With the variety of color choices, I narrowed my new car to either black or white.

Obviously black paint absorbs more heat than white but how much more when the AC is pumping?

I feel the only significant difference would be when I first enter the vehicle after its been sitting out in the sun but once the AC is on the difference would be minimal?

Is a white car significantly cooler than a black one while on the road? Is it something noticeable while driving on a sunny day?

From a saftey point of view, i always have light coloured vehicles, easier to see by other road users at dawn and dusk ect.

AC, if for eg, you have driven 40ks to the beach and have to park in the sun, perhaps the lighter colour will help a bit, thing is, there is residual heat from the engine/transmission ect which will heat the cab whatever colour the car is, Driving, no difference at constant speeds, airflow keeps it cool.

Good point about the safety perspective as I didnt even think of that.

Basically color of the car is not a huge factor in this thailand weather.

No real difference you will notice with heat.

I always wanted a black car having had white, silver etc.

Until I got one...

White will show every bit of dirt, dirt can be washed off.

Black will show every single scratch, even polish marks. It's like it goes out of it's way to highlight them for you.

If your car is always polished and garaged black might be ok, else go white/silver.

Black lovely in the showroom on the road sadder every day as it picks up scratches, car park dings etc.

No real difference you will notice with heat.

I always wanted a black car having had white, silver etc.

Until I got one...

White will show every bit of dirt, dirt can be washed off.

Black will show every single scratch, even polish marks. It's like it goes out of it's way to highlight them for you.

If your car is always polished and garaged black might be ok, else go white/silver.

Exactly same thoughts as me as have one black pick up only 6 months old and looks like its got 6 years worth of scratches where as my cool silver SUV is just over 2 years old and still looks like new, I will never buy another black car again.

Black lovely in the showroom on the road sadder every day as it picks up scratches, car park dings etc.

So Very True

White for sure, IMO it's no contest.

No real difference you will notice with heat.

I always wanted a black car having had white, silver etc.

Until I got one...

White will show every bit of dirt, dirt can be washed off.

Black will show every single scratch, even polish marks. It's like it goes out of it's way to highlight them for you.

If your car is always polished and garaged black might be ok, else go white/silver.

Exactly same thoughts as me as have one black pick up only 6 months old and looks like its got 6 years worth of scratches where as my cool silver SUV is just over 2 years old and still looks like new, I will never buy another black car again.

Especially as some Bozo at the factory decided white would make a good primer colour for a black car!

Arrrrggghh.

Having had a few, I think metallic silver gives you the best of both worlds. Hides some dirt, hard to see scratches.

White. Reasons above and l feel black is very ''trendy'' dated.

There is a saying ...if you stay in the tropics,you can paint your boat whatever color you like,as long as it's...white ...pretty much same with cars,if only 2 choices,it should be white....

There is a saying ...if you stay in the tropics,you can paint your boat whatever color you like,as long as it's...white ...pretty much same with cars,if only 2 choices,it should be white....

And a black motor is supposed to be unlucky in LOS , remember, here you are lucky every day if you get home without a dent or two soooooooooo keep everything lucky eh.

White to complement the iPod, iPhone & iPad.

And a black motor is supposed to be unlucky in LOS , remember, here you are lucky every day if you get home without a dent or two soooooooooo keep everything lucky eh.

Transam - not heard that before - do you know the origins or is it another "urban myth"?

And a black motor is supposed to be unlucky in LOS , remember, here you are lucky every day if you get home without a dent or two soooooooooo keep everything lucky eh.

Transam - not heard that before - do you know the origins or is it another "urban myth"?

If you can read Thai, you will sometimes see cars with stickers on them that read,

rot nee see kaao or this car is white.

Other colours are also mentioned, dont even get started on the numbers, and the total of the numbers.

Never mind off to the temple for a bit of mumbo jumbo and everything is ok.

It is funny when you see a black car with a sticker that says: "This is a blue car"

My wife says black is unlucky.

There must be a reason though why many people choose black cars. A second hand car salesman I spoke to told me black cars sell easy.

There must be a reason though why many people choose black cars. A second hand car salesman I spoke to told me black cars sell easy.

Thai trendy but the buyer ''knows'' the risks. Hence, mega Buddhas on the dash.

Black. I've driven black... sold a black hatchback and bought a new black SUV. Nothing unlucky about it, in my humble opinion.

I don't park in the sun and I am picky about how and where I park (no rolling parking, whenever possible). I clean the car regularly and make it a point that it gets a wax at least twice a month, weekly if possible. The little black hatchback got dinged in the door when I parked it at a mall, so no matter how careful you are it still happens. There were a few other tiny scratches (some happened by driving too close to plants overhanging the kerbside), but nothing overly dramatic that would put me off black.

