Black Paint - is it worth the trouble?

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by David See

:-) But now I will have the best of both worlds.....a good-looking 2-year-old Ford that rattles and squeaks, and a (supposedly) questionable-looking Prado that is 4 years old and is tight as a drum. I'm covered!

Still rattles... Has it gotten worse :P

[David See]

Originally Posted by LSTerritoryGhia

Still rattles... Has it gotten worse :P

Yep, still rattles...a new noise every week. There is a HUGE difference between the build quality of a Terry and a Prado. But then, I already knew that...hence our second car was NEVER going to be a Ford.

[Elks]

Yes get the black. It is harder to look after, much harder than dark blue and dark gray even, but damn it looks good when clean. I would not hesitate.

It's like a bad mistress. Trouble but worth it. Pic of my BA ute before it got sold

[ea90gl]

[QUOTE=David See]Yeah! I agree! I have noticed that, too. SOme colours on the other hand look clean in photos no matter how dirty they are.

My opinion is that no matter how clean your car is, it will never look properly clean until the tyres are shiny.[/QUOTE]

So true, back to the colours just like everyone has mentioned if you can be stuffed maintaing the exterior a fair amount black will be a very nice choice. I know 2 people with jet black cars, 85 pontiac trans am and 07 VR Lancer, after they are washed they look very nice but after the blink of an eye you'd think they rallied through the desert. One of my cars is just as bad (maroon), such a pain to keep clean. My fiance has a asteroid silver lancer which always looks clean, even better once washed (looks like it cops a polish everytime). It was the same as a champagne gold car i had (one of the best colours if you ask me, miss it lots) always looked clean and once it was washed look brand new again. Although never been a fan of white, too plain and boring but then again on some cars it looks nice

[Abacus]

The other problem with black is panel repairs No other colour shows up ripples and other under-paint blemishes to the same extent. One runaway shopping trolley and you'll never be able to forget it.

[Rev28K]

I own two black cars at the moment. I’m not about the finish as it can drive you nuts. The daily driver has chips, door dings and scratches up close but it still looks half respectable for an outside car. If I have a choice my tow car will be black and the race car is already black. Eventually all of the cars will be garaged.

Black cars may look like crap when dirty but when clean or wet they look as good as anything when waxed.

Black car, black interior, tinted windows, black wheels. Yes it’s my favorite colour/shade….

And it can hide ugly car's worst features.

[Darthur]

My Mercury Silver is filthy, but looks brand new. Very shiny and nice, but slide your finger over the roof and you have a stained finger!

[antony101]

Originally Posted by BlackLS

I try to wash the car every Saturday morning, so its nice and clean for cruising the weekend. During the week it gets parked in a dirt carpark but still looks ok after the week is done. Go 2 weeks without washing and the car will look brown.

doesnt this apply to guys as well?

[GT 4eva]

bought my first black car D40 STX Navara but never again but i am lazy when it comes to cleaning cars looks great clean but white car for me next

[Smoke Pursuit]

Originally Posted by David See

Yep, still rattles...a new noise every week. There is a HUGE difference between the build quality of a Terry and a Prado. But then, I already knew that...hence our second car was NEVER going to be a Ford.

Took a 200 Series Turbo Diesel V8 Cruiser out today, cant say the build quality of it was any better then my Territory Ghia, although part of me wants one real bad just to have that torquey Diesel, that thing pulls hard up a hill for the weight of the car! But how does one justify $110 kay for a car.

[Fairlane]

I gotta say yes. Black looks good, i wanted vixen red or shockwave, silhouette was my 3rd choice in BA colours, but I like it a lot now.

I was my car every week, so it makes sod all difference to me that it shows dirt, IMO my cars regardless of colour are filthy after 2 days. My organza AU looked shocking when dirty, the bermuda green EL was probably the best, showed no dirt.

Gotta love the black paint from a distance, it looks trick, all I need is some lowering and mags, already got the tint for Mafia esque cruiser. I must admit it shows defects, like the nitwit previous owner, who left some bird droppings on the boot lid for too long, but hey thats what you get.

As for getting hot inside, its about the same as any other metallic really, the dark window tint dropped the interior temp more than anything.

[ANGEL#3]

I'm a yes for BLACK mate.

I've had to black cars BA XR8 ute and now as a daily drive is a BA XR6 (black). As alot of people have said it's a b*t*h to keep clean but when it's clean and after a good polish/buff best colour to have.
I also got a White Bf mkII GT and ever time a drive it and thats not often maybe twice a month you see ever bloody bug on the front, sh*ts me to tears see all these little black bugs splated on the front bumper.

