Opinions on black car paint jobs

Bubo

Bubo

Bubo

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A mate at work reckons that black/metalic black cars are not a such a good idea if you plan to keep the car for 7 or more years. He reckons black cars are more likely to show their age due to marks from cleaning or general age than non black cars. Having never had a black car before I have no terms of reference. Is what he is saying basically true? Do they "age" quicker than your typical silver or some such?
 
Well they look dirty quicker thats for sure, but if you keep it in good condition I don't see why it would be any different from any other colour.
 
Personally I feel that most 7 year old black cars I see on the whole look tidier than most 7 year old silver cars I see. It's probably true that black paint can show up imperfections and swirling etc. more clearly than silver, but if it's kept clean, black continues to look good imo.
 
He's right, it's nothing that can't be sorted with a good machine polishing though.
In fact it's not quite right, it won't be any worse than another colour WRT aging, it just shows up more.
 
I think he is right. Black cars need more care as they show swirls etc far more easily. If you put the effort in black looks amazing but most people don't so they tend to look shabby when the sun comes out.
 
They do show scratches more but if you look after them then this isn't such a problem.

Plus when you come to sell them black cars are more desirable anyway, and they come up a treat if you polish the crap out of them which arguably adds value.
 
This is a BMW. Typically, the car I originally had my eye on has just gone before I put my offer in. It was a space grey. They have another of the same year, mileage and price, but it is black. Hence looking for opinions. How often do you chaps titivate over your cars btw?
 
[TW]Fox;16570443 said:
I think he is right. Black cars need more care as they show swirls etc far more easily. If you put the effort in black looks amazing but most people don't so they tend to look shabby when the sun comes out.
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Tell me about it!

Not properly properly cleaned mine in 6 months. Spent 5 hours on Saturday and it looks simply stunning now, sorry, I meant, it looked simply stunning, until about 9am yesterday when it had dust all over it again! :(
 
My car is over 20 years old and metallic black.

This is what it looks like after a clean, polish and wax
20100321_005.jpg


Definetly no fade there :)
 
I keep buying black cars, I don't know why - as it annoys me profusely - I think the satisfaction after cleaning a black car is hard to beat though.

I would never buy a black ford again mind, the paint on my ST is terrible, so easily marked compared to my VXR which seemed to be bullet proof.
 
Is it true then that a black paint job with accumulated swirl marks can be successfully be brought back to newish looking condition with a one off professional blitz, say just before wanting to sell the car on? TBH I've no experience of detailing a car, what with slumming it with a Mondeo for the last 8 years. I recognise I'll have to put more effort to keeping a BMW clean, but it sounds like swirl marks are inevitable, but if they can be polished out when need be then should be fine.
 
My mums 55 plate Jazz she's had from new doesn't get washed how us enthusiasts would, gets hit by balls and bikes by kids playing on the street and it gets used a lot so easily marked by getting in and out etc.

It looks pretty bad up close and I hate cleaning it becasue I see every blemish and it annoys me! The paint is pretty weak being a Honda, but my 60k 53 plate thrashed CTR in silver did'n't look half as bad.

I dunno if I could stand a black car, i'd be afraid of cleaning it and seeing yet more obvious damage
 
Take care when washing it, use the right methods and products, and you should avoid any serious swirling.

It is inevitable over time though, but as people have said, it can be polished out.
 
Bubo said:
This is a BMW. Typically, the car I originally had my eye on has just gone before I put my offer in. It was a space grey. They have another of the same year, mileage and price, but it is black. Hence looking for opinions. How often do you chaps titivate over your cars btw?
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My last 3 BMWs have all been black (cosmic black 328ci, sapphire black Z4 and now carbon black 530i) and as has been mentioned if not looked after you do get the swirl marks showing. However they always seemed to look fantastic after a good clean and polish with Autoglym Super Resin Polish. I never allow the dealer to wash the car and this also seems to help.

What car are you going for - can't you find one in space grey if that's what you really want? I ended up getting my car from Sytner Nottingham (I live near London) because I couldn't find many 530i's with the options I wanted - most (90%?) of 5 series these days seem to be diesels or 520is!
 
What's the deal with new black audi's? All the newer ones I've seen their paint looks almost like liquid, are they doing something special?
 
Wicksta said:
What car are you going for - can't you find one in space grey if that's what you really want?
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I'm 90% certain I want an E92. My local dealer has another one which is a year younger with 10K less miles and silver, but is £2K dearer. I'm trying to convince myself the extra cost is justifiable given it is newer and given my admitted preference to a relatively "easy life" with regards keeping it looking good, since this thread has shown me that black cars are perfectly ok but you do need to put the effort in compared to non black cars.
 
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