Is buying a car now just the same as buying a toaster?
Discussion
aka_kerrly said:
Negative Creep said:
And yet 90% are still just plain white
Because "experts" warn of the dangers of daring to be individual and suggest white/silver are the safe colours, this combined with some terrible trends perhaps started by manufactures promoting so many new cars in white.Sir Fergie said:
And lets get one thing clear - this whole trend of SUVs, MPVs, coupes jacked up SUV style - well hello there Mini paceman - is all about marketing appeal - not making better cars.
I agree with except when it comes to MPVs, at least large MPVs, and even then a couple of years back I thought the same about them too.Car childseat legislation is making large MPVs almost essential for people who want to have more than 2 kids. You simply can't get three childseats in the back of even the biggest estate cars. There are other options but these can be very expensive. Also as a tool for transporting people around an MPV is a much better solution in mnay cases than a car. I hate MPVs as cars, but after looking at a Citroen C4 Grand Picasso I couldn't deny that as long as driver appeal wasn't one of your critria it really does what it says on the tin.
MagnaJeep said:
It's more the fault of people gambling on highest resale value and ordering the most inoffensive colour combinations known to mankind (excluding most PHers of course).
Not this again. 
Why is it beyond the wit of the average PHer to understand that the colours most people like the most are, by definition, the most popular?
You may prefer lurid green or bright orange, but those of us with subtle colours choose them because we LIKE them.
It has nothing to do with 'highest resale value', indeed there is no such thing! CAP guide doesn't have a column for car colours.
aka_kerrly said:
Because "experts" warn of the dangers of daring to be individual and suggest white/silver are the safe colours, this combined with some terrible trends perhaps started by manufactures promoting so many new cars in white.
What 'dangers' are those then? And why is silver 'safe'? 
Genuinely bizarre.
jamieduff1981 said:
The problem is the British self-loathing and obsessive need to blend in to the background. Even Pistonheads is terrible. Chris Harris specced an RS6 in Fog Grey, someone else wrote some crap about the XFR-S being better in f
king grey with small spoiler and even the forums are full of dullards who point at anyone with a car other than grey and accuses them of being attention seeking or shouty.
Grow a personality of your own, people of Britain. If your primary motive when ordering a new car was making sure you'd actually like it, rather than obsessing over how easily you can get rid of it when you realise that one grey diesel is just as naff as the next then you may might enjoy car ownership more. You'll certainly save time wandering round multi storey carparks blipping your key fob trying to work out which grey 320d is yours.
So I should 'grow a personality' by choosing a colour to satisfy someone on the Internet rather than picking the colour I like best? king grey with small spoiler and even the forums are full of dullards who point at anyone with a car other than grey and accuses them of being attention seeking or shouty.Grow a personality of your own, people of Britain. If your primary motive when ordering a new car was making sure you'd actually like it, rather than obsessing over how easily you can get rid of it when you realise that one grey diesel is just as naff as the next then you may might enjoy car ownership more. You'll certainly save time wandering round multi storey carparks blipping your key fob trying to work out which grey 320d is yours.
Get out more. Seriously. If your personality hinges around your choice of car colour it's time to step away from the computer.
Ari said:
aka_kerrly said:
...sadly the British public are mostly too conservative and listen to too much crap about resale values.
Another one! 
Come on then, what's the difference in resale value between a yellow Mini and a silver one?
From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
It's sad that dull colours are the norm yet people clearly do like bright colours as I often receive compliments about my bright yellow car where as my identical cars in dark blue and dark burgundy rarely ever get a comment about the colours.
aka_kerrly said:
With pleasure,
From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
So you believe people are driving cars in colours they don't like to save themselves £20/year? From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
aka_kerrly said:
It's sad that dull colours are the norm yet people clearly do like bright colours as I often receive compliments about my bright yellow car where as my identical cars in dark blue and dark burgundy rarely ever get a comment about the colours.
And the office would be a brighter place is everyone dressed like this. 
I bet he'd get lots of comments too.
Ari said:
aka_kerrly said:
With pleasure,
From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
So you believe people are driving cars in colours they don't like to save themselves £20/year? From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
Riknos said:
I don't like the fact so many cars are only ordered in boring white/grey/silver/black combos these days - makes it very dull when you look out at a car park for example.
Bring back more colourful cars!
I could have chosen a silver/grey/black one, but I like this instead
/shameless photo-whoring.
Basically exactly the colour scheme I would like for my next car. I have a bit of a thing for black and orange.Bring back more colourful cars!
