Frivolous question: what car color would you choose?

[Blaggertyjibbet]

Cross-post from the larger families board for traffic. I realise this is a complete first world problem, but am running around in circles and need a bit of clarity!

Bit of back story, we have been limping along for the better part of a decade in our diesel people carrier, and it is now getting expensive and annoying to run between things breaking down more (150k on the clock) and the diesel costs. We want to move to something better for the environment, but have 3 kids and do a lot of road trips with my parents (so we definitely use that 3rd back row).

DH gets a hefty work discount through Volvo, so we think the 2023 XC90 plug-in hybrid is a good fit for us. Lots of space for our kids and gear, but we can use it like an EV for running around town whilst still being able to do long road trips without needing to stop and charge every 2-3 hours, which I really like. It’ll act like a stepping stone for switching to full electric once infrastructure and battery range tech improve.

Crucial (and clearly first world) dilemma: what colour to get? White/Black/Silver? The crystal white is a nice metallic pearl, so not a boring flat white, but I worry it’s a bit ubiquitous. I have always preferred black cars in the past as I always think they look sleek and elegantly understated, and our current car is black. However, it does look dirty quickly and shows up every nick and ding, and it gets hot in the summer. Silver is inoffensive but feels really bland. I don’t really like the other colours they have.

What would you pick? And for the interior would you go light or dark? Our current black interior seems to always look dirty, but maybe the light will be even worse… 🤔

Silver.
White is an absolute nightmare and shows everything. You'll be cleaning it all the time.
Black gets very warm in summer.

Silver is practical, barely shows dirt and looks good IMO.

We have a large SUV in light blue and it's been great. Bought it 2nd hand so didn't choose the colour but it's so much less hot in summer than our previous dark grey car.

The black one definitely looks like a hearse.

BMW Individual Mora Metallic is my favourite of all time, closely followed by Honda Torino Red.

My big concern with silver is whether it looks a bit… dated? Is that just personal perception?

White- you plan to clean it constantly?
Black - funeral
Silver- with dark interior is my choice. That’s what I have now and it has served me well.

White, my last car was white and I thought I would hate it. We've just changed cars again and I really miss it 😆

@Blaggertyjibbet silver exterior, light/white interior. People feel certain ways about big white cars and big black cars, silver is classic and probably no one will assume the worst about you on the road. I think new sliver cars usually look quite smart anyway. If it was an option, I’d say red or burgundy.

I have a peugot with the pearly white and I love it. It doesn't show as much dirt as I'd expect.

Where I live the VAST majority of cars are black. It's just so boring. White cars are pretty rare. I'd go for the white personally with a dark interior.

I think new sliver cars usually look quite smart anyway.

Our silver Volvo v40 which is now 8 still looks smart.

Black drug lord.
White - elegant and classy. Just my opinion tho!

Mine is midnight blue with bright turquoise metallic flecks in it, I love it. Mazda also do a really lovely metallic cherry red- a bit richer and deeper than classic pillar box red, but definitely red not burgundy.

Is there any difference in delivery time between the different colours?

Pearlescent white.

Every other Volvo is black,
and silver is far too common.

Nope, they’re all about 9 months out. :(

Yellow

I like metallic icy pale blue cars best of all. I'm not a fan of white cars, don't know why. Silver is ok but a bit meh.

We have a black one and a red one. Black looks nicer tbh.

Love the black- actually have an eye on the same car. Test drive it and loved it!

avoid a light interior at all costs. Wish we had!

I almost always get a colour, usually red but sometimes blue. At the moment I have red. It's easier to find in the car park and DD can always find me when I pick her up from school. I've had a black car and a white car in the past, they were both fine but the white car always looked dirty (I mean it was dirty because I'm lazy about going to the car wash, but it showed more than other colours).

Actually, I might have had a silver car or possibly it was gunmetal. It was so unremarkable that I can't actually remember the colour at all and it was only 12 years ago. It was an Audi and they only came in hideous shades of muddy puddle, muddy green, muddy blue, old-wine-stain-with-mud red which is why I ended up with some sort of grey.

Oh no, I was leaning toward the light interior. Why do you say avoid??

The free one. That's why my new car is grey. 🙄

I personally would not go for any of those colours
White is tacky
Black is intimidating and I always think drug dealers / loser
Silver ,boring/ too common
I like strong colours.

I'd go for the white. In my mind, having a big, shiny white car will mean I've "made it" in life

The black is nice too but, as you say, your current car is black and it's nice to go for something totally different when trading in. The silver is really bland, in my opinion.

Although I can't talk about bland - my car is dark grey, which seems to be very on-trend because everyone and their granny has the same colour

I would go black, with light interior (as long as it's leather). I had a black X6 with cream leather interior and even with two toddlers it never stayed dirty.
Leather seats are so easy to clean I never had an issue with a light coloured interior.
Pearlescent white is ok but white cars age far quicker than black cars do. I never look at white cars and think they look sleek and clean; they always just look a bit grubby and old. Even brand new ones.