I just brought home a 2007 RX400h in crystal white. Now I am second-guessing myself on the color. I seem to always do this! This is the third RX that I have owned (LOVE THEM!). My first was a light gold color and it was great. The second was black (my husband talked me into that one) and I was never happy with the fact that it always looked dirty. Yesterday when I purchased my new one, we had no intention of getting a car, just stopped by the dealership to look around and ask about the new body change for 2009.
Well....there on the lot was this 2007 crystal white with a nav. system and DVD that they gave me a great deal on. I bought it and now think it looks pretty bright. I think that I should have gotten the Savannah color, but my first RX was about the same color.
I guess I am just looking for someone to convince me that I didn't make a mistake about the white. Any help out there???

 

Welcome to CL bwags! And congrats on your new ride!!

Thanks to my company's signature color scheme, I had to drive white company cars a number of years ago. Since my job required a reference white for shooting video and film, I found it actually came in handy, swing around, shoot about a second of the car, and get on with business. I quit complaining and in time learned to love white.

That utilitarian factor kept me in white cars and wagons for years, until I rebelled and started my own company with a retina-searing red 3/4-ton Suburban. (Dodged a lot of tickets in that beast; speed cops must have thought anyone driving so fast in something so large and so OBVIOUS had to be crazy or with the fire department - they never stopped me.)

After a few Suburbans, I bought my first RX - "Golden Pearl" - a creamy white with a pearlescent finish (gray-green below). I loved it! Oddly enough, it didn't show dirt too much with that pearl finish. My latest RX is Savannah, and while I like it a lot (it has to be filthy to really show the dirt) it's a little boring. You can work all day to polish and wax it, and your work hardly shows.

Over the years I've discovered I'm not really a fan of pure white, when there are a number of colors just off white that are so much more interesting. I had two trucks painted - Lincoln's "Wimbledon White" - a linen white, and was very happy with that color. A friend purchased an ES330 a couple of years ago when there was a "Parchment White" available, and it was just enough off a pure white to really look classy (she bought the "Frigidaire" white).

Sadly, the current Lexus white just screams kitchen appliance to me. I'll wait for some new colors before trading my Savannah, thank you. I'd still love to have a white RX - maybe if I just drove one long enough I'd learn to love the crystal white too.

 

Well..................I can't decide if you have told me that I made a mistake or not! Apparently you really dislike the white, so I guess that in your opinion, I did. I agree that the older RX had a great soft white and I loved it. At the time I had a gold RX and intended to get a white one next. My husband convinced me to get black which I complained about so I decided that this time I would get white. Yes, it is pretty bright, but it has a great pearlescent sheen to it. Now that I have driven it off the lot, it is mine, so I am going to have to learn to love it. I do love the car, but I seem to have a heck of a time with color choices!

 

No, I don't think you made a mistake. You are having some second thoughts, and that's normal. I found that the RX 300 was a little plain so I had a local pinstripe artist dream up a set of modest stripes for the sides and tailgate to give it some shape and emphasize the length of the vehicle (which looked a little stubby with all that white.

Your RX 400h is a good bit longer and like my 330, has a number of lines evident it its sides so may not require an emphasis line. Despite my initial intentions, I didn't have Mike stripe my new RX simply because I couldn't decide where to put them. I'm sure he could, and like his choices of color, design, and placement on my 300, I'm sure they would have been perfect.

White has an elegance all its own, but sometimes it needs something just to punch it up a little. Go to a custom painter in your area and let him make a couple of suggestions. BTW, most of the great stripers are now doing motorcycles (the money's better). Here's some of my guy's work:

http://www.milburnscustompaint.com/

 

BWAGS,

I'm probably going to get the Crystal White after 17 years of red (mostly metallic) vehicles. I had a "Super White" 1985 Supra which was surprisingly easy to keep clean. The only drag are the bugs, bits of tar, and inevitable "rubber stains" that "bleed down" onto the paint after rain. The latter wipe right off as you wash it, but the bugs and especially tar bits are not something I'm looking forward to dealing with. Mud guards are something I might consider.

The main reason I'm going with Crystal White is that it HAS to be somewhat "easier" on the A/C system. We ARE buying 400h's to achieve the best possible gas mileage in a luxury SUV, aren't we?

Good luck with yours. What interior color did you get?

BTW, my Lexus dealer's lot looked like a ghost town today. Only two new RX's and they were both BLACK 350's. Guess the "End of Summer" sale went really well for them.

 

Personally, I think the Crystal White is the Nicest looking colour.

I find that most vehicles have that "Magic" Colour which makes them look better than most other colours.

When I purchased my M5, I wanted it in Silver.

When I drove a Mercedes E430 it "looked" perfect in Black.

If I will ever afford a Ferrari, it won't be banana yellow, it will be RED.

The RX family of SUV's, I personally like the Pearl White above all other colours by a long shot, I wouldn't even second guess it. Is that to say the other colours are ugly? Of course not, I just personally think it looks Better in Pearl White. I find the shape of the vehicle is further enhanced, the lines and curves appear whereas in other colours the creases and curves and innuendos sculpted are more transparent.

My only area of concern is perhaps you are experiencing more of a buyer remorse than perhaps the colour. IOW, are you regretting your purchase? Did you purchase on impulse? Were you in the market for a new vehicle, or did the purchase just kind of happen?

I have zero remorse and I am not about to start "trash talking" what colour people should buy. I am completely at ease with my choice and chose with zero compromise. IOW, I wouldn't of purchased my 400H if it wasn't equipped as such, regardless of price.

Cheers,

MadloR

 

The White is a beautiful colour IMHO if you got white you made a good choice. It is also a lot cooler in the summer than BLack which I had for three cars in a row 1997 Avalon 2000, RX300 and my pre-owned 1997 LS400 I have the light gray interior which is even cool and I leave the sunroof shade open all the time also. I don't even have to open the vehicle up befroe I get in after being parked in the sun al day. White was not my colour choice but can't argue a two year old new vehicle either most likely no more dark vehicles for me.

 

I bought my first white car when I was in college - a '61 Valiant with the big engine and NOTHING else. It was reasonably comfortable with the "360 air conditioning" (three open windows and 60 miles per hour), but I didn't know how much difference color made to cooling.

After a couple of years I got tired being mistaken for a campus cop and painted it in "green velvet metallic" one of my favorites I've gunned on several cars over the years. It was a big mistake. Driving on the freeway at rush hour home from the spray booth, I very nearly cooked. In car temps - even with the windows down were at least 15 degrees hotter.

My $200 paint job (oh those were the days) got more expensive with the addition of an aftermarket $500 air conditioner the next weekend. I should have done without both.

 

Thanks for all of the reponses!
I have had the car for a week now and am convinced that I made a good choice. Yes, it really does seem much easier to cool down than my last (black) one. It has the light tan interior which I really like.
It was not really an impulse buy, tho I did not know that I would get one that day. I knew that I wanted another Lexus RX and wanted to switch to a hybrid. I really thought that I would wait until next spring when the (supposed) body change will happen. I had almost 60k miles on my car and the salesman talked us into trading before we reached 60k due to the warranty they offer on used cars. That ploy worked and we bought one that day!
I guess that everyone has their favorite color so it is a personal choice. I just know that as beautiful as black is, I will never own another black car. It will be interesting to see the new color choices when (if??) they bring out a new body style in the spring.