Chronic Car Buyers Anonymous (Archived)

Sandman6472

Have found that white works on some vehicles better than others. Love the white on our A3 but not so much on a Golf. Not a fan of white but the funny thing is we've had three white vehicles now...the current A3, the wife's '85 Olds Cutlass Supreme and my '96 Toyota Corolla DX. Never have done black yet but living in such a hot climate, doubt we'd ever do. Love the red Golf's I've seen but think it might draw a cop easier than most other colors. The minute I saw the blue Golf I have now, just knew that was the one though I thought the stock alloys took away from it. The Joda wheels I ended up with make it look so much nicer especially when clean. Have gotten many compliments while pumping gas since they were put on.
Not sure what I'll do next time...guess it'll depend on the vehicle I choose to drive. And right now, have no clue!!! Just know that I'm thrilled with what I have now and honestly, think this is the happiest I've ever been with what I'm driving!!

The Sandman

fintail

I think white works very well on MB W212, especially with pano. If I buy after this lease, a white/pano car would be on my short list. I never was a fan of white before either, but on some cars it works, I think better if the car has some angularity.

stickguy

I think the white looks really good on the Jetta sport. the wheels help.

corvette

I love the white on my Murano, but the roof is nearly all black, from the rails to the dual panel glass roof to the trim around the roof. It still gets pretty toasty when it's hot outside. Love the ivory interior, too.

au1994

Guess I am a fan of white too although I never start out searching for it specifically. Like fintial said, it just works on some cars.

2004 4Runner, 2007 Dodge Ram, 2008 Passat wagon, 2013 335i were all white.

Sandman6472

Love my ivory interior as it definitely is cooler than the black though the 2 tone in the Jetta Sport is pretty cool looking. The wheels though are a bit too dark for me but hey, different strokes for different folks I guess. I think if I had my way, I'd get the wheels from the 2010 or 2011 CC...they just look very cool to me and think they'd make my Golf look pretty sharp. Really think the right rims can make a vehicle look so much better. Found it's better to keep them as clean as possible since brake dust can really destroy the wheels. Try now to get our vehicles washed at least weekly and they always have a good coat of wax on them. Hate to drive a dirty vehicle!!

The Sandman

fintail

Wax the wheels too, makes brake dust removal easier, and lessens buildup.

tjc78

Add me to the white fan list.
2000 Solara, 89 Town Car, 06 Avalon, 04 Grand Marq all white.
I've had three burgundy cars too. That's usually my second choice.

Michaell

tjc78 said:

Add me to the white fan list.
2000 Solara, 89 Town Car, 06 Avalon, 04 Grand Marq all white.
I've had three burgundy cars too. That's usually my second choice.

I think I've only had 3 white cars - and one of them belonged to the now ex-wife.

'65 Baja Bug
'85 Isuzu P'up (ex-wife bought it before we got married, but I did drive it for a while)
'99 Ford Expedition

sda

I was never a fan of white or silver cars. I'm sure my dad influenced me because he didn't like white or lighter colored cars. He would say the light color didn't provide a nice contrast to the chrome trim and white wall tires. I surprised myself when I was attracted to and bought an '85 white on white Alliance convertible. It had a red interior. Being in the south I quickly realized how much cooler it stayed in comparison to dark colors. I have had a string of black and dark blue cars, but am open to light colored cars as well. During the process of buying the '13 Accord I had specified Orchid White since we enjoyed our '09 Tafetta white Civic so much. Long story short, the white Accord they said I could buy had an addendum sticker that would make your head spin, so I found an Accord that had not been fully prepped yet and bought it--thus the Champagne Frost Pearl that I have now. I wasn't that keen on that color but my wife didn't want the red or black and I wanted the ivory interior. The color has grown on me and I now like it quite a bit. It hides dirt well and is light enough that the car stays significantly cooler than our dark Bali blue Pilot. I agree, some cars wear white better than others.

au1994

I did some thinking (stand back) and here's the split on colors:

5 blue
4 white
4 silver
2 black
2 gray
1 red
1 green

ab348

Cars I have driven by color:

Green - 1
White - 3
Red/Burgundy - 4
Blue - 3
Silver - 2
Black - 1

laurasdada

Cars I have purchased for my own enjoyment:

White: 2
Silver/variations of: 3
Red: 1
Blue: 1
Green: 1

kyfdx

White cars:

1994 Acura Vigor
1988 Mazda 323 GTX
1995 Pathfinder SE 4X4
1999 Honda Accord EX

stickguy

I really need to do a spreadsheet. I can never remember all the cars without a struggle.

