Why Are All The Cars Silver ?

[pop3]

Why are there so many silver cars in Thailand ? infact why is there very few desent colours, Fortuners are a good example, Ive asked this question to some Thai friends and expected to hear it's something to do with luck or Bhuddah but was quite surprized at their answer which was they disliked the drab colours as much as I did and only realy liked the bright blue Fortuner and the nice red Triton !

[Tywais]

A good question. I assumed it was due to the heat (sun) and less absorption plus doesn't look dirty as quickly. I was hoping for my new car to find a nice British racing green, but doubt it. Choices are pretty poor.

[PeaceBlondie]

I love my recently repainted silver Nissan NV. As tywais just said, it reflects heat, doesn't get dusty fast in the dusty season, and just looks cool-i-o.

Those pink paint jobs look very girl-i-o. Too many black cars in Thailand - must get 49 degrees inside in April!!

[Robski]

Silver cars have a better resale value and are easier to sell. minor dents and scratches don't show up so much and people just prefer them, possibly because silver is has subliminal factors like strength and power as in it is similar to metal.

Many police cars in the UK are now silver, because they have such a hard job shifting white ones into the second hand market.

[johnh101]

Before we bought our car my wife went to see Buddha and came back to tell me that he had said that only a silver or gold car would be lucky. I did not like the gold one, so we went for the silver.

Strangely enough all my falang friends who are married to Thai's have either Silver or Gold cars.

[Chang_paarp]

I love my recently repainted silver Nissan NV. As tywais just said, it reflects heat, doesn't get dusty fast in the dusty season, and just looks cool-i-o.

Those pink paint jobs look very girl-i-o. Too many black cars in Thailand - must get 49 degrees inside in April!!

After about 30 minutes in the sun, it does not matter what colour the car is painted the temp inside is the same. The benefit of the lighter colour is in the time it takes to get to HOT.

[BambinA]

Why are there so many silver cars in Thailand ?

common reason ... silver and bronze coloured are hided your car from dust attacted even you dont wash it for months

[tropo]

Why are there so many silver cars in Thailand ? infact why is there very few desent colours, Fortuners are a good example, Ive asked this question to some Thai friends and expected to hear it's something to do with luck or Bhuddah but was quite surprized at their answer which was they disliked the drab colours as much as I did and only realy liked the bright blue Fortuner and the nice red Triton !

It's surprising you had to ask.

There is no better colour for a car.

When you buy a car, you should always consider if you can sell it again easily. More than how much you like a colour, you should consider if anyone will dislike it...most people have a neutral stance on silver. Even if they don't really like it, they will probably still settle for it if there are no other choices.

And other reasons that have been stated already:

Silver never looks dirty.

Repells heat.

Hides imperfections.

[leisurely]

Ours is green and I can confirm it does show the dirt very quickly

[Meerkat]

Blue Jazz and Fortuner for us. Monk's choice - as long as he didn't choose electric pink, I couldn't give a hoot what colour the things are.

[gpt]

Cars in 'normal' colours have a better resale value than those in fashionable colours such as the purples, bronzes and apple greens. Paint manufacturers do not seem to have perfected a 'colour fast' red and sometimes on red cars you have individual panels fading, check the redness of older cars and motor bikes. Some UK insurance companies, I believe, now add on a premium to red car insurance coverage as the drivers are presumed to be fast and dangerous! Some cars do not look good in certain colours - I would not have a Ferrari in any colour but red. An insurance company survey in the UK suggests that the best colour to get is yellow - for some reason, car thieves do not steal these very often.

My worst colour buy was a Triumph Spitfire. I bought it in a pub many, many years ago for £75 and under the street lights it looked red. Imagine my surprise when I looked at it the following morning in the daylight - shocking pink! It was sold later in the day for £110

[DrFisher]

Truly lighter colors reflect the light reducing the heat inside the car as well as not showing the dirt and scratches. Most importantly dark colors tend to oxidize quickly and collect heat which may cause "egg shelling" in the paint as well as chipping and cracking. The darker the color the higher the maintenance.

[Gary A]

Both my vehicles are gold colored. They do indeed hide the dirt better and are much slower to heat up when sitting in the sun. Black cars look good but with the hot sun and looking dirty quite quickly, I like the silver or gold better. My wife wanted a silver car but the silver was not in stock and would have had to been ordered. Silver is VERY popular.

As a side note - I was looking on the Ford Thailand web site and found they had a color called Platinum but no gold color. The salesman told me they had a gold car in stock. I told my wife that Ford doesn't have a gold car. The word for platinum in Thai is see tong, gold is also called see tong. Our new car is gold colored but Ford calls it platinum.

Edited December 15, 2006 by Gary A

[Little Black Duck]

Both my vehicles are gold colored. They do indeed hide the dirt better and are much slower to heat up when sitting in the sun. Black cars look good but with the hot sun and looking dirty quite quickly, I like the silver or gold better. My wife wanted a silver car but the silver was not in stock and would have had to been ordered. Silver is VERY popular.

