Choosing the color of a car typically boils down to preference. It does not matter if red is the most popular among other car buyers or blue stands out in traffic. People make the pick based on which color they think looks better, which reflects their personality, or which is their all-time favorite.
However, there are quite a few reasons why color matters when buying a car.
On Hiding Minor Damage
Many people want their vehicles to look new for as long as possible. After all, driving around in a flawless car feels better than traveling in a banged-up car. However, no matter how careful you try to be, there will come times when your precious vehicle will have some scratches and dents. It is unavoidable for a car used frequently to start to show wear.
There are so many things that could happen that can leave flaws on your car. For example, you might be driving down the highway, and another vehicle launches small rocks into the air, hitting your vehicle and leaving chips on the exterior paint. Or, you are so confident parking in a tight spot that you unwittingly hit someone else’s vehicle, causing scratches.
You can hide minor flaws and maintain your car’s new look, at least from afar, depending on which color of paint you choose. White hides minor scratches and dents the best. Other light colors also do an excellent job at making flaws less obvious. On the other hand, black and dark tones make chips obvious because they reveal the material’s color underneath the paint, which is typically light.
Of course, not even a white paint job can make significant damage invisible. Your car will need a new coat of paint to hide big scrapes. Applying a vinyl film is a less expensive and less permanent option. Visit automotive e-commerce websites like sevensmartauto.com.au to learn more about vinyl wraps for your car.
On Keeping the Car Clean
Cars tend to collect dust and dirt. It requires regular cleaning because it will still look dusty and dirty even if you let it sit in a garage for a week. Imagine, then, what types of grime accumulate on a car driven to different places every day.
While white and light colors hide scratches and chips really well, they cannot make a car look less dirty. In fact, light colors, primarily white, make dirt very obvious. It cannot conceal the dark streaks of dried mud. White, however, can make dust look less visible.
Dark colors, especially black, will not do well with dust and water spots. Dust is lighter than black or navy blue, which are popular car paint colors. Therefore, a layer of dust will be evident on a dark-colored vehicle.
The best color for those who want their car to look clean, even after several days of not washing it, is silver or gray. Dust will not stand out against a gray or silver surface. You can get away with not giving your car a wash or a wipe for several days.
On Interior Heat
If you have been driving for a while, you likely have experienced what it feels like entering a vehicle after it has been parked under the summer sun for quite some time. There have been photos of things just melting because of the heat. In fact, at one point, a car owner found their windshield sun protector made to keep the heat out of the vehicle also melting on an extremely hot day.
That is why it is advised that pets and very young children should not be left inside a car unattended. A car becomes an oven under the summer sun.
The heat will be less excruciating if you have a light-colored car. It has already been tested by researchers from the Berkeley Lab Environmental Energy Technologies Division. They found strong evidence that the car’s paint color does have a significant impact on the interior temperature.
They tested it by leaving two cars under the sun in a parking lot in California: one was black, the other silver. After an hour, the researchers measured the temperature inside the vehicles. The silver car had a cabin air temperature about five to six degrees Celsius (nine to 11 degrees Fahrenheit) lower than the black car. Therefore, the driver would not have to blast the air conditioner to feel comfortable inside the vehicle. This leads to fuel and money savings in the long run.
The researchers said that, alongside silver, white paint color decreases heat because it reflects sunlight, whereas black and other dark tints absorb.
Choosing the color of the car is crucial because it has an impact on your experience of the vehicle. Therefore, it would be best to consider the ideal paint color, depending on your lifestyle and location.
