Reply With QuoteIt's pretty popular now, I see a lot of high end cars in London in white. I saw it a lot in the Middle East, I'm not sure if it filtered from there to here. I think it looks pretty cool, particularly on Audis.Originally Posted by noTAGlove
I seem to remeber the golden rule about speccing a new car, is never choose white paint as it will cause the car to depreciate faster than a lead balloon.
But in the last week or so I've seen 62 plate Audis, Beemers and a Porsche Cayenne all in white. Now I can see the point of speccing a VW Up! in white, as choosing metallic paint adds 7% to the cost. But £30-60k Porsches, Audis and Beemers?
Am I missing something is now solid white paint on prestige cars now de rigueur?
It's pretty popular now, I see a lot of high end cars in London in white. I saw it a lot in the Middle East, I'm not sure if it filtered from there to here. I think it looks pretty cool, particularly on Audis.
It's been in fashion in this neck of the woods for the past 3 years or so,as the saying goes "what goes around comes around",no doubt the ever increasing number of vile matt finishes i'm seeing will be the next big thing.
No, the golden rule is never have it in white because it will look horrible. There are a very very few cars that look good in white but I can't think of any of them at the moment.
White is the new black.
It certainly used to be the case, one of the reasons most police cars are now silver. However, fashion and tastes have changes and white is very much in. I'd quite like my next car to be white, most likely an Audi or possibly VW.
There's 12 houses in my street 10 of them have a newish audi/Vw and all of them are specced in 'footballer White'.
I honestly don't see the appeal, I've always preferred Black or dark blue for my cars.
If you have to sell the car yourself then I would suggest only go for white if you plan on keeping the car a fairly short period of time - ie. under 2/3 years.
I personally expect white to go out of fashion as quickly as it came back.
must admit when i got my new car in June 2012..a bmw...white was more readily available than the other colours
Silver was hugely fashionable in the 1990's to first half of the 2000's. In fact so prevalent was it that I don't think Mercedes actually offered any other colour option.
Personally I prefer black or dark metallic grey, but white can look good on some cars. I saw an SLS AMG the other day in white that looked fantastic.
So clever my foot fell off.
A few years ago every car on the road seemed silver, now white. Next red??
Looks good on Austin-Healeys!
"A man of little significance"
I expect trends for white to be pretty consistent for a while, so you should be good for at least 5 years.
I would be more wary of colours such as the VW metallic lime green, that will cause depreciation faster than the norm.
Styles, as with everything are likely to change, but go with white if you like it.
And taxis :)
I had a recurring dream for a number of years in which I was an observer as emergency services pulled my body from the wreck of a white car. I won't even ride in a white car.
Eddie
Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".
North Wales Police - and maybe others - are now sourcing all their vehicles in silver rather than white as the resale value is higher...
No depreciation suffered on this old one of mine
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
i think they look cool but dont have the time or the effort required to keep em white
cos once they are covered in dirt and muck they look pretty S""T
Believe it or not, white vehicles always seem to keep cleaner longer (they don't show road dirt as easily as a dark car!). Hence white van fleets.
Mike
iPod generation mate - white rocks
Yep, just a lot more people driving white cars. Looks good on most cars, and modern paint seems to keep them looking white well. Older white cars seemed to look tired quite quickly. Mind you, I had a white Astra SRi in 2000 and that looked OK, and didn't seem to show the dirt that badly. (Company car, I wasn't wasting money on a fancy colour.)
Makes a change, a few years ago it seemed like every 2nd car was silver, mine included!
Dave E
Skating away on the thin ice of a new day
I wouldn't buy a white car myself. Think the colour will go out of favour quite quickly and could have a real effect on trade in prices down the way.
Strangely I think certain performance cars at both ends of the scale look the muts nuts in white, Mitsubishi Evo X, Ford Focus RS and the odd Porche and Lamborghini don't hurt the eyes.
Started seeing a lot more white cars about 3 years ago, at first I wasn't keen but then started to like them (can look really good on higher spec models).
Problem is now everybody is choosing white and it has become a bit of a chav symbol! IMO of course.
My wife has a white Audi TT she bought new a couple of years ago, still looks really good. Personally I prefer black or dark blue.
Lots of higher-end cars in white here. Like the UK, used to be all silver or gunmetal. I like the description "Footballer white". Though I admit, some cars ( Golf R ... ) look good in white. I think the paint is better than the old Ford Escort Popular white of old. Speaking of which ...
A long time ago, I worked for an oil company which, at the time, was owned by DuPont. DuPont make or made the paints for a huge swathe of the car industry. Internal company news letters ( this was pre "Intranet" ) would have the "Top Colours for Cars in Year ... " featured. The interesting thing, it would go out about 5 years. The paint manufacturing business of DuPont had orders that far in advance, down to specific colours. It was interesting seeing the predictions actually happen.
Paul
Not to my tastes. Does seem that white is the new silver though.
Audi Quattro!!
