Choosing the right colour for a new car?

Movie Maestro

I'm trying to decide on a colour for a new 2018 Mazda 3 saloon but am torn between two colours, 'Soul' Red Metallic (Pearlescent) and 'Machine' Grey Metallic (Pearlescent).

The red looks stunning but I'm afraid that I will regret it down the road as it could show scrathes more and possibly dirt. Would resale value be lower on this colour and would I have to wash it more often?

The Grey is very nice as it looks like a quite luxurious/premium colour, so maybe a safe bet. There is another part of me that feels its a bit boring though

Would really like to hear peoples opinions here and particulary anyone who owns this model with either colour:D:D:D

I did manage to take pic 3 yesterday with both colours side by side

uck51js9zml2yt

I like the red!

Black shows every speck of dust

endacl

Step 1: Pick the colour you like the best.
Step 2: Enjoy your new car.

mickdw

That red seems very common on the mazdas. Its nice but id go for the other.

micks_address

Obviously all personal choice. I had red on my list for new Octavia. When I went into dealer started to talk about colours and when I mentioned red he said they sell very little of it. That sort of put me off red as I felt it might have slight impact on trade in value. I ended up ordering a sliver.

One thing with red if you intend keeping a long time is can fade.. I've noticed it on my wife's 08 jazz. Not an issue if you are not keeping the car long term.
Enjoy purchase.
Cheers,
Mick

pjmn

I'd pick one of the following three colours...

1. Black
2. Black
3. Black

Wellywoo

Red

I like the grey.

Something to consider for further down the track when you're selling it, muted colours sell quicker than brighter ones; according to my uncle who sold cars for decades (at a reputable garage not out the side of his house )

mloc123

Red

Anecdotal but... red is very popular in the UK but not at all in Ireland. I know lots of people that just wouldn't buy a red car... Dates back to when they were considered 'flash' maybe.

Personal I like neutral colours... Most of my car's have been various shades of grey.

colm_mcm

The red is the colour to get on these. It's quite common on Mazdas though which might be a concern.

begbysback

Red

Grey - though don't think silver alloys go well with grey, put some grey alloys on for xtra snazz

colm_mcm

I'd look at the snowflake white pearlescent too.

alchemist33

Red

I know grey/silver is pretty boring but that one looks very good

high horse

micks_address wrote: »

Obviously all personal choice. I had red on my list for new Octavia. When I went into dealer started to talk about colours and when I mentioned red he said they sell very little of it. That sort of put me off red as I felt it might have slight impact on trade in value. I ended up ordering a sliver.

One thing with red if you intend keeping a long time is can fade.. I've noticed it on my wife's 08 jazz. Not an issue if you are not keeping the car long term.
Enjoy purchase.
Cheers,
Mick

Fading is not an issue for metallic paint as there is a layer of lacquer on top of the paint which prevents oxidation. It's the oxidised paint that appears faded.

anewme

The most popular colours for cars are grey, black, white.

White has been "in" now since about 10D regs and is not yet going out of fashion. I dint think it suits this car though.

grey is now the most popular colour but the shades vary a lot depending on the brand, for example I love Audi Daytona grey with the pearl effect yet there is a skoda grey paint (also a special colour) that looks flat Matt like they forgot to paint it in the factory.

The red looks good in that Mazda but you would be limiting your audience on a trade in so I'd stick with the grey unless you plan on keeping it till the death.

bazz26

If that red limits the audience when buying a Mazda then no Mazda will sell second as I'd say 80% of Mazdas bought these days are that red.

For my 2c worth. That red is beautiful when it's cleaned and polished but really makes the car age when dirty and every scratch will show so if you're not the type who regularly washes your car then the grey will be lower maintenance.

