Kagemusha helps pick out the colors on this car

Kagemusha helps pick out the colors on this car

Color is among the aspects considered last when taking into consideration the acquisition of a new car. This is a rather strange attitude when you come to think of it, as new car owners have to live with their choice for at least several years. Unless, of course, frequent repaint jobs are the answer.

Experimenting with the car color has not been yet known to lead to any major tragedies, so feel free to do it if you have doubts about your initial choice, or if you want to get the feeling of a new car without actually investing in a new vehicle. It will cost you less and your "old friend on wheels" would certainly look more appealing.

You can apply new paint either as part of a more complex process called "car tuning", which involves changing the initial configuration of the vehicle, or as a simple aesthetic decision. The color can influence the selling price of the car, so choose carefully. Metallic paint can significantly increase the value of a used car on the market, especially if it's a sport or convertible vehicle.

In spite the fact that choices are nowadays unlimited, people tend to be conservative about the colors they apply on the hood. That's why blue, red and silver seem to be the choice for six out of ten new cars, while green and white tempt only one in ten buyers and merely one in one hundred people would buy a yellow, turquoise or pink vehicle.

Car color is also a factor of design. Meaning that some brands and models look good in certain colors, while others don't. Imagine a pink Volkswagen Touareg, or a Ferrari in any other color than red and you'll see what I mean. As such, the rule of thumb says that bright colors are more suitable for sports cars, while black & silver look better on executive and diplomatic vehicles.

You may also think about safety when choosing a new color for your car. There is no clear connection between these two, but it seems that lime-yellow is among the colors least involved in traffic incidents, while silver and dark vehicles have the highest chance of getting hit, especially during bad weather or at night, and red and other brightly colored cars may be attracting the highest attention from police officers.