. not being the same as a dull dark green.

Both are unavoidable, however I expect that this crowd will find a way around the first point more frequently than normal, and that the second point will not matter so much when compared to the national data.

So far that has indeed been the case in spades!:cool:

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Pick a color....

Interesting, the complete inverse of my first college driver...a '69 AMC Ambassador wagon that was blue with yellow fenders. I only got 6 months out of it before I had to give it up (and my license) to afford tuition.:(

At least they were my school colors (Pitt).:rolleyes:

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My Grand Prix was fusion orange with black leather. I could always find it in a parking lot and never had a car that got so many thumbs up. I traded for a red Mustang with beige cloth. Not a fan of beige cloth but I kind of bought the car on a whim. I would not mind a silver or grey car if I could get a red or blue interior, something to contrast with it. But I totally dislike silver with grey or black interior. All the greys out there now remind me of black-out cars. Color choices these days are dismal and interior choices are simply abysmal.

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This is not going to be accurate as far as seeing if people want more interesting colors for 2 reasons.

1. For the last 10+ years, color choices have been much more limited. So if I buy a new car, even tho I would want some exciting color, it is not going to happen if all that is available is shades of gray. So if I buy a gray car, that does not mean it is what I wanted. In fact both daily drivers are rather bland colors. But we complained about the bland color choices when we bought them and were not happy about it.

2. Purple, Pink, Coral, etc. are far more adventurous color choices than plain red as would be classified by your chart. Same with bright aqua, lime green, chartreuse, etc. not being the same as a dull dark green.

_________________________________________________________________

The color choice is only a small part of limited choices. Interiors are drastically reduced and the old option list where you could pick and choose have been replaced with packages. Say you want the luxury package, but want rear disc brakes or the larger four wheel disc brakes added for safety-then you MUST have the performance package with a larger engine and some sport interior. Very frustrating!

Don

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______________________________________

The color choice is only a small part of limited choices. Interiors are drastically reduced and the old option list where you could pick and choose have been replaced with packages. Say you want the luxury package, but want rear disc brakes or the larger four wheel disc brakes added for safety-then you MUST have the performance package with a larger engine and some sport interior. Very frustrating!

Don

What about a 6 or 7 speed tranny in a sedan Don. I saw a Mercedes commercial last night and remarked to my wife how it would be cool with a manual in it.

Personally I'm tired of the spiritless automobiles of today.:(

Wayne

PS, a shame that Steve Jobs did not live long enough to get involved in the auto industry!

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_________________________________________________________________

The color choice is only a small part of limited choices. Interiors are drastically reduced and the old option list where you could pick and choose have been replaced with packages. Say you want the luxury package, but want rear disc brakes or the larger four wheel disc brakes added for safety-then you MUST have the performance package with a larger engine and some sport interior. Very frustrating!

Don

True. Try finding a domestic full or mid-size 2 door. I refuse to buy a 4 door. But I was limiting the comments to color, the topic of the post. Even blandmobile 4 door appliances would be a little more interesting in vivid colors.

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Here in the DEEP SOUTH, white makes more sense because it reflects heat and helps keep the car (or truck) cooler - we use our A/C all year long, and have very few days with low or moderate heat and humidity (today was a nice exception).

2005 Chrysler Sebring convertible (wife's) - Claret -- red

2002 Suburban - white

2000 Excursion - white

1995 Grand Marquis - white

1995 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham - gold

1994 Caddy fleetwood brougham - white

1988 BMW 528e - white

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Both are unavoidable, however I expect that this crowd will find a way around the first point more frequently than normal, and that the second point will not matter so much when compared to the national data.

So far that has indeed been the case in spades!:cool:

If you are using anything 15 years old or older as a daily driver, it probably had way more color choices than what is available today, so that is really not a fair comparison.

Also if you have repainted your daily in non-authentic colors, that is not a fair comparison either. When you buy new, you are stuck with what is available. I don't think too many people would pay $30,000+ for a brand new car, and then have it repainted just to change the color.

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Guest billybird

Funny thing. I said When I bought a new truck, I would NOT have black, NOT have automatic transmission, and NOT have a diesel. What did I come home with? Yup; a black automatic diesel. So, I have sheepishly voted black.

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So I guess it goes from terrible (no choice like model T), to very good 50's-60's-70's to not so good today. With today's automation and communications there is no reason a car couldn't be built/painted like cars of the afore mentioned years. This is a marketing/sale ploy for getting more money for something the customer doesn't want because that is the only way he can get the thing he does want. It's all money.

