Do you care what colour car you drive?

[Vera W]

I was dithering over switching to an electric car until my husband pointed out that the BMW i3 comes in orange. I bought one and never looked back. I adore my orange car and got Longhorn plates for it, too.

A gal after my own heart!!! =D

 

[eapj]

I’m a car nut so color is very important. Black is hands down #1 for me even though it shows every speck of dirt. I’ve tried others but I’ll always look for black. And I actually really like color but love a black car (in most cases: sometimes it depends on the design).

 

[lilmosun]

My preference is red or blue...but right now I drive a black car because it was what I found in stock at the best price.

When travelling, I always ask if I can get a rental car that is NOT black, white or silver -- so I can easily find it in parking lots

 

[diamondseeker2006]

Every car I have had after college (which was a very long time ago) has been either silver, dark gray, or pearl white. I think silver would be the color I have had the most. I also like a platinum gray metallic which is in between the silver and dark gray metallic. That's harder to find, but it would be my top choice color if the car I wanted came in that color.

 

[Arcadian]

The dog chose my car....lol

 

[Austina]

My current car is dark grey metallic, simply because when we moved here, we needed a car, and that was the only one available in the model we wanted. We actually liked the green, but it had a tan coloured interior which I really didn’t like.

 

[kenny]

Worldwide, well over a million people die annually in auto crashes.
India and China alone contribute 500,000 each.

Deaths from road injuries

Annual number of deaths from road injuries. Road injuries include deaths of drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.

ourworldindata.org

One of many factors contributing to rashes is how easy it is to see your car out of the corner of the other divers eye, especially when visibility is at its worst, dawn and dusk, and in bad weather.
Also, the other driver may have poor night vision from advanced age or illnesses like glaucoma.
DMV test does not check night vision which everyone gradually looses with age.
It's gradual so we don't notice it, sometimes not until it leads to an accident.

Color is a large factor in how visible your car is.
White is the most difficult color to not see, or not notice.

For me safety is an order of magnitude more important then getting a color I like.
It doesn't matter what I like, I will always buy a white car.

YMMV

 

[SandraLynn]

My car is white. For me is has to be white or black. Must be a dark interior.

 

[ShinyPink]

Color is a large factor in how visible your car is.
White is the most difficult color to not see, or not notice.

For me safety is an order of magnitude more important then getting a color I like.
It doesn't matter what I like, I will always buy a white car.

I was hit a few days ago. Driver ran a red light and hit me, totaling my car. I'm OK - bruised, bumpy, shaken, but I now have to buy a new car, which is most likely going to be white. The crash was in broad daylight, but now I'm really thinking about car colors and visibility by others.
I'm ridiculously annoyed that someone can be so careless and I have to "pay" for it, in the sense that I had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital, I have to buy a car that will cost more than my car was worth (and I loved my car, but it has been discontinued), buy new glasses because mine flew off my face and were mangled, replace some other items, get a rental, etc. Not to mention what my family went through emotionally. Yes, I was very lucky and I'm whining, but thank you for listening.

Anyhow, I'm going with white.

 

[kenny]

So sorry about the accident, and I'm glad you're ok.

I'm happy my post made someone consider some reasons white may be the safest car color.
IMO when your life is at stake safety pwns aesthetics.

 

[autumngems]

Yes, I am drawn to silver for some reason. I refuse to have another black (shows too much dirt) or white (everyone (Americans) seemed to have had white when I lived in Japan and it drove me nuts)

 

[monarch64]

Currently shopping for a new car and my preference is white. I just read through this thread and @telephone89 made a great point—if you live where it snows most of the time it may NOT be the most visible option. Statistically it is, though, and where I live we don’t get much snow.

I like the way an all-white exterior car looks. It’s like a pair of crisp white sneakers or a white shirt. Simple, doesn’t go out of style. I’ve had white, red, black, blue, and champagne color vehicles and still strongly prefer white.

I wear a lot of color and the interior of my home is very colorful. I’m not a fan of neutrals in any aspect of life besides this car color thing! I do think eye-catching, “different” car colors are fun, though. If I had space and money for a tertiary vehicle, I would consider a non-traditional color for sure. I see a lot of cool vinyl wraps in my town; the most eye-catching one was holographic/iridescent.

 

[Piper70]

Anything but red. I buy leftovers or in the most recent purchase a 2020 loaner that only had 150 miles bc of Covid. It’s white. I think there is a preponderance of white cars recently because of that tsunami in Japan that wrecked the paint factory and that’s why there has been so little choice in car paint colors the last seven or eight years.

 

[yssie]

I care right up to the point where I have open my wallet further. I won’t spend a penny extra for a colour preference.

I’m sitting in a parking lot as I type this. White vehicles aren’t catching my eye at all, honestly. It’s the brights that I can’t help but notice - the royal blue hatchback next row over, the strawberry red box-looking one over in the corner, there’s a tennis ball yellow I can see from all the way across the lot…

The Most Visible Colors For Human Eyes! – Inside Colors

So for visibility we should be aiming for yellowish-green and orange, huh. Who knew?