I always was adament about hating white, until I got one, and now like it, and would consider another! This being the Jetta.

only other white one I recall in the past is a 1975ish Celica hatch (the one that looked like a 3/4 scale 1969 Mustang). I think that was the only one of my bombers that was white.

nyccarguy

White 1992 Chevrolet Beretta GT
Black 1998 Ford Explorer Sport - 2010 Acura TSX
Silver 2000 Saab 9-3 - 2000 Mazda Protege ES - 2011 BMW 325xi
Red 2001 Honda Prelude Type SH - 1990 BMW 325i
Blue 2007 BMW X3 3.0si - 2015 Subaru Legacy
Grey 2011 Honda Pilot

fordfool

White 1963 Buick Wildcat
Green 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7
Blue 1975 Ford Pinto Pony
Red 1982 Ford Fairmont Futura
Gray 1993 Mercury Topaz GS
Gray 2004 Ford Focus ZTS

The Pinto was the biggest piece of junk by far, lasted 78K before I junked it.
The others had at least 150K when sold. Time for a new Focus or Corolla,
probably electric blue.

kyfdx

fordfool said:

White 1963 Buick Wildcat
Green 1968 Mercury Cougar XR-7
Blue 1975 Ford Pinto Pony
Red 1982 Ford Fairmont Futura
Gray 1993 Mercury Topaz GS
Gray 2004 Ford Focus ZTS

The Pinto was the biggest piece of junk by far, lasted 78K before I junked it.
The others had at least 150K when sold. Time for a new Focus or Corolla,
probably electric blue.

You got 78K out of a Pinto? Nice job

My '77 Mustang had 48K when I sold it. Guy from a BHPH lot came to my house and brought a mechanic to drive it back to the lot. (He brought fluids and a toolbox.. lol)

Of course, I was 18 yrs old when I bought that car, so it lived a hard life.

Oh, BTW.. that car was white, as well! My first new car, and I forgot the color.. lol

graphicguy

Keep flip-flopping back and forth between Black and White....throw in the occasional blue in there on occasion.

I will say, that at one point, GM did terrible paint jobs. On the Caddies? Some of the best I've ever seen on any car, at any price. Now, if they could get the rest of the car right........

Acura and BMW do good paint, too. I've never seen bad paint on a Mercedes, either.

henryn

I think automation and robotics have made a huge difference in the quality of the paint job on new cars. And it also seems to be increasing the life span of engines as well. We used to tear down perfectly good engines to "balance and blueprint", and robotics does that at the factory these days.

Yes, we have eliminated a lot of good paying jobs, but we get a better product at a lower price point. Now we just have to figure out how to re-educate and re-employ all of those workers who have been replaced by robots.

And I hope that wasn't considered political, I definitely did not intend it to be.

henryn

And on the subject of paint color, I really, really got tired of silver. I owned several vehicles in recent years that were silver, just because I basically didn't have a real choice. These days I am in downright avoidance mode when it comes to silver.

One of the things I liked when I was shopping Kia Souls was the color choices.

fintail

Cars I have owned (as in registered to me):

Fintail, W126 - blue
C43, E350 gas - silver
E350 Bluetec - white
E55 - grey

Very Germanic color palette. Hard to avoid silver with MBs - very few C43s weren't silver, and the E350 was a take it or leave it deal. I'd like another blue or white car, I think. I could also deal with some greys or even browns.

