I'm buying a new car... What color should I get for the rain?

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by mkarch

I always liked yellow/orange cars but the one time I considered buying one I ran into some deep, existential first world problems. It was a yellow Lexus IS300, and I thought long and hard about the difficulties associated with it. Am I really a 'yellow car guy'? What if I buy this and find out I'm not a yellow car guy? And then how do I sell the garish heap? Am I really a 'Lexus guy'? a YELLOW Lexus guy? Well, apparently not yet because I've never owned a yellow car. But a yellow car still could happen, but never a Lexus.

Mmmmkay... you might want wanna seek out some professional help with this.

Yeah, so I shows up at the dealership a week after cursing into Seattle and I sayz, "show me wha'cha got" for $18 grand in cash" and they shows me a black one, a grey one, a blue one and the yellow one. I says, "take the cash, I'll take the car" and that's as difficult as it be. I drive it for 6 more years and then it belong to the first born. That garish heap will be up to him to sell

First World Problem is when you be thinking about it months later.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by flyingsaucermom

Mmmmkay... you might want wanna seek out some professional help with this.

Yeah, so I shows up at the dealership a week after cursing into Seattle and I sayz, "show me wha'cha got" for $18 grand in cash" and they shows me a black one, a grey one, a blue one and the yellow one. I says, "take the cash, I'll take the car" and that's as difficult as it be. I drive it for 6 more years and then it belong to the first born. That garish heap will be up to him to sell

First World Problem is when you be thinking about it months later.

Nah, that was a decade ago (IS300) your post about a yeller car brought back memories from when it was a real consideration.

[SouthSeasLifestyler]

If you buy a Mazda they throw in free car washes! Forever.

SSLifestyler

[Cinema Cat]

There are other considerations in picking a car color, no?

For instance, certain colors are more likely to be stopped for speeding. A Traffic School teacher once told me that YELLOW cars are the most likely to be pulled over by cops, followed by RED. (I'm talking as a percentage of the total number of cars of that color, not the overall number of cars of that color pulled over.)

Why this is so is up to speculation. Some suggest that...

1. Yellow and red are more eye-catching, including to cops.

2. Yellow and red feel like "fast" colors. A yellow car traveling at 80 mph seems faster than a blue car going 80. Yellow and red also feel more like a color that's flaunting authority when speeding, giving the finger to the cops.

3. Others suggest that perhaps yellow and red cars do go faster. That people who buy sports cars and muscle cars are more likely to speed, and also more likely to pick yellow and red, whereas generic sedan drivers are both more likely to pick sedate colors and drive slower.

WHITE is a good car color in southern California, since so many people drive them. It seems to be the most popular color, across most brands. This means that white cars are better "camoflagued" on the road, and less likely to catch a cop's attention.

I don't know what a good camoflague color in Seattle would be.

[Hemlock140]

I would not want to have a white car in a snowstorm, though they are pretty rare. The yellow and red cars getting tickets is a lot less of an issue now that they are using radar all the time. I suppose when there are 6 cars speeding and the cop has to decide which 2 he can pull over it might be the easiest color to spot. Last time I got pulled over (last week) it was radar but I was in a beater that's Aquamarine Frost color, very bland. (Got off with a warning)

[Creature of the Wheel]

Black.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by seattlefun

honestly I haven't thought of brighter colors. Let me look and see what they are offering

This was clear from your OP. I was hoping to get you to think outside the box.

[texastrigirl]

We own two white cars and they do just fine. We have had black and gray as well and while the black was horrible, the gray was fine. My Highlander is a pearl white and I don't wash it a lot and it looks fine most of the time. I was also looking at an eggplant colored one but then I saw it dirty and it looked like a completely different color.

Here's a little tidbit on if color affects resale...

Does Color Affect Resale Value? - AutoTrader.com

[cocaseco]

Originally Posted by Kayela

- I wash it EVERY week, rain or shine. ...

What is this Wash?

But seriously, I have a black cart and have never washed it since new in 2008. It looks about average, certainly not horrible.

[green_mariner]

I recommend yellow or green. Green goes with Seattle(sports colors). Yellow is bright and visible.