The topic says it all; what happened to regular cars in colors other than shades of black or white (or fancy primer for Chalk fans) My DD is up for a refresh at the end of summer so now is when I usually start looking at replacement options and I am saddened to learn that regardless of brand I get to pick white,black,grey, shiny grey (silver), red or blue... I already own 2 red cars and my wifes car is blue. My current DD is orange and I get multiple compliments on the color of the car but a new version of the same car is only offered in said shades or blue/red...
Duke
MegaDork
6/27/24 4:05 p.m.
In reply to ClearWaterMS :
When customers ordering their own cars became less common than dealers ordering mass inventory on spec.
I don’t know what you’re talking about. (I was next door with our GTI.)
ND Miatas have also suffered from this :(
maschinenbau said:
ND Miatas have also suffered from this :(
it doesn't seem to matter which brand it is. they all offer red, blue, or blah...
I completely agree. People are scared of standing out or being seen as lacking taste. Then again, it makes cars like this one that I got for my wife easier to pick out in a parking lot:
Mr_Asa
MegaDork
6/27/24 4:34 p.m.
Same time as this change swept design schools across the nation.
My cousin drove past a red Ford pickup sitting outside at a dealership for the better part of a year. Then he went in and negotiated a great price, because he knew that they hate sitting on inventory that long. I guess not many people want their pickups to be red.
Mr_Asa said:
Same time as this change swept design schools across the nation.
funny thing is that my dog knows McDonalds regardless of which style it is as the place they get a burger from.
Trent
UltimaDork
6/27/24 4:45 p.m.
The missus briefly considered a new Jetta as a daily. We went to the dealership, drove one and then asked about what other colors were available. It was white, black, grey or a slightly darker grey. That was it. If we wanted something else they would be happy to show us some SUVs in blue.
I've purchased two red cars - big fan. When I bought the S10 Blazer a coworker made fun of me wanting to drive a fire truck.
I loved that Blazer........
Dodge and Lamborghini still get it.
We stopped at a red light today next to a new Genesis dealer. 75 +/- cars on the lot and they were all white, black, or gray. The wife claims she spotted a dark red one as we drove away.
You can still get a Subaru in orange...
02Pilot
PowerDork
6/27/24 5:00 p.m.
I was behind a "Neoteric Yellow" Hyundai Kona earlier today. It looks more acid yellow in person. Oddly, I was driving my slightly differently bright yellow 2002 at the time.
The wacky colors are out there if you look hard enough, but, yeah, it doesn't help if a dealer doesn't stock them on the lot.
Some examples from some more "normal" cars:
I'm as guilty as anyone, having owned plenty of black and gray cars. When we were ordering the Exploder, my wife wanted silver, but since we already had one silver Ford SUV (The Expedition), I didn't want another, so we ended up with dark blue, which we both really like.
Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:
My cousin drove past a red Ford pickup sitting outside at a dealership for the better part of a year. Then he went in and negotiated a great price, because he knew that they hate sitting on inventory that long. I guess not many people want their pickups to be red.
In defense of this, work trucks should be white :) And my white pickup sat on the lot for nearly a year because it had three pedals. Ah, fashion.
My mom's newest car is a 2019 VW Sportwagen in bright red. Same red that was on our 1990 VW Passat wagon. The Sportwagen is gone, but you can still get VWs in bright red and even some good blues. You can even get a Tesla in red now! They're still out there, but you have to be willing to hunt them down.
Heck, when I bought my 1999 VW Golf (seriously, my family buys other makes, I'm just using a lot of VW examples) new, I had to get my car brought in from Quebec because I wanted Jazz Blue. Very rare color, you just didn't see them on the lot.
Mazda, though. Sheesh. Grow a pair and give us some sports car colors.
The same reason we can't buy 2dr cars any more. The less variations there are, the cheaper it is to build, and the more money they can make. If you can only get a car in a white, and it's a 4dr, then that's what you'll buy.
Duke
MegaDork
6/27/24 5:17 p.m.
It's actually improving in the last 2-3 years.
Every maker is jumping on the "100% Cyan" blues, plus the "bold olive" colors now.
I'm partial to the the orange metallic paint that Nissan offers on the Rogue, Sentra and Kicks. It would look great on my Boxster.
nderwater said:
I'm partial to the the orange metallic paint that Nissan offers on the Rogue, Sentra and Kicks.
from the pictures that is a similar color to my current DD.
Peabody said:
The same reason we can't buy 2dr cars any more. The less variations there are, the cheaper it is to build, and the more money they can make. If you can only get a car in a white, and it's a 4dr, then that's what you'll buy.
Maybe that's what you will buy, but not me. The last car I bought was a two door Mustang convertible in red. It was hard to find but I got one. I can still get one just like it today brand new today. The internet allows me to shop every dealer in the state and bypass all the white four door cars I don't want.
If they ever get to the point that I can't find what I want, I will keep what I've got and rebuild it over and over and over again. They can keep their boring cars and make money off of somebody else.
Would argue mid 00s when the actual monochrome came in to being. Other issue that has not been covered is when analysts started assessing and pushing "resale value" which was roughly about the same timeframe.