Nothing political about job issues related to automation, IMO. It's an elephant in the room no side is willing to face. We have better products, but at an often gigantic cost.

roadburner

The 2er is my first white car-not counting the Skylark T-Type my wife had when we married. I love it. Even with my gravel driveway it still looks relatively clean.

stickguy

I actually like this. Probably the type I should get if buying right now. Get the job done, for minimal money. Looks like a perfect HS student or go to college not too far away car. Or just a spare car for around town duty. Hey, it's even a hot rod model! That's what SS signifys right?

Just need to peel off the tint.

http://www.royaleasing.com/detail-2009-chevrolet-malibu-4dr_sedan_lt_w_slash_1lt-used-15152907.html

corvette

The price is right. But looks like someone bought a set of yuge wheels and badges from an Impala SS and stuck them on a four banger Malibu. 

stickguy

The wheels were part of the wheel and roof package (18" chromed standard). Probably true about the SS badge though!

ab348

fintail said:

Cars I have owned (as in registered to me):

Fintail, W126 - blue
C43, E350 gas - silver
E350 Bluetec - white
E55 - grey

Very Germanic color palette. Hard to avoid silver with MBs - very few C43s weren't silver, and the E350 was a take it or leave it deal. I'd like another blue or white car, I think. I could also deal with some greys or even browns.

You see a lot of M-B vehicles here in either black or white because those are the only no-extra-cost paint shades. The local dealer brings in a lot of silver cars with black interiors - not sure if customers ask for that or if they force them down customer's throats.

M-B has a very nice gray metallic paint and some nice blues also. Then there is Diamond Silver which is really a light blue metallic that I really like.

laurasdada

I'm thinking my next car will be blue. BMW does blue well, Jag also has some nice blue... for my XE?

White '78 VW Scirocco
(Arrest Me) Red '84 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo
White '88 Acura Integra
Green '94(?) Dodge Intrepid
Silver '99 Chrysler 300M
Blue '05 Acura TL
Silver '09 Jag XK
Platinum '13 Jag XF

stickguy

BMW and MB both seem to have a nice selection of blues. With really wants blue on the next car.

andres3

Arrest me Red? Prior to the tarnishing of a '11 Lexus RX 330 and also the less than skilled body shop workers at Caliber Collision in Escondido, CA. this was the picture my salesman sent to notify me the car had arrived after waiting about 3 months on-order from Germany.

ab348

The Lexus RC has a paint that I really like - I'd call it a light gray or dark silver metallic. It looks really good and seems unique, though I don't know the name for it. So many grays are either too dark or look muddy.

nyccarguy

@andres3 - that's gorgeous! Those are 18" wheels, right? @breld - you have the black optic package with the 20s, right?

MB makes a color called Iridium which to me is the perfect shade of silver.

Sandman6472

Drove a '15 white MB GLK today...was in lust for that 35 minutes. A bit boxy but think I could learn to love a box!!

The Sandman

Sandman6472

Our colors:

1967 turquoise Olds Cutlass Supreme (grandfathers) (I bought from folks for $100.00)
1976 blue Izuzu Opel (used)
1980 maroon Datsun 210 (used). Painted white in 1985 with after market sunroof.
1978 red Buick Skylark (new) (wife's)
1985 white/blue vinyl top Olds Cutlass Supreme (new) (wife's)
1988 silver Toyota FX (new)
1993 brown Toyota Camry (new) (wife's)
1995 taupe Toyota Camry (new) (wife's)
1996 white Toyota Corolla DX (used)
2001 taupe Nissan Altima GXE Special Edition (new) (wife's)
2003 silver Nissan Sentra (new)
2005 silver Mazda 3s (new) (wife's)
2006 gray Honda Civic LX (new)
2014 silver Hyundai Tucson (new)
2015 white Audi A3 (new) (wife's)
2015 blue Volkswagon Golf (new).

2008 gray Hyundai Accent (new) (daughters)
2009 blue Nissan Versa SL (new) (daughter)

Looking back, seems to be a not so long list but remember some of them were very good vehicles with a couple being real pieces of crap!!!