I could have chosen a silver/grey/black one, but I like this instead
/shameless photo-whoring.
Edited by Riknos on Thursday 18th September 11:20
My toaster cost me £6. As far as I'm aware I was unable to spec air conditioning/LED headlights. So no tmuch like buying a car at all!
aka_kerrly said:
Ari said:
aka_kerrly said:
With pleasure,
From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
So you believe people are driving cars in colours they don't like to save themselves £20/year? From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
That is the exact opposite of what I said!
Ari said:
jamieduff1981 said:
The problem is the British self-loathing and obsessive need to blend in to the background. Even Pistonheads is terrible. Chris Harris specced an RS6 in Fog Grey, someone else wrote some crap about the XFR-S being better in fking grey with small spoiler and even the forums are full of dullards who point at anyone with a car other than grey and accuses them of being attention seeking or shouty.
Grow a personality of your own, people of Britain. If your primary motive when ordering a new car was making sure you'd actually like it, rather than obsessing over how easily you can get rid of it when you realise that one grey diesel is just as naff as the next then you may might enjoy car ownership more. You'll certainly save time wandering round multi storey carparks blipping your key fob trying to work out which grey 320d is yours.
So I should 'grow a personality' by choosing a colour to satisfy someone on the Internet rather than picking the colour I like best? king grey with small spoiler and even the forums are full of dullards who point at anyone with a car other than grey and accuses them of being attention seeking or shouty.Grow a personality of your own, people of Britain. If your primary motive when ordering a new car was making sure you'd actually like it, rather than obsessing over how easily you can get rid of it when you realise that one grey diesel is just as naff as the next then you may might enjoy car ownership more. You'll certainly save time wandering round multi storey carparks blipping your key fob trying to work out which grey 320d is yours.
Get out more. Seriously. If your personality hinges around your choice of car colour it's time to step away from the computer.
Ari said:
aka_kerrly said:
Ari said:
aka_kerrly said:
With pleasure,
From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
So you believe people are driving cars in colours they don't like to save themselves £20/year? From Autotrader, based on a Mini Cooper 5 years old and up to 50k on the clocks there is a selection of 111 Silver ones the cheapest is £6995 , repeating the search and changing the colour to yellow there are 6 of them and the cheapest one is £6886
That is the exact opposite of what I said!
apologies, I got the wrong end of the stick, I now see what you meant.It was your use of the headbanging smiley that I interpreted as you thinking I'm the one chatting rubbish about resale values when I thought by saying "experts say" it was clear that was not my view, experts being used ironically.
Edited by aka_kerrly on Thursday 18th September 15:55
I was thinking similar a few years ago, that all cars have become far too alike and there's no differentiation any more.
When I started to really pay attention, though, I quickly realised I can still identify them almost immediately and can even notice small model year changes on the most humdrum of hatchbacks. From this, I presume that now I'm older I don't have quite so much time to be absorbing every detail of every car on the road until I can identify it by its wing mirrors!
I don't think the design variation has changed all that much, just that we look on our car-watching youth much more fondly than the present..
When I started to really pay attention, though, I quickly realised I can still identify them almost immediately and can even notice small model year changes on the most humdrum of hatchbacks. From this, I presume that now I'm older I don't have quite so much time to be absorbing every detail of every car on the road until I can identify it by its wing mirrors!
I don't think the design variation has changed all that much, just that we look on our car-watching youth much more fondly than the present..
Personally I think the nineties was the zenith of itenti-blob car design. Mazda 626, Mondeo, Vectra, Honda Accord, Nissan Primark, they all looked exactly the bloody same!
There's been a fantastic blossoming of car design since, even amongst the 'boring' saloon car types.
Basically, there are no bad cars any more. Therefore in order to attract buyers they have to be interesting and quirky in some way.
I don't think there's ever been a better time for diversity and choice.
There's been a fantastic blossoming of car design since, even amongst the 'boring' saloon car types.
Basically, there are no bad cars any more. Therefore in order to attract buyers they have to be interesting and quirky in some way.
I don't think there's ever been a better time for diversity and choice.
Ari said:
Personally I think the nineties was the zenith of itenti-blob car design. Mazda 626, Mondeo, Vectra, Honda Accord, Nissan Primark, they all looked exactly the bloody same!
Perhaps the run of the mill stuff mentioned above. I think (premium) German cars were better then, since then they've all met in the middle. Italian cars were more Italian too, all of their antiquated but lovely engines are too polluting now.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff