What makes you annoyed?

[Chrissie777]

I too wonder. I used to have a pale blue car. When I renewed it the colour palette was basically greys or black. Ironically my car colour "tonic" was - the salesman told me - very popular! So why drop it?

Jack, when the Volkswagen Beetle had an anniversary way back in the 1970's or 1980's, they had a color called weltmeisterblau (world champion blue). It was a silvery blue, very beautiful.

So it must be the limited colours that are to be blamed, not the customers who decide for grey, black, white and silver? I never would have guessed that.

[Courtenay]

I'm also baffled by the trend for so many cars these days to be black, white, grey or silver... I have a bright red Mazda myself, but it's 10 years old this year and you don't see too many newer cars in that colour.

I don't actually mind silver as a car colour — my favourite car ever was my 2005 model Peugeot 206 Quiksilver, which had some branding from the Aussie surf label and was the colour the name suggests, and metallic too of course. But any darker shade of grey than that would be too dismal for me, and black or white are just too boring and ordinary.

I just wish they'd bring back the VW Polo Harlequin, or rather a newer model of car with the same kind of fun effect. I used to see a Polo Harlequin out on the road quite regularly when I lived near Sevenoaks, and it always had me grinning my face off at the sheer glorious bonkersness of it! (For those who've never seen one, here's the story. )

[Chrissie777]

I'm also baffled by the trend for so many cars these days to be black, white, grey or silver... I have a bright red Mazda myself, but it's 10 years old this year and you don't see too many newer cars in that colour.

Silver is o.k., but black is so unpractical in the 5 summer months over here in the US. Black attracts the heat.

My husband drove a red Cadillac when we met in December 2006. I drove a black Jaguar X Type,m because it was not available in another color.
Once the Jag required more and more repairs, I sold it and got a red Toyota Corolla in December 2010.
Meanwhile my husband had to get rid of his Cadillac and ever since drives a red Nissan Rogue.
Car insurances claim that red cars get less often involved in accidents than other cars.

On the way to D. C. we saw maybe one red car every 15 minutes or so.

[Boatbuilder]

Strangely enough, my next door neighbour has a red car, so does her mother and her sister as did her step-dad who sadly passed away earlier this year. Two of the cars are Renault, one is a Citroen and the step-dad's was a Mercedes.

[Chrissie777]

And were they ever involved in a car accident, John?

[Anita Bensoussane]

Car insurances claim that red cars get less often involved in accidents than other cars.

Perhaps that's because they're more visible. Cars that are grey, silver or white will probably be harder to see when it's misty, foggy, raining or snowing, and cars that are black might blend into the shadows.

I don't have a car but if I were buying one I'd prefer it to be blue, green or red.

[Boatbuilder]

And were they ever involved in a car accident, John?

I've no Idea, Chrissie. Some might have been involved and been repaired but I wouldn't necessarily know that. Only one of the people live next to me and I might not see them for weeks so anything could have happened in that time.

Car insurances claim that red cars get less often involved in accidents than other cars.

Perhaps that's because they're more visible. Cars that are grey, silver or white will probably be harder to see when it's misty, foggy, raining or snowing, and cars that are black might blend into the shadows.

If the visibilty is bad (darkness, fog, heavy rain or snow in daylight), then the cars should have their appropriate lights on to make them visible. I have had white and grey cars and not had accidents in them, nor felt unsafe traveling in them in normal conditions. I wonder if their are any statistics on the number of accidents involving different colour cars as a rate of say 'per 10,000' cars of that colour? Also, if a red car has an accident with a black car, then who is to say it was the driver of the black car's fault rather than the red?

[Anita Bensoussane]

True - it was just a bit of idle speculation!

[Fiona1986]

I'm sure I read somewhere that these days new cars come in silver, white, black, as standard and all other colours, ie the interesting ones, are optional extras that cost more but I don't know if it's true.

We played a car counting game the other day (anything to stop us from having to play I spy yet again as we are still playing the colour version and there are only so many times you can guess grass, tree and bush for green!) and although there were more silver, white and black cars there were a lot of red and blue too.

[Hannah]

My parents bought a new car last year and it is blue. The old one was white. In both cases color didn't play a role when it came to making a decision - it was just what was available in the local used car market. (The car they bought last year was just out for a day or so before they bought it so it is like a new car but it counted as "used car".)

[Boodi 2]

I dislike black and silver cars...perhaps because there are so many of them, but white or the various shades of grey are OK. As we have only ever bought used cars we always have to balance the issue of colour against factors such as age, price, general condition, mileage etc. By coincidence we have had many blue cars and before we bought our present car two years ago I said that I would really prefer a colour other than blue for a change. Having looked at several cars the most suitable was a bright red Skoda estate and although my husband and son were not keen on the idea of a red car it ticked all the other boxes so we bought it and have been very pleased with it. I think the colour is quite nice and I know two people who specifically ordered red cars because they were so fond of the colour.

[Chrissie777]

We played a car counting game the other day (anything to stop us from having to play I spy yet again as we are still playing the colour version and there are only so many times you can guess grass, tree and bush for green!) and although there were more silver, white and black cars there were a lot of red and blue too.

Then British car owners have better taste than Americans. Here a colorful car is the exception from the rule.

[Chrissie777]

I dislike black and silver cars...perhaps because there are so many of them, but white or the various shades of grey are OK. As we have only ever bought used cars we always have to balance the issue of colour against factors such as age, price, general condition, mileage etc. By coincidence we have had many blue cars and before we bought our present car two years ago I said that I would really prefer a colour other than blue for a change. Having looked at several cars the most suitable was a bright red Skoda estate and although my husband and son were not keen on the idea of a red car it ticked all the other boxes so we bought it and have been very pleased with it. I think the colour is quite nice and I know two people who specifically ordered red cars because they were so fond of the colour.

Boodie, I drive a red Toyota Corolla since December 2010 and it's the most reliable car I ever had.

[Boodi 2]

Glad to hear that Chrissie and I am very fond of our red Skoda!!!

[IceMaiden]

I don't drive but if I did I would never buy a black or white car. Black cars are dull and depending on the shape look like a hearse. White cars are horrible, like they've had an undercoat but not been finished off properly with the real colour. I don't know why it's so popular, it's awful to look at. White is for vans in my opinion not cars. I don't like zany yellow or orange cars either.