Did a full paint job that gave the little hatchback a spanking new finish (which the insurance company paid for), then sold it at an above market price to get the downpayment for the new SUV with moolah to spare for accessories. Even with some money left over to consider a full matt black body wrap. Sure it lessens visibility a bit so I'll throw in a few intelligent LED's and reflectors, but if you can't spot a dark blot that big then you really shouldn't be driving.

White is very nice, but my personal choice is black.

Black. I've driven black... sold a black hatchback and bought a new black SUV. Nothing unlucky about it, in my humble opinion.

I don't park in the sun and I am picky about how and where I park (no rolling parking, whenever possible). I clean the car regularly and make it a point that it gets a wax at least twice a month, weekly if possible. The little black hatchback got dinged in the door when I parked it at a mall, so no matter how careful you are it still happens. There were a few other tiny scratches (some happened by driving too close to plants overhanging the kerbside), but nothing overly dramatic that would put me off black.

Did a full paint job that gave the little hatchback a spanking new finish (which the insurance company paid for), then sold it at an above market price to get the downpayment for the new SUV with moolah to spare for accessories. Even with some money left over to consider a full matt black body wrap. Sure it lessens visibility a bit so I'll throw in a few intelligent LED's and reflectors, but if you can't spot a dark blot that big then you really shouldn't be driving.

White is very nice, but my personal choice is black.

Sadly.

I often consider my silver Strada to be a "stealth pickup" - quite a lot of drivers & motorbikes don't see me & just pull out in front of me.....

You'd have to get above market price to pay for all those waxes which is exactly why you don't want a black vehicle IMHO.

Totally depends on both car and driver IMHO.

White is definitely cooler, both after being parked and while on the road - no shade of a doubt (pun intended)

Properly looked after, black can look absolutely fanstastic. However, it doesn't matter what you do to a white car though - even with a $10,000 wax-job it'll still only look as good as a regular one.

Then there's styling - some cars look better in black, some look better in white. A good example of this being my car and the wife's - mine (Cayenne) looks crappy in white, but completely awesome in black The wife's (Evoque) is the total opposite though.. with white and red looking superb on it, and black looking downright drab and boring.

In short, there's no simple 'black and white'; answer to the question, 555

My first car here was a white Ford Ranger and second was a white Yaris and both still got insanely hot when parked in the sun. I,like most others, thought a black car would get much hotter than a white car but, surprisingly, it's not true. Perhaps 2-3 degrees f at most and whether it is 110f or 112f doesn't make much difference, both are roasting! And once the air-con is going both get down to the required temperature in a similar amount of time.

There is plenty of experiments that support this if you google (which also explain many other factors that contribute to how hot cars get) which is what I did before getting my current car, a black Ford Ranger, and now I have one I don't notice it being any hotter than my previous white ones. We thought about getting another white but would have had to wait 1-2 months and also the white was solid, not metallic, paint which scratches easier and doesn't last as long. Regarding cleaning, the white needed cleaning just as often, if not more, than the black one.

My first car here was a white Ford Ranger and second was a white Yaris and both still got insanely hot when parked in the sun. I,like most others, thought a black car would get much hotter than a white car but, surprisingly, it's not true. Perhaps 2-3 degrees f at most and whether it is 110f or 112f doesn't make much difference, both are roasting! And once the air-con is going both get down to the required temperature in a similar amount of time.

There is plenty of experiments that support this if you google (which also explain many other factors that contribute to how hot cars get) which is what I did before getting my current car, a black Ford Ranger, and now I have one I don't notice it being any hotter than my previous white ones. We thought about getting another white but would have had to wait 1-2 months and also the white was solid, not metallic, paint which scratches easier and doesn't last as long. Regarding cleaning, the white needed cleaning just as often, if not more, than the black one.

The simple test can tell by just touching the white and black car in the sun here....I'm pretty sure the difference is more then just 2-3 degrees F....I bet one can fry egg on the black paint car....but since the roof is only 50-60%(guess) of the heated area,the big factor is the quality of the windows tint/film....and having black leather seats does not help ether....but hey,I will always try not(!) to park my car in the sun as much as possible.

Most of the heat comes in through the windows.

My recommendation for selecting a car color is to buy what you think looks great. But, make sure you see the car in the color you want (not just a photo or paint chip) and keep in mind that dark colors are higher maintenance and odd colors are more difficult to sell.

At the end of the day, how well you like the car is what it most important.

Most of the heat comes in through the windows.

My recommendation for selecting a car color is to buy what you think looks great. But, make sure you see the car in the color you want (not just a photo or paint chip) and keep in mind that dark colors are higher maintenance and odd colors are more difficult to sell.

At the end of the day, how well you like the car is what it most important.

White is the new black

But not after labor day...

Why not buy in one color then put a sticker on the back stating it is another color like the Thais do? The local abbot can advise.