Movie Maestro

Thanks to everyone for the replies, its been very helpful and eye-opening. Based on advice concerning resale I'm gong to go with the Grey, thanks again to everybody :D:D

Casey78

The red is much nicer.

punisher5112

Blue..... Really like blue.

colm_mcm

Movie Maestro wrote: »

Thanks to everyone for the replies, its been very helpful and eye-opening. Based on advice concerning resale I'm gong to go with the Grey, thanks again to everybody :D:D

I wouldn't have see anything on that. The red is what sells it for a lot of people. 1 in 4 Mazda 3s and 6s are that shade of red. You'll have no extra resale issues on the red.

deandean

That Mazda metallic red is one of the nicest car colours going, IMO.

the_pen_turner

you cant say what colour people will want to buy on a second hand car. you cant say nobody buys a red car if all available cars arnt red. loads of people could be looking for red cars but cant buy one because nobody bought them new so arnt coming to the market

Donal55

Grey? its suited to us because of our weather. I can't stand it.

PaulKK

anewme wrote: »

The most popular colours for cars are grey, black, white.

White has been "in" now since about 10D regs and is not yet going out of fashion. I dint think it suits this car though.

10D regs?

Personally I think white looks crap on a car apart from when its more or less brand new. Ages terribly.

Also a certain element of 'look at me' about white.

anewme

PaulKK wrote: »

10D regs?

Personally I think white looks crap on a car apart from when its more or less brand new. Ages terribly.

Also a certain element of 'look at me' about white.

White has been very popular since curca 2009-2010. Usually colours come and go and date, but it remains popular.

Similar to red, it's eliminating a lot of your audience for the reason you say, "some people think it's too flash," however, it's still in the top 3 colours and the perception of white has changed big time.

It works on some models, not all, Also depends on the shade of white. Golf highline is lovely in white.

Grey/silver/gunmettle is currently most popular.

Pugzilla

Red

JohnBoy26

The red is much nicer than the grey on these. The grey doesn't make these caes stand out like the red does.

anewme

Op, the SIMI stats for 171 reflect what I said earlier...

http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats

14000 red vs. Almost 47000 grey... I'd not risk it myself

Pugzilla

anewme wrote: »

Op, the SIMI stats for 171 reflect what I said earlier...

http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats

Yes, just copy everyone else....

anewme

Pugzilla wrote: »

Yes, just copy everyone else....

Or take the hit on trade in....

They are the stats. The op can make their own decision.

mikeecho

Red

Poll currently at 50/50

Traditionally red is a cůnt of a colour to have.
It needs a lot of attention.
Otherwise you'll experience paint fade


Avoid red like the plague, unless you're buying a classic that will be garaged.

colm_mcm

That advice doesn't apply to metallic red, which is what this is.

Also if concerned about resale, the OP probably shouldn't buy a Mazda 3 in the first place

DaveyDave

Red

I'd get the grey. I've seen so many red Mazda's, both the 3 and the 6. The carpark across from me at work someone drives a grey 6, lovely looking car with some nice big alloys on it.

jca

Red for me as they look well in that colour but my god they're one ugly looking bastard, the banana bend along the doors looks dreadful. I was considering one of them before getting an Octavia. I decided against it as their resale value is pretty poor especially if you're going PCP

JohnBoy26

jca wrote: »

Red for me as they look well in that colour but my god they're one ugly looking bastard, the banana bend along the doors looks dreadful. I was considering one of them before getting an Octavia. I decided against it as their resale value is pretty poor especially if you're going PCP

Sorry but seriously you think a mazda 3 is ugly yet bought a facelift octavia instead with the oddball front end?

JohnBoy26

mikeecho wrote: »

Poll currently at 50/50

Traditionally red is a cůnt of a colour to have.
It needs a lot of attention.
Otherwise you'll experience paint fade


Avoid red like the plague, unless you're buying a classic that will be garaged.

That's solid red. The mazda 3 is mettalic red and won't need any attention in regards to fading.

jca

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

Sorry but seriously you think a mazda 3 is ugly yet bought a facelift octavia instead with the oddball front end?

I did, I like the front end tbh. I liked the 3 initially but the lack of a petrol version and a modern autobox put me off. Reliability and residuals influenced my decision too. Keeping on track, had I bought one I'd have picked the red without question.

dil999

anewme wrote: »

Op, the SIMI stats for 171 reflect what I said earlier...

http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats

14000 red vs. Almost 47000 grey... I'd not risk it myself

I don't think this is a true representation. Grey also encompasses silver in the 2017 stats (Unless there were only 21 silver cars sold this year)

2016 stats look to be more accurate: 17K red, vs 31K Grey.

