Which is easier to maintain? : White or Black
 

Which is easier to maintain?

White is fairly easy to maintain and looks killer once clean. I am looking outside my office at my car and I know for a fact its dirty as all Hell but I cant tell from 15ft :D

They're both a huge pain, but black is by far the harder one. Both show dirt, but black will show dust and watermarks much more than white will. When you wash a white car, after you're done you get to look at a nice, shiny car. When you wash a black car, after you're done you get to look at a shiney car with dust on it.

lol very true

And, you don't have to deal with swirl marks as much with white.

I had a white 05 350z for 2.5 years, it was EASY to keep clean. I could go a while with out washing it and you woudlnt know its dirty unless you creeped up on it and started to do a real look over.

Now with my black 370z heres the ugly run down.

Washing your black Z in the sun? = STUPID! It creates watermarks like crazy. My white z i could get away with it.

As Anatoray said, after you wash the black car its dusty with in 30 minutes. White you never would have known.

The other nasty black feature. YOU MUST BE DELICATE, you will scratch this car up if your stupid, every scratch will show too. I never had any scratch on my White Z that i could see. for 2.5 Years and i could not see one scratch! First day of ownership of the black 370z and i could see dealer installed factory swirl marks. MOTHER BEEP!

Black. By far. Its not even close IMO.

To keep my Black 370Z clean I follow this schedule:

Initially I washed car and did 3 coats of Zaino.

Once a week wash the car early in the morning before the sun is overhead. Wash with a cotton rag from auto detailing shop online.

immediately pull car in garage and immediately dry it. I use 2 cotton waffle towels and 14 cotton washcloths, approx 2 per panel (washcloths are small and easy to use one in each hand without dragging the ground, etc) to dry the car completely without scratching it. Then go over whole car one more time with my rethickulous cotton towel.

once a month, add a coat of Zaino.

Doing this has kept me from getting swirl marks or scratches, and keeps the car looking great, but hell, I am lazy, not sure I can keep this pace up forever.

I voted wrong... the thread title doesn't match the first post.

Black is BY FAR harder to keep clean than white. I've owned both color cars before.

Black but it looks sooooooo good!

I've had both, and white is much easier than black.

I love black but it's a royal pain in the "you-know-where". But I must admit nothing looks better than a black car for the 60 seconds that it's spotless. But who wants to slave over a car for hours just to get one minute of glory? And don't get me started on the dreaded swirl marks!!:mad: Get white, you'll thank your self later.

I know this is a white v. black thread, but red to me is like white. To me, from 5+ feet away, swirl marks are not visible, and when dusty, car still looks clean from 15+ feet away.

JMO

I did as well. The poll has the question in reverse logic as the title.

Does anybody really think it is easier to keep a black car than a white one?

It is if you're driving through a coal mine >.>

I have a black 370. DONT DO IT! except if you wax it every week like I do.

A black car isn't just a vehicle, it's a commitment.

I hate the fact that it's only ever clean for 24 hours at a time, but I love the colour so much that I'm prepared to put up with the heartache and the extra high maintenance (for example it's always washed/waxed by hand).

Incidentally, I often wash my car in the rain, firstly because the rain has already softened the dirt by the time I start and secondly because the rain rinses the car far better than I can. My neighbours think I'm mad, but you can wash your car in less than half the normal time if it's raining.

Black is the mutt's nutts, but white is alright.

Heres what i do.
Wash in shade, dont care the heat. Never press down on the car hard. I use what ever wash pads from walmart, lately useing microfiber ones that feel real soft on my hand.

Dry with my Torro Leaf blower, after that i use normal sized bath towel from walmart and just pick up the left over spots, NO pressing just glazing the towel over the car.

Then a Once over with z6, if i am feeling really good i use z8.

Since purchase of march 7th i have at least 6 coats of zaino z2 on the car.

I am going to switch over to z5 and only use that since it covers fine scratches.

When i get tired of doing all this, i will just use zaino Clear seal since it says 9 months of protection.

Also the zaino tire shine stuff, is A+++ zero tire sling, i cant believe it but yes its true.

Do you drive your car into a garage to dry it or do you just let it evaporate on its own? We have pretty much the same weather here and nothing is more frustrating then washing, waxing drying...and then it rains :mad:

i agree the color black is the BEST color for a car but the f*&^n idea that gets soo f*&^*&n dirty turns me off idk maybe if i become commited ill get black till then we will see

Where is the both choice.

