phungy

Right now Scott the Detailer is doing the whole she-bang (wash, claybar, polish) + Opti-Guard Pro. When we started he mentioned that a detailer would never get a car in black.

My question to all the detailers out there:
What color is your car and what color is the best for ease of maintenance?

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Mine is smokey granite mica... Aka metallic charcoal grey. To me it is the perfect compromise for a detailer that loves darker, glossy paint but doesn't want to deal with the hassle of a black car.

Best for ease of maintenance would have to be silver.

Worst is a non-metallic black (like obsidian).

DunWkg

Guess I'm kinda funny. I detail as a hobby and prefer to work on a black car and I've owned two obsidian black cars. Granted a bear to take care of, but that moment when you wipe off your polishing compound with a microfiber towel and reveal that highly reflective, deep black finish is worth the effort. Well maybe not worth all the effort

I dislike white and prefer no one bring me one, but agree with Zach, silver is a winner. Must admit, right now my obsidian is some form of grey/whitish covered with salt.

jw669

iTrader: (8)

I will never own a solid black car, but a good compromise is BMW's black sapphire. I find that color/clear to be very forgiving.
Alternatively, it'd have to be a white similar to Audi's Ibis white. Which also comes with its set of bads - fallout shows like no other...

Ideally, matte black, but I don't anticipate being a (typically) exotic car owner any time soon

Greg@DI

I too share Zach's feeling on this one. After owning 2 jet black BMWs, never again. I think it may be fun for someone who details their own car or a professional with only a weekend/show car, but for someone like myself who's dealing with headaches daily at work, last thing I want is to see swirl marks at home!

I too like something like the dark grey Zach has, but ultimately a silver/grey Audi is something that can probably take washing with dirty water and a terry cloth without swirl marks.

Ivan @ DI

jfelbab

ditto, two black cars and never again. Too much work. Awesome look immediately after a detail but an hour later the dust has begun to pile up. (Arrrgh) My current RX is nebula grey pearl. A charcoal grayish color.

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

Yup, I am really happy with my smokey granite mica.

Does it look "as good" as perfect black paint... no... but it is a breeze to maintain in comparison.





Both photos were taken at least 1 year since the car was last polished... under the right light there are some minor water spots and defects, however the metallic flake really hides most of it. I have no problem admitting that I do not follow an absolutely perfect wash routine.. sure I always use the 3 bucket method and/or GDWM, but am certainly not nearly as careful as I am with customer cars. When I have time to clean my own car it is usually very limited amount of time, so I polish it and coat it once every 1.5-2 years and the rest is simply quick maintenance washes followed by a coat of hydro2 or reload from time to time

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

I totally agree. Smokey granite mica is easier than black but when you put in the hours it looks amazing.

Silver, it's low maintenance but next to impossible to get the deep wet look.

jbjones85

iTrader: (20)

I loved my SGM as well. had 80% of the "pop" of a black car with about 1/2 (maybe a little more) of the work.

phungy

Thanks for the responses everyone. My first instinct was the Nebula Grey Pearl but now I must suffer with an Obsidian for the next few years

SidhuGs300

iTrader: (2)

I guess no one really cares for the pearl whites, why is that? I have a crystal white 2gs, and I am trying to get the "wet" look, but always having trouble, going t try some of your guys methods and see what happens?

jfelbab

White is a difficult paint color to have show well. If there is a secret, it is all in the prep. To make a white car stand out, extra attention must be paid to polishing the paint glass smooth. Orange peel, if present, must be reduced or eliminated and all paint imperfections must be removed. White is difficult to bring to that stage of perfection but once there, it tends to look good much longer than most other colors so take heart.

White tends to make seeing the imperfections you want to remove pretty difficult. Black amplifies the paint flaws making them easy to see. While polishing, use of a swirl-finder light or moving the car in and out of the sun can help finding and removing the swirls and paint imperfections. While the imperfections are much harder to see on white, they are reducing the perfect mirror-like reflectivity you are after.

I've also found that white is usually best treated with a sealant. They, as a group, tend to yield higher reflectivity than the warmer glow typical of a carnauba wax or wax blend.

larry13

here is my white car detailed by Ivan at Lustr Auto Detail. After the opti coat. it has the nice wet look.

SidhuGs300

iTrader: (2)

Thank you jim for the valuable input. Very clean car larry, do you have any pearl in your paint?

larry13

thanks Sid, its the 2014 ultra white. it does have a flake in it but not sure if considered pearl.