Personally I think grey is an awful colour for a car. In the case of the Mazda I would think the colour will have zero impact on the resale value. Buy the colour you prefer to look at every morning in your driveway.

anewme

dil999 wrote: »

I don't think this is a true representation. Grey also encompasses silver in the 2017 stats (Unless there were only 21 silver cars sold this year)

2016 stats look to be more accurate: 17K red, vs 31K Grey.

Personally I think grey is an awful colour for a car. In the case of the Mazda I would think the colour will have zero impact on the resale value. Buy the colour you prefer to look at every morning in your driveway.

yes grey definitely includes silver in those stats without a doubt. However, grey is way more popular than silver currently.

It's been grey (including silver) black and white for the past six years or so.

dil999

anewme wrote: »

yes grey definitely includes silver in those stats without a doubt. However, grey is way more popular than silver currently.

It's been grey (including silver) black and white for the past six years or so.

Red and Blue are not far behind with 11.5% each. The cannot described as unpopular or undesirable colours

anewme

dil999 wrote: »

Red and Blue are not far behind with 11.5% each. The cannot described as unpopular or undesirable colours

Depends on the shades.

I can only advise as someone in the trade and if I were buying I'd stick to one if the fifty shades of grey.

colm_mcm

It depends on the car though. That red is the signature Mazda colour at this stage.

dil999

colm_mcm wrote: »

It depends on the car though. That red is the signature Mazda colour at this stage.

When Ford released the latest mondeo, all their advertising & promotion was for the red colour. They are now charging a premium of €350 over other metallics for "Ruby Red"

Within reason, I can never understand basing a car buying decision on potential resale values, The impact of grey vs red is impossible to quantify. Buy the car you want and enjoy it.

jca

dil999 wrote: »

When Ford released the latest mondeo, all their advertising & promotion was for the red colour. They are now charging a premium of €350 over other metallics for "Ruby Red"

Within reason, I can never understand basing a car buying decision on potential resale values, The impact of grey vs red is impossible to quantify. Buy the car you want and enjoy it.

Unfortunately with so many buying on PCP ( myself included) potential resale value is important, that being said I don't think colour makes that big a difference I do like the red though.

storker

Nothing beats the great look of beige...

Paddystix

An awful amount of white cars on the road.

colm_mcm

dil999 wrote: »

When Ford released the latest mondeo, all their advertising & promotion was for the red colour. They are now charging a premium of €350 over other metallics for "Ruby Red"

Within reason, I can never understand basing a car buying decision on potential resale values, The impact of grey vs red is impossible to quantify. Buy the car you want and enjoy it.

There's another expensive colour too. I can only assume it's a different finish to standard metallic

Zubeneschamali

My S-Max is 9 years old now and has 395,000 km on the clock. Back when I was ordering it, the colour choices were crap, mostly black and grey, with a navy blue and a darkish green.

I let the salesman talk me out of green because of resale value and got a boring grey. Since the car is worth roughly no euros, I am sorry I didn't order the colour I liked best.

Of course, you can argue that circumstances might have made me change after 2 or 3 years, and then I would have been glad. But they didn't, and I amn't.

dil999

colm_mcm wrote: »

There's another expensive colour too. I can only assume it's a different finish to standard metallic

Ford also have a white for the same additional price. VW have red and white options more expensive than the standard metallic also.
The Ford ruby red is not advertised as being different, I did a quick Google and don't see anything that calls it out as different.

But I did find this, which is relevant to the thread.
http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2017/4/22/Really-This-Is-The-Most-Popular-Color-Ford-Customers-Want-7738840/

"Granny hair" grey :eek::eek::eek:

Movie Maestro

OP here, my heart says RED but my Head says GREY :pac:

SBPhoto

pjmn wrote: »

I'd pick one of the following three colours...

1. Black
2. Black
3. Black

The only black car you'll ever see me in again is a hearse.
Nightmare to keep clean and free from swirls

dil999

Movie Maestro wrote: »

OP here, my heart says RED but my Head says GREY :pac:

Go with your heart. If you go with a colour you are not happy with you will grow to dislike the car very quickly. Look at Zubeneschamali's post

There will be no appreciable difference in the residual value in 3 years in red vs grey