Black isn't that bad if you have california duster brush or comparable brush to wipe the dust off. Takes less than a minute and works really well.

white is so much easier to keep clean. But you can't match a sparkling clean black car. Stunning.

Chris

LOVE BLK LOVE BLK Wash it in the morning dry in the garage blow dry car cover.

how much does this machine cost?

its not a machine lol, it's a brush with some kind of oil in it that lifts the dust off. You can order them online or buy them at walmart for around 15 dollars. I would suggest going to walmart, because the california brush site is more exspensive and obviously requires the wait.

You people voting better have owned both! :D

I just bought a california duster and it costs me like 10.96 for jumbo version at walmart and YES ITS GOOD. It has Parafin wax wich i guess grabs dirt up really good.

Side note it requires you to let it sit on news paper for 48hrs to let the excess parafin wax absorb onto it.

I went almost a week with out washing it with the duster but there was bug guts and i wanted those off so i washed.

Yep :tup:

Still would love to hear from somebody that has owned a black car and thinks it is easier than white. Can't even comprehend how it could even be close. Lot's of votes though.

Washed, used a clay bar and then waxed today. The sun was so bright (for a change) that my car almost looks gray or brown.

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j..._tin/clean.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...tin/clean2.jpg

http://i271.photobucket.com/albums/j...tin/clean3.jpg

I have found this gray-brown thing to be true also. I can only assume its becuase the black has metal flakes in it that reflect light.

A girl at work has a challanger cheapest model she could get and its "flat" black and under direct sun her car still looked black. I am going to take a wild guess and say flat black is cheaper to do than metal flakes in your black.

Eitherway i sort of wished i had flat black, but then again never know how it would look on my car.

The car looks sick. Shame about the swirl marks on your numberplate though.



...and to answer BanningZ - if the rain rinses it, the water just evaporates and usually it looks fine.


...and to comment on the flat v metallic black question, the earlier 350z's had flat black (Kuro) and they look like a much deeper, blacker black than the metallics. However, I still prefer the metallic - I think it doesn't show swirl marks quite so easily, for a start - and I've found the colour quite easy to match.


Here's 2 pics of my metallic black car (left) and a non-metallic (right). I think it's quite easy to see the non-metallic is a richer black - even easier to see in real life...

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g7...88/2blacks.jpg

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g7...8/2blacks2.jpg

You can get away with so much w/a white car. Black is only clean RIGHT after you wash it. A few days later, it's dirty. White cars even after a hard rain and quick sunshine dry will hide most of the water spots.

White is BY FAR easier to maintain. It's because Pearl White cars usually don't come with the dealer installed option: Swirl Marks/Water Stains.

White all day.

White is for sure easier to clean than black, but white still takes a lot of work.

White also shows dirt quite quickly and is nothing like say a silver which can look clean for awhile.

Becuase your in the shade its a tough call on both those cars they both look deep, but if the sun was directly beating down on both i say a different story would be told.

Adding this i actualy sat and stared and stared and yes the one to the right is actualy deeper.

Black is definitely more difficult to maintain. You can, however, wash it in the sun without getting water marks. You just need to be fast, which isnt fun, really. Basically you spray the car down for a while to cool it off. Wash it in chunks, making sure to spray the car down well after EVERY chunk to keep everything cool and wet. Usually, I do the top/windows, then the hood/fenders, then doors/rear quarters, and finally bumpers and lower areas. Always wash top down. Doing this method without enough practice works great, and I never have water spots.

Obviously White, but black looks so amazing if kept clean.

I just finished washing and waxing my black 350z - If anyone knows a better/more satisfying feeling, please tell me. The thing looks gorgeous. :cool:

Aftering having owned a brilliant black Audi TT for the past 9 years, I swore I'd never go black again. I had a friend that warned me about black cars. I admit they look the best when they are cleaned and polished but the amount of work that it takes caring for one is just unbelievable. Maybe it's a Florida thing, but I found when the car was even slightly dirty and then it rained lightly and the sun came out and full force that water spots burned into the paint. No amount of wax ( I was religious with the Zaino) protected the finish from this. Also swirl marks and scratches show up the most on a black car. NOW having said that... I understand the appeal! Black looks the most aggressive and has the most shine. If you are the kind of person that meticulously cares for your car, get a black one. It's worth doing at least once in your life.