OT: What paint colors are the easiest and hardest to maintain? What about look the best?

[MrOneEyedBoh]

So Im looking for a new truck and Im wondering, what colors are the easiest and hardest to maintain in terms of swirls? Id assume white is the easiest and black is the hardest. But I guess what Im asking is whats a good compromise? Maybe a dark-er red, or lighter blue? I know it also depends on the manufactures paint hardness as well... I have an 06 F250 that I recently sold and I used M37 SiO2 coating and I dont think it helped mitigate swirls, maybe it was me etc but I thought/think I did everything right. It was a dark blue, looked great etc but I obsessed over it too much.

On my next truck, Im looking to get something that I wont have to obsess as much over/not see as many swirls. Im thinking white lol. But that has zero depth, but Ford has that pearlish white that I guess could look decent. And they have that white gold which is like a light champagne... Decisions decisions.

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[Eldorado2k]

And they have that white gold which is like a light champagne...

My Light Bronzemist Cadillac always looks good, even when it’s not perfectly clean. I haven’t gotten bored with its paint color yet. I kinda like it.

I try to stay on top of the wheels & tires. Good thing the tires are coated and the brakes don’t kick up much dust so maintenance as a whole is a piece of cake. The biggest chore is the windows.

 

[FUNX650]

On my next truck, Im looking to get something
that I wont have to obsess as much over/not
see as many swirls.

Im thinking white...
Ford has that pearlish white...

And they have that white gold
which is like a light champagne...

Out of the colors listed above:
my vote is for Champagne.

Bob

 

[Thomkirby]

So Im looking for a new truck and Im wondering, what colors are the easiest and hardest to maintain in terms of swirls? Id assume white is the easiest and black is the hardest. But I guess what Im asking is whats a good compromise? Maybe a dark-er red, or lighter blue? I know it also depends on the manufactures paint hardness as well... I have an 06 F250 that I recently sold and I used M37 SiO2 coating and I dont think it helped mitigate swirls, maybe it was me etc but I thought/think I did everything right. It was a dark blue, looked great etc but I obsessed over it too much.

On my next truck, Im looking to get something that I wont have to obsess as much over/not see as many swirls. Im thinking white lol. But that has zero depth, but Ford has that pearlish white that I guess could look decent. And they have that white gold which is like a light champagne... Decisions decisions.

View attachment 66354

All those light colors you mentioned will help to hide minor defects from daily driving. I have the KR Blue Jean with Caribou but know the light sand color would be excellent for the purpose you mention. Silver is always good and that white is just white!

Buy the color you like the best and then just take care of it on a regular basis. You pay too much these days to not enjoy your truck and those minor scratches will just occur.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

All those light colors you mentioned will help to hide minor defects from daily driving. I have the KR Blue Jean with Caribou but know the light sand color would be excellent for the purpose you mention. Silver is always good and that white is just white!

Buy the color you like the best and then just take care of it on a regular basis. You pay too much these days to not enjoy your truck and those minor scratches will just occur.

Yeah thats where Im at, I like that color combo you have and I think its the modern one to what I had. I like pretty much all colors but my wife is the one... lol.

Its hard to not pay attention ya know? This time around I think Im going to just polish it with a light polish once a year, apply a coating and or wax/sealant. If I go the wax option, Id apply it more often than not.

 

[rlmccarty2000]

I’ve got 4 vehicles, white, silver, black, and a medium champagne color. The silver is the easiest of the 4 to maintain then white, champagne, and of course the black being the most difficult color. That being said, buy what you like. Life is too short to buy something you don’t like just because it is easier to maintain. Just think how good it looks when you get it looking perfect! And even white looks bad when it is not maintained.

 

[MrOneEyedBoh]

I’ve got 4 vehicles, white, silver, black, and a medium champagne color. The silver is the easiest of the 4 to maintain then white, champagne, and of course the black being the most difficult color. That being said, buy what you like. Life is too short to buy something you don’t like just because it is easier to maintain. Just think how good it looks when you get it looking perfect! And even white looks bad when it is not maintained.