As a side note - I was looking on the Ford Thailand web site and found they had a color called Platinum but no gold color. The salesman told me they had a gold car in stock. I told my wife that Ford doesn't have a gold car. The word for platinum in Thai is see tong, gold is also called see tong. Our new car is gold colored but Ford calls it platinum.

My Ford Ranger is Andaman Blue (Deep Royal Blue), Swine of a thing to keep clean..

We have a Silver and that Gold in the fleet, never look as Dirty as my Andaman Blue..

[jamman]

Because other people will like and admire it.

[Strap]

I always wonderd the same thing until I got my car in deep metalic midnight blue.

most of my time is now spent at the car wash...

my other crappy little honda in silver for the local running around hasent been washed in a month and looks fine.

[Donz]

I havent read other responses so not sure if this has been said.

But Silver cars dont fade (the colour) and when it gets scratched its hard to notice.

Also Silver cars to tenf to look much nicer IMO.

Red has got to be the worst colour to even get. It fades so quick and very noticable. Black looks nice but up close finger prints are seen everywhere.

[pop3]

Ok I believe you, I still don't like the colour one bit and think silver cars look real drab and boring but I will admit theres some very good reasons for owning one, thinking about this I presume that nearly all cars and trucks since the 50s or before have silver wheels for the same reason !

[inf]

Interesting explanations!

On my way to work here in Taipei I pass a Toyota dealership every day, and I always used to think how boring it is that 5 out of 6 cars on show are silver. At the moment they only have a Camry in another color, dark grey.

But now I know why.

[lannarebirth]

Why are there so many silver cars in Thailand ? infact why is there very few desent colours, Fortuners are a good example, Ive asked this question to some Thai friends and expected to hear it's something to do with luck or Bhuddah but was quite surprized at their answer which was they disliked the drab colours as much as I did and only realy liked the bright blue Fortuner and the nice red Triton !

Good question, here's one group's view:

http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4842345

[alexth]

I find silver to be a very nice colour for a car and very practical too...

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I find silver to be a very nice colour for a car and very practical too...

I agree

[Guest RealEstateBroker]

OK, what about white ? I'm going to buy a new Toyota and I like the really pearl sort

of white My favorite, but my Thai friend and my TGF seem to think silver is better.

[Robski]

OK, what about white ? I'm going to buy a new Toyota and I like the really pearl sort

of white My favorite, but my Thai friend and my TGF seem to think silver is better.

It is the least reflective colour, ok light bounces off, but you cannot see your reflection. It will hide a multitude of dents though. Even when it's clean it wont get that nice shiny effect most notable around sunset (when ur cruisin'!) It's a dificult colour to match if you have accident damage. Pearl white is even harder to match and also expensive.

[AlexLah]

What a bunch of BS reactions I see here.

Yes I am working in this bizz and I can tell you it is all about fashion.

Two years ago you could see fashion dress was mostly silver and light colors.

Car colors follow fashion so now it is light metallic colors.

The new colors wil be dark. black, dark blue, red

Car color follow fashion color about two years after.

Alex

[Robski]

What a bunch of BS reactions I see here.

Yes I am working in this bizz and I can tell you it is all about fashion.

Two years ago you could see fashion dress was mostly silver and light colors.

Car colors follow fashion so now it is light metallic colors.

The new colors wil be dark. black, dark blue, red

Car color follow fashion color about two years after.

Alex

So the UK police changed to silver as a fashion statement, they are so trendy! Wish I'd kept my yellow mark 4 Cortina

it'll be making a comeback soon. What other predictions do have for 2007? chifon sunvisors and colour matched throws?

sorry mate just taking the proverbial. quite funny really. I guess some people do like to keep up with the Joneses, colour does have a lot of a personal statement in it.

Edited December 16, 2006 by Robski

[tropo]

What a bunch of BS reactions I see here.

Yes I am working in this bizz and I can tell you it is all about fashion.

Two years ago you could see fashion dress was mostly silver and light colors.

Car colors follow fashion so now it is light metallic colors.

The new colors wil be dark. black, dark blue, red

Car color follow fashion color about two years after.

Alex

You're the one posting the BS here.

There have always been dark colors, dark blue, red and every other color imaginable.

Whites and greys are always in the majority, this year, 10 years ago and will be 10 years from now, in most if not all countries.

It's all about color neutrality...apart from the other benefits mentioned here.

[johnh101]

But don't forget, the monks seem to recommend people buy Silver or Gold cars for good luck. I am sure that has a lot to do with it as well.

[Donz]

SIlver cars also just look better.

[chiang mai]

And the correct answer to the OP is:

Each year the automobile manufacturers offer new cars in a choice of about six basic colors, certainly this is true of Honda when I bought a new car eighteen months ago. At the time all the cars on the roads were brown and all parking lots were a sea of brown. When you look at the six color choices there really is no choice to speak of. Black, not a starter because of the heat absorption factor, white is okay for bathroom fittings but not for cars (for me at least), Silver or silver/grey possibly, red looks unattractive and green, okay if it British Racing Green but it's not. When I purchased my car I wanted anything but brown and settled on the silver/grey thinking that will stand out from the crowd and is a nice color!! I can hardly wait until next year to see what the country's choice will be for the national fleet. Blame it on the manufacturers for offering such a limited range of choice.