To wonder when all the cars on our roads turned monochrome?!

[GinDaddyRedux]

I was recently flamed by some colleagues for considering buying a red car. I was told "you won't get let out at junctions", "people will automatically think you're having a mid-life crisis", "you'll get gobbed on by passers-by" etc ...

It got me thinking - when did we drain the colour out of car choices? Is this an envy thing, a "tall poppy" cut-down?

For reference yes, it is a 4-seater sports coupe, but there aren't many of the type I want to buy, and especially fewer with a manual gearbox. The one I found is in post-box colour red.

My point is, literally every single person in that group chat, male and female, has a monochrome car. Three "gunmetal grey", two black, one white.

My neighbours all to a fault seem to have grey or black. One has a blue people carrier and I love them for it, it's so good to see some actual colour on the street.

Yes this is trivial, yes I'm sure someone will be along to tell me about their yellow Cinquecento they once owned, or their current forest green Discovery or whatever. If so, you're of my thinking and this post is not to you.

I'm just curious - is it a PCP thing, as in, if you have to hand it back, does resale count in terms of having business grey colours?

I go to supermarket car parks in my bright blue estate car and I notice the stares, it's quite amusing - its as if people take umbrage to the existence of the thing. Everywhere else? Is a sea of grey, silver, black, more black, and a few white Kias or whatever was in vogue a few years back.

AIBU to wonder why people don't buy colourful cars any more? Would you automatically think "knob" if you saw a person in a red coupe?

My car is silver, so was my last one...but they were both bought second hand and happened to be the kinds of cars I was looking for at the time, the colour was irrelevant. But from a safety point of view I wish I didn’t have a silver car...far more accidents happen in silver cars as they blend in with the road and aren’t as visible.

As I buy used, I'm not as worried about the colour, I buy on spec/mileage etc.
This one is white
Last was red
Previous silver
Previous navy blue
Previous black

You get the point 😂

I want a green car! I’ve had a few red ones.

But I agree, lots of things are monochrome, especially the insides of modern houses. In a spirts shop, trainers are mostly black, white or grey now, with perhaps the odd bold fluorescent colour thrown in. Remember coloured bathroom suites, now occasionally sold as “vintage stock”?

Mines 'night blue', Im looking out the window at my neighbours bright yellow Cinquecento right now actually!

Other cars in my square include a red van, racing green Mini and a few light blue cars. Only a couple are monochrome.

DP has a postbox red Focus, my car is grey but the colour wasn't a factor in me being it. I've also had a green car and a burgundy car. Lots of the Feista/Corsa/Fiat 500 cars seem to come in funky colours but these tend to be driven by young people.

My current car is black but before that I always went out of my way to get bright green cars. This is back when I had hatchbacks and it was like driving a little pea round. Loved it.
Got a big grown up car now in black which I probably love more, I’ve never seen my car in any colour than grey (silver, gunmetal etc) or black now I come to think of it ...
And it’s a very popular car!

I always go for colour.

I have refused to buy silver white or black cars as there are far too many

My next car will be yellow or orange!

Yanbu OP
I've just bought a second hand car that's white, I would prefer it to be a different colour. I have a colourful/eclectic home.
There's a stunning purple range rover in the next street to ours, so much nicer to look at than monochrome

I drive a red mini convertible. Total mid-life crisis material but I love it and get loads of compliments on it. My last car was a boring, black practical hatchback. The one before was purple 😆
I’m not really the wallflower type..

I've only ever bought second hand so just got the best option I could afford, but my current car is a red Focus, and I haven't noticed being treated any differently to my old black Focus? It is easier to find in a car park though!

I would prefer black, I like darker colours generally, but I don't really care either way as long as it's not poo brown.

I've heard that green card can be considered unlucky. Strangely enough the bottle green Astra estate that I had for years was one of the few that I never had an accident in (we keep our cars for years and years. I haven't had lots of accidents in 35 years of driving!).
I had to have bodywork repairs done to a white car we owned and it was the most difficult to colour match successfully. Despite having it done at the main dealers own paintshop it was always clear that it had been resprayed. I think that the white paint dulls after a few years driving in a city environment.
Our current car is a gold zafira. We got it through Network Q. It seemed to be the cheapest second hand car that Vauxhall did through the scheme.

I've heard that green card can be considered unlucky

We have a green car. It's 65 years old, so quite lucky I suppose.

I hate the colour of my grey car purely because i can never spot the damn thing in a car park ( and I'm rubbish at remembering where I've parked). DH had to change his bright orange car recently so traded it in for a very bright blue one. Never had trouble spotting his car in a crowd.

My first car as a new driver was an orange fiesta. Have had all sorts of colours since then.
Currently I have a silver Mercedes and i think my model only seems to come in silver or black, haven't seen it in any other colours.

I hear ya! So many boring cars around. I remember when red and blue cars were everywhere. But it is the "minimalist" trend I guess.

I had a bright yellow one. The whole family loved it. Really easy to see where it was parked in a car park! Now we have a navy blue one. We buy used after a few years to keep costs down and only switched the yellow one because something in the brakes kept going. (Nobody could figure out what it was and wasn't safe to drive so we got rid.) Really wished we could have got a brighter colour but needs must.

Looking around our private carpark, most cars are black or silver. There is a bright blue Jeep that I adore and the guy who parks next to me has a bright blue color.

I need a car that I can find in a car park, so no way would I buy a black or grey car.

Love to see colourful cars, my neighbours have a red car, a blue car and a white car, it makes me feel patriotic.

My 15-year old Honda FRV [not made anymore!!!] is a metallic dark grey.
My DH's very new Hyundai Ioniq is also metallic dark grey.

We prefer metallic paint finishes rather than a flat colour - but it's annoying when you have to pay several hundred pounds more for the privilege...

About 15 years ago, I commented that cars were the colours of suits, as in men's suits. Light Grey, black, charcoal, navy blue and the odd white shirt.

Navy blue suits and light silver grey have gone out of fashion and so have the cars.

Ours is white as anything else was an added cost.

I am now gazing in astonishment out my window, how have I never noticed this was a thing before?!

I have a bright metallic red car and adore him. He's bright enough to be seen in all weather conditions, he stands out in car parks and I've only ever heard one person say anything negative about his colour (MIL, who says red cars are common, but she's an arsehole so can't be trusted).

Just buy a car you love in a colour you love and tell everyone else to shush. If you listened to the opinions of everyone else you'd never buy a car, a toilet brush or a 4x4.

About 15 years ago, I commented that cars were the colours of suits, as in men's suits.

For BMW Merc and Audi I think that's very true. They're very "businessman" cars. Used to be there was more variety in the cheap hatchbacks and hot hatches but seems like they've gone the same boring way now.

I'm under strict orders to not get a black white or grey car because family I give lifts to wouldn't be able to recognise it . (Not entirely serious). Currently have a light blue 04 plate.

It’s not easy to buy any car in any colour

You have to track them down!!

Yes I agree, thought it was a British thing though because when I lived in Oz there were heaps more colours.

I don't like the idea of a black or grey car in this climate - looks too much like road, which isn't great for visibility in poor weather.

I'd buy a bright red or electric blue car if I was in the position to buy a car now. Never had red in Oz because they were notorious for fading in the sun; I had an electric blue car as my first car and LOVED it

Thinking about it we have had a burgundy red, black, black, dark blue and now silver. All second hand when looking for the latest cars a lot where black/grey/silver or dark blue.