GO BLACK and get a really dark tint 20% HOT and you may even call it the nightrider ..........LOL

[Conrad]

Originally Posted by bangm001

I have an F6 in Black and will NEVER buy another black car again. Go with lightning strike, mercury silver, white, maybe even ego in the ford range but not black. Pain in the butt to keep clean, mine sits in a sealed garage and still manages to get a film of dust seconds after it is cleaned! It does look nice tho but IMO not worth the trouble when there are other just as good looking colours out there that are far easy to maintain, especially on a fairly big falcon/terri etc..

vaccum your sealed garage then :togo:

[SVR73]

Black cars are my specialty and I absolutely adore them
If the owners go to the trouble of claying, polishing, glazing and sealing the paint and putting three to six layers of pure sealant or natural wax on the car (or even both) once or twice a year and use quick detailer spray and wash and dry the car carefully then the result is unmatched and lasts permanently
Nothing compares to black, especially solid black

Sure every car gets dusty but when you have a gloss and clarity that can be achieved with the right techniques, the dust becomes very hard to be seen because the paints colour and gloss radiates through the dust, my car and customers as well are proof of that

My car ain't black (galaxy blue) but it's pretty damn dark
I refinish (extreme detail) black cars from MG, BMW X5, 7 series, Jaguars, AU to BF Falcons, territory's, Porsche's and many other models and they all become so easy to look after once they are clayed, a foundation is applied, machine levelled and polished with menzerna ceramiclear polishes(whatever strength necessary), and finished off with great products including Zaino, Glare Micro & professional polish, Swissvax, Toughseal step 1 and 2 and GTechniq x 3 to 6 coats over two weeks or 3 to 6 days.

A naked paint finish (with no wax or sealant on it) attracts dust, can be dry and airborne contaminants stick to it like glue.
This means easier dust attraction and washing is harder.

A sealed/waxed finish repels dust well, hardly any contaminants stick and etch into the paint, UV rays can't oxidise it and it's ultra slick paint which becomes glass like
in appearance is childs play to wash, dry and maintain with a little spray and wipe

All I do with my car is give it a warm soap and warm rinse and spot free rinse at the coin op followed by a waffle weave towel dry with a little driven quick spray in their undercover detailing bay and it's good for over a year and never loses its slickness or look

Any new swirls or scratches that are seen are filled in with glare pro polish via cheap orbital and hand then locked in for over six months with a coat of it as a sealant

The car is ten years old but except for a couple of small areas on bottom of doors and the right rear door which is about to be redone, it's flawless in natural and artificial light including my shop sodium vapour lights (the toughest lighting I know of) and still plenty of clearcoat remains from the factory paint finish.

This can be done an infinite amount of times as it's non abrasive.
After a year of quick spray via orbital and 12 coats of glare sealant, the paint becomes like a pool of water and no swirl marks are showing because they are always locked in

[Lukeyson]

My last few cars have been black, and i will NEVER buy another colour. Once you go black you dont go back !!!!

[GSH]

As a Detailer i can tell you unless you know what your doing they are a pain in the ***, they need constant swirl removal so learn how to buff, Use a lambs wool mitt not a sponge....And list goes on...wanna no anymore feel free to pm me.

[SVR73]

The trick with black cars is to harden the paint slightly with selected products
I'm using Glare Zero before polishing and sealing. Once the sealant cures, the zero hardens the paint, raising the abrasion resistance slightly

Smart washing techniques are key to keeping black cars flawless and glass like

[Green X]

Yeah, mate with a 4WD more so than any other car and if you intend to take it off-road stay the F*(& away from Black and Metallic paints first time you go down a overgrown shrub ridden narrow bush track you will know why, all the guy's in white 4BY's go home from the trip happy all the guys with the metallic paint are up the next morning on the front lawn with the Turtle Wax.

[Abacus]

Originally Posted by SVR73

Black cars are my specialty and I absolutely adore them
If the owners go to the trouble of claying, polishing, glazing and sealing the paint and putting three to six layers of pure sealant or natural wax on the car (or even both) once or twice a year and use quick detailer spray and wash and dry the car etc etc etc etc

Yep. Pretty much sums up why I won't buy a black car. Apart from anything else I've got a life.

[Papa Smurf]

I have a XR6 Au Series 1 and I love it. Silhouette is a GREAT colour and I would NOT consider changing it for another. My eldest Son has a Silhouette BA Futura MKII and loves his as well.

[thefargo]

the xb coupe went from blue to black (with black base) and it gets lots of positive comments. I believe black does look better. I have not used any products at all, and only wash with water and microfibre cloths. I may have to see SVR 73 for some help with minor swirls but overall the black is the most admired of the colours I have owned.

[mcnews]

Once bitten twice shy... I would only go black again for a Porsche. Nothing else.

[SVR73]

Originally Posted by Abacus

Yep. Pretty much sums up why I won't buy a black car. Apart from anything else I've got a life.

Lazy bum - I dunno.
No disrespect of course but so many people are missing out on lifting their cars up to a level never before possible and it's not difficult

Imagine having a car with paint that is easy to clean, gets better with age, never needs a respray unless in a crash and has a radiant glow that not even heavy dirt can hide the shine.

There's nothing like a beautifully detailed dark car and the pleasure of owning one thats driven alot or a little and making it better every year and after ten years of AU falcon ownership, bringing out the Galaxy blue XR and seeing all the heads turn as it looks better than it did from the factory except for a few stone chips etc

Classic case - I often park the car at the traffic lights on a nice sunny day and someone pulls up in another ford whether E series, AU or BA/BF and theirs is a totally different colour shade because of oxidation, it's covered in swirl marks, spiderwebs, holograms, bird crap etching, the exterior trims are all dried out and cracked when they should be just like the paintwork and so on

I ain't gonna let my car and customers vehicles look like that.

Sure it's great to do the typical human life things but for myself, detailing cars using new techniques, selling products that actually work and last, making my own products and teaching enthusiasts on proper DIY car detailing is my passion and part of my life.

Might not be as important as other things but thats how god made me