Thanks for the replies all! I guess I can't go wrong either way. I've always had black cars and LOVE them, but I was just thinking this SGM, is new and with the metallic it seems to add a new dimension ESPECIALLY in the light! Still a polished black car is tough to beat!

 

DAMN, nice work on that picture!

 

thanks
took a couple minutes and since i have YET to see a GS flint mica with tourmalines let alone an IS
I just had to do it myself

I think it looks clean.

 

I would choose SGM. Its a great looking color.

 

If you're not going to special order the car and you have a specific set of options that you're looking for, you might want to take which ever color you can get with the options you want. I'm strongly considering the IS350 as my next car and I want it with sport package, ML (I know this is hard to find), nav, park assist and headlamp washers. If I decide to get the IS350 and since I know the option combination that I want will be hard to find, I'm going to tell the dealers that I want either black onyx or SGM and either sterling or black interior. This will give them 4 combinations to try to get.

 

Well the SGM I want is gonna be here in a few days, a black onyx could be longer, as he'd have to trade with another dealer. So that makes it even HARDER not to take advantage of the SGM!

Regarding your car, is ML/NAV with Sport Package ANYWHERE in the US yet?

 

From the various threads I've read, they are out there, just not many of them so they are hard to find. I'm going for my test drives starting next weekend and then if I decide what car I want, I'll start contacting dealers to see if they have any coming in December.

Btw, I just got the IS brochure in the mail. The main reason I requested the brochure it was to see the SGM color swatch because sometimes computer monitors can distort the color. After seeing it, I became very interested in that color. They also have a pic of a SGM colored IS on page 4-5 but the angle of the pic makes it hard to really see what the color looks like.

 

I picked up my IS 250 in SGM 2 weeks ago and just love it. It looks very cool at night and the sunlight makes it dance. You can't go wrong with it!!

 

Good luck with your research. I know what ya mean about the SGM on page 4-5, it's also on the 1st or 2nd page I believe, hard to see the color, but look closely at the fine print in the corner, it says SGM.

 

Thanks! have you already posted pics? Did you ever think about black onyx? Any regrets

 

I purchased a smokey granite IS350, with Black interior and I think the color is nicer in person than what the pictures on this forum show. I too was torn between the SGM and the Blk/Blk. And in the end SMG won me over. Go around to various dealerships and check out all the colors. And you'll see the all the colors in various states, from spotless on the showroom floor, to slightly dirty out on the lot.

 

No, I haven't posted pics yet. I will try to do that this week. Yes, I did think about the black onyx. I love the look of a clean black car but keeping it clean is too hard (from past experience). I have no regrets whatsoever about the smokey granite. Good luck with your decision.

 

SGM doesn't have an extra clear coat, it just has a clear coat period. Black Onyx doesn't. That's not to say BO is worse than SGM, it's just single stage paint while SGM is two stage paint. That means BO has the acrylic enamels than make up a clear coat mixed right into the pigmented paint, while SGM has a layer of pigmented paint covered by a layer of clear paint. Single or two stage paint has nothing to do with how easily a car will get or show scratches, what does is the color. Black shows scratches more because it's black. The less light reflected by the color the more marring your eye will see, which means SGM being the lighter color, will show scratches less.

So neither color is easier to scratch or remove scratches from, but in the end SGM will look cleaner more often since it can get slightly scratched and dirty before you notice it.

There are other advantages and disdvantages to single vs two stage paint, but that makes for kind of a long post.

 

So Picus, would you STILL select SGM over Black Onyx if you were to have to choose between the two? Or even if you had to choose between ALL colors offered?

 

I'd pick SGM, but only because I've had 15 years of black cars and I am just too busy to keep them looking the way I want them to look. Black is still my favorite, but everyone here is right - it's a major undertaking keeping it looking good all the time. SGM is a nice compromise of dark enough, plus it has some incredible flake and it will be much easier to maintain. The only "problem" I can see with it is that it's going to be one of, if not the, most popular color. My second choice (assuming I could have enough willpower not to buy black) would be one of the whites (GFM or Chrystal White, in that order). I really like the IS in white, which I can't say for most cars.