The Sandman


(Looks like we've done the whole globe. Started in America, on to Japan, then to Korea and finally into Germany. The odds are probably staying in Germany for myself and going back to Korea for the wife. The Versa will be going in a couple of years and am giving the Accent another few years. Betting on Korean for both of the girls.)

fordfool

kyfdx replied:

> You got 78K out of a Pinto? Nice job

I posted this about my Pinto 10 years ago.

"In 1982 I drove into a Ford dealership looking for a new Fairmont. I was driving a junker (aka 1975 Pinto). To call the Pinto a beater would be much too kind; it was a rust bucket. I had a steel plate welded to the car's underside because the floor had rusted out. The headlights could not be aligned because the fenders were shot. The door sills and wheel wells were gone. (The car had been rust proofed when new for all the good that did.) The Pinto had been in an accident, not that that mattered. The children were not allowed in the car.

Realizing that the vehicle had absolutely no value, I decided to keep it as a winter car, to let it absorb a few more Buffalo winters while the new Ford was garaged.

And so in the summer of 1982, I went to Ford looking for a clean deal. No trade, no financing; just my cash for their car. But the salesman eyed my Pinto suspiciously, asking a number of times if I would be trading it. Each time I assured him there was no trade.

My offer on the Fairmont was refused, naturally. But the salesman called me at home with a change of heart. Back to the dealership to get the deal done, read over all the paper work, and was at the point of signing when I asked "How much for my Pinto?"

The pained expression of "I knew it!" on the salesman's face was priceless. After a few seconds of enjoying his frustration, I smiled, and said "Just kidding; no trade."

Several years later, I sold the Pinto to a junkyard for $50 with a salvage title. No way would I wish that car on anyone."

fintail

Good point about the "free" colors - that's why a lot of cars in German rental fleets are non-metallic black, too. The color pricing scheme is the same here. It's been a German thing for a long time - even 50+ years ago, MB had a ton of "special" (extra cost) colors, but had many more free colors too.

The black interior thing might be an imagined prefernce, as it is easy to keep clean. Just as they might assume MB buyers want silver.

Diamond silver is a nice color, probably the one I would like to find most if I ended up buying a late model car. Unfortunately, it is also really rare. There was a color before it. "Quartz Blue", a deeper light blue, that was also nice.

ab348 said:

You see a lot of M-B vehicles here in either black or white because those are the only no-extra-cost paint shades. The local dealer brings in a lot of silver cars with black interiors - not sure if customers ask for that or if they force them down customer's throats.

M-B has a very nice gray metallic paint and some nice blues also. Then there is Diamond Silver which is really a light blue metallic that I really like.

breld

I've been out of the loop a couple of days - road trip out to Omaha, just me and my younger son for his baseball tournament. College World Series is going on, so we're all going to a game tomorrow night. Omaha is a lot nicer than I expected - though it is hot and humid! High 90's, perhaps getting into the low 100's. Big difference from Denver - it doesn't really cool down in the evenings here in Omaha! In Denver, it can be 90 in the afternoon and get down close to the 60s in the evening.

@nyccarguy - yes my S4 is white with the black optic package. I do like the whites and silvers for upkeep, but blue is definitely my preferred color. A quick look at my spreadsheet - of 39 cars, 14 have been blue, 8 white and 8 silver. There's a few reds, grays thrown in there, and even one yellow.

And yes, @nyccarguy, that white over red wagon you saw would be right up my alley. Though the local dealership just made another price reduction on the estoril blue over oyster wagon. So, 2016 m-sport wagon with 7k miles, CPO at about $9k off MSRP? Definitely has me thinking. Would still like another $1-2k off though.

nyccarguy

@breld - stick (no pun intended) with the S4

stickguy

for a second, I thought you were telling him to give me the S4.

darn.

sda

A month or so ago I tortured everyone with a list of cars that I've owned. Not wanting to bore you, I will just give a run down on the colors. Though I still like darker colors for their deep dynamic contrast, I find the lighter colors easier to maintain and my aversion to them has lessened. I didn't fully realize how many lighter color cars that I've had until I compiled this list.