Don

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I have owned about 40 vehicles of which maybe half were new when I bought them. I have had about every color except black. I have only ordered 2 vehicles in 50+ years. The first one I ordered was a '65 Chevelle Malibu convertible. It was to be yellow with saddle interior and tan top with a 300 horse 327 engine and 4-speed. Almost immediately GM went on strike and I finally cancelled the order. The one vehicle I ordered and took delivery of brand new was a '68 Chrysler 300 convertible. I was torn for days between ordering a red one with tan interior and top or a white one with black interior and dark green top. The availability of the green top finally won me over. That top accented the white paint wonderfully. I guess 5 of those vehicles have been blue which is not a favorite color of mine except for suits and shirts. The one thing I will not have is a vehicle with any combination (exterior, interior, or top) of red and black. I also do not care for silver but have had 2 because they were the kind of vehicle I was looking for and silver was what was available.

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Stonefish, I photographed a VW Harlequin Golf at a car show at Fincastle, VA a few days ago. Did not know until then that VW had made such a car. I jokingly said the owner could not decide what color car he wanted and that was the result. Then I learned they were a factory creation. My thoughts! Why? I'd be ashamed to drive it; I'd be concerned people would think it had been wrecked a dozen times. LOL!

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Guest Stonefish
Stonefish, I photographed a VW Harlequin Golf at a car show at Fincastle, VA a few days ago. Did not know until then that VW had made such a car. I jokingly said the owner could not decide what color car he wanted and that was the result. Then I learned they were a factory creation. My thoughts! Why? I'd be ashamed to drive it; I'd be concerned people would think it had been wrecked a dozen times. LOL!

I'm color blind...so I joke that I didn't know it was different colors. Today someone came up to me and wanted to talk about it. He actually knew what it was...

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Well, this was as expected. If you look at the figure below, white/black/grey shades make up about 60% of the U.S. market )which still makes the U.S. the most colorful car market on earth, India is a close second). For this group so far it's less than 40%.

It's hard not to drive a "shades of grey" car. My current (2010) car comes in blue, dark red, a dirty gold color, and the black/dark grey/silver/white continuum (which accounts for at least 75% if sales if that car. It was tough, and I had to wait a while, but I got a (bright) blue one.:cool:

I hope more color comes back to the market someday.

car-colors-main.png

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Problem is it has to do more with product planning and marketing than what people want. Those surveys where they bring in people for a two hour session and lunch are sometimes skewed with what we want you to see and nothing else. The one that really got me was our pre-production mini van (not so mini) vehicles that were set to go to production with instrument clusters in the center of the dash. We told them it wouldn't fly, but they did it anyway. Two years later they changed it back and I wonder how many sales went south because of that. No driver wants the passenger (wife) and the kids in back to know how fast he's going!

BTW, Black is best and worst. Best because it tells you when it's dirty, worst because it gets dirty fast. Best because it hides design flaws, hides door,hood,trunk gaps while white makes them stick out. Worst because in hot climates it take longer to cool down.

Best because it makes expensive cars look more expensive and average cars look expensive. Case in point; my wife hated the look of the new Chrysler 300 that I showed her in white. I showed her a black one a few days later and she loved it, didn't realize it was the same make and model until I pointed it out!!

Best because it shows a defect from the factory from the get go. Best because it's the easiest paint color to match.

My name is not Henry Ford.

Don

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Guest Rob McDonald

My Mallard Green '73 MGB has been my daily driver from May through October, for the last 38 years. My winter beater is public transit (blue and silver).

post-59990-143138705594_thumb.jpg

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Guest ozzytom

baturb-burnout.jpg

This is my daily driver.... It's a 2003 Australian Ford XR6T Utility.

Only available in Ozzy land!

Absolutely love it.

Factory turbocharged and intercooled 4 litre inline 6, with a "few" mods.

Driven sedately, it completely hides its potential.... returns exceptional fuel economy and a pleasure to drive.

But stall the converter and bring up the boost, then hang on for a hair raising shot out of a cannon.

It is a heavy sucker at 4100 lbs, but puts down consistent mid 11's over the quarter mile.

Great for everyday city use, interstate runs for car parts, and the occasional "tyre testing" at the track.

It totally suits my schitzophrenic "Jeckyl and Hyde" character.

:D

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