Understood and you're correct on all accounts... But what drives me even crazier is the swirls that darker colors show, they look the best but can look the worst too.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Understood and you're correct on all accounts... But what drives me even crazier is the swirls that darker colors show, they look the best but can look the worst too.

Use Carpro Reload undiluted once per week after every bucket wash. Problem solved.

But then again, you shouldn’t even have that level of swirls on your vehicle. What are you so worried about?

 

[392hemi]

Silver and black.

 

[TimD]

IMHO it’s white with silver second. Black is the worst.


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[jimmers]

My previous car was a white gold Ford Escape. That color was so easy to maintain. I'm very picky about my cars and a dirty car drives me crazy. The white gold looked clean even when I knew it wasn't. Swirls aren't easily visible either. If you want a low maintenance color white gold is a good choice. White and silver are also good for low maintenance too.

 

[Sports Fan]

My Light Bronzemist Cadillac always looks good, even when it’s not perfectly clean. I haven’t gotten bored with its paint color yet. I kinda like it.

I try to stay on top of the wheels & tires. Good thing the tires are coated and the brakes don’t kick up much dust so maintenance as a whole is a piece of cake. The biggest chore is the windows.

That looks really, really good...what LSP (wax/sealant/coating) do you have on it?

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[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

I vote silver metallic.


In order to see swirls in sunlight you need sunlight. Duh.

When the sun is shining on silver metallic paint the metallic flakes act like tiny mirrors and reflect the sunlight back at your eyes.

This causes pain to your eyes and you instinctively and via reflex - turn your head away to stop the light from beaming into your eyeballs.


Thus - you can't see swirls in silver metallic paint in bright sunlight because you can't look at silver metallic paint in bright sunlight as it hurts your eyes.


See how that works?


The metallic flake also creates an non-uniform appearance and thus camouflages dirt build-up. I think it's easier to see dirt build-up on white paint than it is on silver or beige colored paints.


Silver and beige in my opinion are also two of the most boring colors for any vehicle. I also notice experience detailers tend to own, white, silver or beige colored cars. :laughing:

 

[DBAILEY]

I always recommend silver metallic or one of the metallic whites when a customers asks me that question.

 

[PaulMys]

My lighter gray metallic is pretty forgiving.
And it’s not silver. Lol


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[Calendyr]

By far black is the worst, everything shows on black so you have to either not care or be a bit of a masochist to own a black car

Contrary to other's comments about white being easy to maintain, I will have to disagree. While it's far easier than black, dirt will show like a sore thumb on white paint. Also, rusting iron particles show really easilly on white.

Silver is by far the easiest. Dirt and dust don't show much on that color. You can have a moderatelly dirty car and from 20 feet away it will almost look clean. As Mike mentionned that color hides swirl marks very easilly too.

After that, most metalic and pearl paint will probably be able to hide defects a little bit, with light colors being able to hide some of the dust and dark colors being able to hide some of the dirt.

Solid very light and solid very dark colors being the hardest to maintain IMHO.

 

[Eldorado2k]

That looks really, really good...what LSP (wax/sealant/coating) do you have on it?

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I polished my car with HD Speed 5 weeks ago, and since then all that’s been applied is Beadmaker, usually as a drying aid after waterless washing with WG Uber.

I did a quik waterless this morning and it’s still passing the baggie test. So far so good.

 

[Sports Fan]

I polished my car with HD Speed 5 weeks ago, and since then all that’s been applied is Beadmaker, usually as a drying aid after waterless washing with WG Uber.

I did a quik waterless this morning and it’s still passing the baggie test. So far so good.

That's good to hear....I have some Poxy that I'm thinking about trying here in the next few weeks and the look of your ride is making me a little anxious to give her a shot now.

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[WRAPT C5Z06]

Light metallics are the easiest.


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