 

[luv2sparkle]

It has to be blue or black for me. I especially despise gray cars. It is like the complete un color to me. Neither black nor white. I am also not a fan of the bright colors or flat paint.
All my kids favor white cars. I don't know why I feel that way, but luckily my husband doesn't care.
He is a huge fan of gray but he humors me.

 

[monarch64]

It has to be blue or black for me. I especially despise gray cars. It is like the complete un color to me. Neither black nor white. I am also not a fan of the bright colors or flat paint.
All my kids favor white cars. I don't know why I feel that way, but luckily my husband doesn't care.
He is a huge fan of gray but he humors me.

The way you hate gray cars and how you expressed that sentiment has me screaming! “uncolor” particularly sent me. Thank you so much for the laugh!

 

[kenny]

FWIW, I just searched, "Which car color is safest?"
I didn't cherrypick this link; it was the first first result that came up.

As always, people vary.
So if your car color aesthetic outranks safety (to you), no problem, get whatever color you prefer.

But don't say, "In my eyes/mind, all colors are equally visible and therefore safe."
Opinions are okay, but not when they conflict with facts ... flat earth, sun orbits earth, etc.

What car color is the safest?​

Research into the safest car color isn’t in overwhelming supply online. However, a study from Monash University in 2007 found that, in general, light colors tend to get into fewer accidents than darker colors.

The safest car colors​

The safest car colors tend to be light shades or hues that make them highly visible. It makes sense. If you drive a mid-shade gray sedan or a brown or charcoal SUV, there’s a greater chance you’ll blend in with your surroundings when you’re driving. But if your vehicle is bright, it’s like a billboard that screams, “Here I am! Don’t hit me!” to other motorists.

• White cars get into the fewest accidents, according to the Monash research.
• Yellow cars are virtually in a neck-and-neck photo finish for low accident rates.
• Gold cars have a roughly 1% higher accident rate than white cars.
• Brown vehicles experience approximately 3% more accidents.
• Green vehicles see roughly 4% higher accident rates than white cars.

The most dangerous car colors​

Like the safest car colors, there are other hues that tend to get into more than their fair share of fender-benders. While it doesn’t seem fair, the best car color in your opinion might not necessarily be the safest, according to the data.

• Compared to white cars, blue vehicles tend to be in a slightly higher rate of accidents by 5%.
• Black cars are 6% more likely to be in an accident than white cars.
• Red cars aren’t as safe as you might think, accounting for an 8% higher risk of a collision.
• Silver vehicles are at a 10% higher risk of being in an accident.
• Gray cars also have a 10% higher possibility of an accident.

Other oddball colors from carmakers—purple and pink, for example—tend to have high rates of accidents, too.

What’s the best car color to avoid theft?​

Safety is a consideration, even when your car is parked and you aren’t in it. Color plays a factor in which vehicles thieves try to get their sticky fingers into. According to a study done by CCC Industry Solutions, the top-five most stolen car colors are:

1. Silver
2. White
3. Black
4. Gold
5. Green

Her's my source, which has more info.

What Is the Safest Car Color?

We’ve all heard stories of drivers saying they were targeted by police for driving a red sports car, or that their black pickup truck is more expensive to insure. People are quick to assume one hue is the safest car color above all others to avoid increased scrutiny or extra insurance costs. It...

www.bumper.com

 

[lambskin]

Funny this topic came up…I found a YouTube channel where a professional car paint shop paints cars in various paint colors and finishes. The dip apparently is not permanent and can peel off. I am currently obsessed with the metallics, pearls and rainbow/ holographic style paints.

 

[DAF]

I try not to care, but I do. I have yet to repeat a paint color. When I purchased a GM car back in 2013, I really liked it in Pearl White, but found that they wanted an extra $750.00 for it. I passed. I traded said vehicle in 2017 for a Nissan, and I got the pearl white paint. Yes, I paid extra, but only $450.00.

My favorite color is the Candy Red of the Mazda cars. There's nothing like a good candy coat to really make the color pop. I've seen this often on classic cars, too.

 

[LilAlex]

"...However, a study from Monash University in 2007 found that, in general, light colors tend to get into fewer accidents than darker colors..."

I am assuming that the study actually showed that people who chose to buy lighter-colored cars got into fewer accidents. It's possible that people think they are safer and so safety-conscious folks buy those cars (and then proceed to drive them more safely). Cars tend to not get into accidents by themselves -- unless they looked at parked cars getting hit but neighbors, etc. (Then again, this has happened to us four times at our current address.)

I always bought "loss-leaders" (the ones advertised on the back page of the local paper -- "four at this price!") and when I would show up, they would try to hide the cars. They would ask what color I wanted and I would, say "Anything but white!" and they would say, "Well, here's a white one." But I would still buy it. Now I know to ask for the color I don't want if it's a loss-leader.

My favorite color is the Candy Red of the Mazda cars.

Yes! That is an amazing color on Mazdas. $500 premium, though, yes?

 

[jaysonsmom]

My youngest kiddo has a candy apple red Mazda 3. I chose that color and warned that red cars get the most tickets, so stay within speed limit!

 

[autumngems]

Yes, I am drawn to silver for some reason. I refuse to have another black (shows too much dirt) or white (everyone (Americans) seemed to have had white when I lived in Japan and it drove me nuts)

Currently driving that 2022 grey pearl Honda