Just got a ‘21 in matador red mica. In over a month I have yet to see another of this color! Is it not popular for some reason or just rare?

 

Check a larger sample.
Somewhere on line, there’s probably a break-out of total sale of each color for 2021. My sense of it is that res wasn’t the most popular color but not a pariah, either.

 

I have a Matador Red Mica ES. I had to order it in '21 and wait six months to get it in '22. My suspicion is that it's far enough off the beaten path of grey/white/black that dealers are loath to order it for dealer stock in case they can't sell it. That said, my selling dealership has had several red ES's as service loaners.

 

I feel like people have that old antage that a red car draws police attention which means getting pulled over more. I've had several red cars and haven't found it to be true at all. I'm glad it's not as popular of a color. It makes ours stick out more. Red Mica was without a doubt our first choice in color. Picked up a '21 F Sport with all options just a few months ago.

 

In my opinion, this color doesn’t suit the 7ES.

 

You're entitled to your opinion, but one can still readily see examples of it on 5th and 6th gen ES's on today's roads.

 

I don’t remember seeing one in red outside the Autotrader.

 

I believe you when you say that you don't remember. Perhaps those of us with red cars are always alert to red cars.

 

Well I live just south of Houston so I think I’m in a pretty large sample area!

 

it looks so much better in the sun!

 

I had it on my NX and it was gorgeous in the sun. I received a lot of compliments. However, it was challenging to keep it clean. Typical of dark colors.

 

OK, let's end the speculation.

I looked on cars dotcom for ES's. New and used, hybrid and gas, all ages, coast to coast. They listed 3,701 ES's for sale.

Of those, red was fifth on the list of most popular colors, first among non-grey-spectrum colors.

All colors listed, in descending order of supply: white, black, grey, silver, red, green, blue, beige. Like someone else said here, it's neither the mosst popular nor a pariah.

On a personal note: I own and prefer the V6 Ultra Luxury version of this car, but I think it's a matter of good manners and respect for others to not trash my fellow posters who prefer the hybrid or the F Sport. Their personal tastes and priorities are their own, and I would never think to come on here and lecture them that those preferences are "unsuitable." I feel the same way about my choice of a red ES. If we all liked the same color, modern cars would still be like the Model T, available in any color you want as long as it's black.

 

Many don't like red for luxury cars. Just the way it is.

 

I just bought a new ES350 a week ago that is cloudburst gray (one of the extra cost colors) with macadamia (off-white) interior. Gray was not my first choice, but I think my last five new Camrys and the Avalon I just traded were all gray because Toyota builds so many of them and they were the easiest to find in dealer inventory. I suppose that few people refuse to buy a gray car, but some might refuse the colors that Toyota then builds in low quantities.

I had been shopping for a loaded ES350 on the Internet for several months with special attention to dealers within 150 miles of home. I played the build your own car game on the Lexus website and selected the dark blue as my preference. In practice, it is not possible to get an actual car that matches the options I selected. I only saw one or two blue cars at those dealers and cannot recall seeing a red one. The blue ones had the tan (palomino) interior, which I would not buy. I never figured out what caviar is in English, but it looked OK in the pictures. The car I bought over the phone was gray, but the dealer had a green one for the same price. Green seems to be another of the rare colors, though it is not an extra cost color. I did not even ask to look at the green one when I went to the dealer to trade cars, so I do not know what it looks like. About twenty years ago, the local Toyota dealer had a new red Camry in the showroom that caught my eye while I was getting an oil change. I tried to trade for the red one, but the dealer wanted too much and I ended up with another gray car when I finally did the next trade.

I am partially red-green color blind, which makes me see some colors in an abnormal way. I understand that my condition is not uncommon in men. I do not find red or green cars objectionable, but there are some colors that I cannot see and give a correct name to. The Lexus dealer had a new car on the lot that I considered to be a strange color, so I asked my wife (few women are color blind) whether it was bright green. She thought it was gray. I looked at the window sticker and it said incognito, one of those names like caviar that I find useless. The salesman called it flat gray, by which I think he meant it had no metallic or mica sparkle.

 

For several reasons, black, gray, and white are the most common car colors. First, these classic shades have a timeless appeal that rarely goes out of style, making them popular for people with diverse tastes. This timeless quality also translates into strong resale value, as these colors consistently remain in high demand on the used car market. Black, in particular, holds a certain allure, often linked with luxury and prestige, adding a touch of sophistication that many buyers find appealing, while also remaining easier and less expensive for manufacturers to produce due to requiring fewer specialized pigments and processes. Dealerships typically stock a larger selection of black, gray, and white vehicles, making these colors more visible and readily available to consumers, often influencing their decision-making process.

This trend is evident in Lexus's 2021 sales data for the ES. The vast majority of the 40,594 ES models sold in the United States were in these common neutral colors, with red, blue, and green being far less frequently chosen. While not exactly "rare," red, blue, and green were the least common colors, mirroring a broader trend across the automotive industry where black, white, and gray continue to dominate the market.

I found gray to be the most appealing for my two ES models. I find it to be classy, and since I'm a bit lazy when it comes to keeping my car clean, it tends to hide dirt like a champ. In fact, my current ride, a Mercedes EQS (or as I like to call it, "The Fifty Shades of Grey" due to its many confusing color names like graphite gray speckle sparkle pearl metallic, or something, or because I can never remember the actual name), proudly flaunts its gray glory.

I agree with @LexFinally that pointing out a color choice as unsuitable is a bit petty and does nothing to further the conversation. Criticizing a car color as "unsuitable" is unproductive because color preference is highly subjective. What one person finds unappealing, another might find attractive. Unsolicited critiques are more likely to irritate than persuade, especially since people are often attached to their personal preferences and unsolicited criticism can cause annoyance rather than reconsideration. And while I think Lexus's version of green might induce sympathetic nausea, who am I to judge? If it makes you happy, rock that Kermit-mobile with pride!

Ultimately, color choice is a personal preference. Everyone is entitled to their own taste, even if it leans toward the questionable. The important thing is that the owner is happy with their choice—after all, they're the ones who have to look at it every day (and possibly explain it to their friends). For the record, I think the Matador Red is quite beautiful, especially when rocking the gray "kicks," even if I'm not brave enough to rock it!