Don't see any problem with white cars these days. The Mrs bought a new X1 and chose white. Don't get me wrong, not my favourite looking car by a long stretch but I think it looks better in white than the majority of the other colours you can get it in. For example, the version they used in the brochure was this manky metallic brown colour! I think getting it in that would affect depreciation more than getting it in white.
Personally I think the fashion of white cars is here to stay for a good few years.
I don't like white on modern cars, with the exception of Japanese sports cars, which should all be white. With black wheels.
"A man of little significance"
It's been en vogue (especially in Essex) since at least 2007. Do keep up
Definitely a case of 'what goes around comes around'. It was popular in the late 80s/early 90s, became very unpopular from 2000-2005 then became fashionable in recent years. I`ve had 3 white cars and I hate the colour; looks good when clean but always needs cleaning! I only ended up with white because I was buying secondhand.
Also, it doesn`t work on some cars. Bigger cars can start looking like fridges, but some look OK. Oddly enough, my car (Jaguar XF) looks fine in white........but mine looks better still in dark metallic blue.
Personally I`d NEVER chose a white car unless it was a 60s classic; the old english white (slightly cream) worked well on MGs, Healeys and E-types.
Paul
No, I doubt this'll catch on. A minority of idiots think it looks cool; some are quite well-heeled but they're still idiots, just somewaht richer than the rest of us. Reminds me of leaving the plastic covers on car seats in the 60s, a habit usually restricted to older owners.
And another thing.....black alloy wheels look shit; don`t let anyone convince you otherwise.
Paul
In almost fifty years of car ownership I have never (and will never) owned a white car. Blah!
Id never thought of it as a detractor. Ive bought & sold a few white cars (VW and BMW) and thought they actually looked good - though looking back they mainly had black bumpers & detailing and dark windows. The point made about not getting noticeably dirty is also true. My present car is supposed to be black but is actually v dark metallic blue : 'obsidian' they call it - I call it a pain in the arse to get paint matched and it shows every cowpat spray picked up from our lane.
Only solid rule Id stick to is dont buy a yellow car if you live in Bournemouth. (the taxi thing again)
Surely a matter of personal preference?
I'm not sure the white Escort XR3i ever went out of fashion in Essex.It's been en vogue (especially in Essex) since at least 2007. Do keep up
"A man of little significance"
Maybe Balotelli was a leader in fashion after all???
There's no fixed golden rule to a car depreciating based on colour. Unpopular colours obviously will depreciate faster than popular colours. But a colour can change in popularity, as you've noticed, white is currently popular so reselling a white car in the current market won't be an issue.
I like white cars and currently have one.
White is rather more sensible than an airco.
White has been popular for a while, I believe it has been the best selling colour for MINI for some time.
I think the trend for matte paint will continue for a while as manufacturers start to offer the finish across a wider range of vehicles and the trend for having cars wrapped grows.
Oh and I have a car with black alloys oops! I must have been convinced! ;)
White was very popular back in the 80's at the height of the hot hatch then it disappeared with the hot hatch and then followed the scare mongering from motoring journalists and car dealers that your car would be unsellable which of course was utter nonsense. We were simply being told what to buy i.e. pay extra for metallic!!
White has never gone out of fashion in Japan or the middle east which I suppose could be attributed to their climate. I think it looks great. Someone above mentioned that they didn't know one car that didn't look better in white. I can think of a few including my current car - VW Scirocco. I'm speccin'g up my next car for delivery in March/April and guess what, I might go for white again, even if it is a bugger to keep clean but I have plenty of polish and wax for a white car so it would be a waste....
Last edited by doubledee; 30th January 2013 at 20:28.
I remember seeing one of those monstrosities for the first time at Munich Airport. Utterly ghastly car (apologies if it's yours!!) no matter what colour it's in.White has been popular for a while, I believe it has been the best selling colour for MINI for some time.
I think the trend for matte paint will continue for a while as manufacturers start to offer the finish across a wider range of vehicles and the trend for having cars wrapped grows.
Oh and I have a car with black alloys oops! I must have been convinced! ;)
A lot of the company cars at my company are white simply because if we order black or metallic it is deemed an option and we have to pay for it.
The free colours are white and red (if the car you want comes in red, mine didn't).
So for a saving of circa £14/month (and a small saving in BIK) that's why they choose white.
I didn't. Stuff the small cost, I want a car I like to look at hence my choice was dark metallic blue with cream leather interior.
I think the latest Alpina looks superb in white.
But overall i cant say im a huge fan of white cars, much prefer black.
I just can't stand white (unless it's a classic etc). It's a silly fashion fad that will inevitably go back out of 'fashion'. I would happily pay more for a non white vehicle, I bet some people are paying more these days for a so called special white edition
I quite like it on certain cars, the golf gti's and R models look good in white I feel, as do some of the new audis. However it's not a colour I would go out and pick personally. I do prefer darker colours (despite owning a silver golf at the moment.....)
Also think the older mitsubishi evo's look superb in white, the V and VI especially.
There's a reason many concept cars and newly-released press cars are white: it highlights the design and body shape very well.
Personally, I think pearl/metallic whites are absolutely stunning.
The last white car I owned, together with the last brown car I had as a company vehicle.
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