• 10 Blue
  
• 9 White
  
• 6 Green
  
• 6 Black
  
• 5 Silver
  
• 3 Red
  
• 3 Gold/tanish
  
• 1 Yellow
  
• 1 Butterscotch

corvette

I've been to Omaha twice for the Berkshire shareholders meeting. It's a nice city. The Old Market area is pretty cool. Their art museum doesn't charge admission. People there told me the busiest times of the year for the hotels and restaurants are the shareholders meeting and the College World Series. Enjoy the game!

Sandman6472

Berkshire seems to be a great company, a bit too rich for me right now though...probably should've bought some years ago when I was starting up my portfolio.

The Sandman

jpp75

I've heard good things about Omaha, it's on the list of places to check out. Enjoy the game! I'm guessing you rode the X5? How is it on a road trip?

I took the Volvo out this morning to run some errands, between it and the Touareg I'm completely satisfied with what's in the driveway. Fortunately my nephew and mother-in-law are in the car market so I'm living vicariously through them right now.

The nephew had a 1996 Civic DX with over 260k on it, he sold it for $1,600 and is looking for something newer. Most likely a 3 - 4 year old Sonata or something like that to get him through the rest of college with a low payment.

MIL has a 2005 Honda Accord EX-L V6, 140k on it and in fine shape but she's ready for something new. She likes the TLX but it's a bit out of her budget and the 9-speed transmission gives her pause. She also likes the Avalon and a Taurus, but also mentioned the new Civic....one of these is not like the others.

slorenzen

A 20 year old Civic DX with 260K on it, and he got $1600??!!??

stickguy

can get the TLX 4 cyl. Still plenty quick, and has the 8 speed DSG which I have not heard of any issues with. Plus a lot more budget friendly.

I am seeing new civics everywhere. Honda seems to have a massive hit on their hands.

graphicguy

stickguy said:

can get the TLX 4 cyl. Still plenty quick, and has the 8 speed DSG which I have not heard of any issues with. Plus a lot more budget friendly.

I am seeing new civics everywhere. Honda seems to have a massive hit on their hands.

Like you, seen a lot of both on the roads. Seems Honda has recovered from the previous Civic's malaise. Same with the TLX.....seems like it's starting to catch on.

stickguy

I like the TLX. on a big discount new, or a sweet deal slightly used, it hits the sweet spot for me. I like the size,it is well equipped, sporty enough, probably rock solid reliable, and manageable cost. Comfy interior and seats too.

just an all around nice package.

Mr_Shiftright

It's a nice car for people into tech, too. Acura likes to showboat their tech in the TLX.

roadburner

BMWs-
1973 Bavaria: Riviera Blue
1975 2002: Atlantic Blue
1987 535is: Cinnabar Red
1988 M6: Black
1995 318ti: Hellrot(Red)
1997 528i: Aspen Silver
1998 318ti: Fern Green
2004 X3 2.5: Flamenco Red
2009 328i: Crimson Red
2014 M235i: Alpine White

Non-BMWs-
1967 Riviera: Verde Green
1968 SPL-311: Silver
1979 Arrow GT 2.6: Bright Silver
1974 Monte Carlo: Bright Green
1984 Skylark T-Type: White
1984 Thunderbird Turbo Coupe: Silver Clearcoat Metallic
1986 Scorpio: Grenadine Red-IIRC-(Maroon)
1991 744T: Beige Metallic
1993 Pathfinder SE: Black Emerald Pearl(Dark Green)
1999 Wrangler Sahara: Desert Sand Pearl Coat (Beige Metallic)
2007 Mazdaspeed 3: Cosmic Blue Mica

berri

The Midwest actually has a number of nice cities including Omaha, Des Moines, Kansas City, Minneapolis and St. Louis. It doesn't have to just be the mega cities like Chicago.