Anyone Have Or (Had) A Black Car... Good Or Bad?

[Black Dog]

My preferred colour of choice for my new car will be Black.

Anyone been there & done that? If so please share your experiences in living with the car, like trying to keep clean etc. Any tips you have learnt along the way in keeping it clean for longer?

And would you recommend the colour?

I have heard that if a grounding thingy, you know, like you used to see underneath a car to combat motion sickness, is used then it reduces greatly the amount of dust that will cling to the paint. Not sure if true or not?

[sonicii]

I haven't had a black car, but have had a dark colour, usually with black, the slightest paint defects will show, especially swirl marks from poor washing or polishing processes. but they look great if maintained well.

Grounding straps were more of a 'placebo', some people though build up of static electricity on the car body could cause sickness.. don't think there is any science to support it.

Dust will stick to your car regardless. Rubber on asphalt will generate very minimal, if not, zero static electricity anyway.

[The Max]

As sonicii stated, dark coloured cars are harder to maintain though they do look damn sexy.

As for the ground strap, dust and motion sickness thing, if you believe that, you'll believe anything, even a politician.

The only benefit to a grounding strap is avoiding zapping yourself getting in and out of the car. I have observed no other benefits to these things and I haven't bothered with my V.

[Sinista32]

Yes - had a black 32 GTS-t. Black is my favourite colour on Skylines.

As you would expect a bugger to maintain looking clean and mirror polish look.

Everything leaves a mark that draws the eye. As mentioned unless cleaned/polished well you will see swirl marks up close.

You will go for a drive get home and clean it. Before you go out again you will need to wipe it down with an anti static brush to get the dust off.

Also depends how fussy you are as you will see what others wont.

I have heard of ceramic coating polish that helps black cars immensely

[KeyGT]

My previous car was a black Liberty GT but living in Perth with our hot summers I specifically wanted a lighter vehicle and ended up purchasing a white V36. I have to admit the liberty was an awesome car in black obsidian but man it was a pain to keep clean especially in our dryer months and after only a few days not parked under cover (at work) you noticed the dust/dirt build up so much so that to maintain the nice black look it almost required a bi-weekly clean (which I did not have the time for). Then the peak of summer hits and you quickly realise that your car is pretty much an oven on wheels, the leather needs ongoing maintenance to ensure it remains in good condition.I found getting good quality black wax and detailing spray the clean look remained for longer, but be prepared to notice every single little dent/imperfection.

Its saving grace was it had a sun roof which I would leave ajar if parking to let the heat vent and would open fully when jumping back in after any time parked in the sun. Did I like the look of the car, yes but would I do it again probably not.... However I might consider a dark blue if I was going across to the dark side again, just my 2 cents.

Happy car hunting!

This was the Liberty.....

[Nightcrawler]

Yep, I agree with all of the above - black cars imho look the sexiest of all colours when clean - BUT they are a pita to keep clean. Literally hours after you wash and polish a black car it looks like it needs it again. But I never learn my lesson and have now had a black R34 and currently a black V35 ..... and of course am eyeing off a black V36 for my possible next car. This photos is from a car show at Kadina last weekend:

[Black Dog]

Yeah thought as much about the keeping clean part... But like said they just look so damn hot.

Even that Liberty looks sexy Josh... Never thought I'd say that : - P

Our weather is similar to Perth, Summers are mid to high 40's easily. I will most definitely be getting the Sun roof option. Also I plan on hopefully moving to Cairns in the future, so should be interesting up there with all the rain...

That black car in the pic from Kadina looks similar to a guy I know selling his 350GT in Adelaide. I love the black stealthed out look. I'm thinking of doing something similar if I do go the Black. Also the lights look cool, reminds of lights from an Audi I think it was?

Now I know this might sound like sacrilege but I actually run my cars through the automated car wash :-o not the kind with brushes, I wouldn't be that cruel. I just don't have the time to be waxing and polishing my cars, so I guess I will be hitting that up a lot with the Black.

I will add some pics of the 350 GT that is for sale, I think the blacked out look, looks good also the lights look cool as. If anyone knows where to get them can you let me know. For a 370GT though.

Also I'm going to add a pic of the Blue Slate colour I think it's called. Do you reckon it would be just as hard to keep clean as black?

[sonicii]

Paint colour only makes a releativly small different to cabin temperatures when parked in the sun. RACQ did a test a while back and found a 3.1degC difference between a black and white car of the same model - http://www.racq.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/48796/09_Temperature_in_Cars.pdf

biggest cause of high interior temperatues is the colour of the interior surfaces, and how much sun reaches them, a black dash in full sun becomes one big heater plate.

Living in North Queensland, I have found the best way is to tint windows, use a windscreen cover and leave the windows slightly open if possible. I park in a secured car park during the day and have slim weather sheilds on my car, so this isn't a problem for security or rain.

interior temps probably only get 5-10 deg above ambient.

[Nightcrawler]

^^^ I call bs on that - on an even midly warm day my car is as hot as hades. In fact when it is plus 30 and the car is left out in the sun (which itt is most of the time) you CANNOT touch your hand on the paint. And then you can feel the heat radiating through the roof lining onto your head. Let alone a 40 degree day.

But like I said, I still love my black car - you just have to find shade where you can. A big help is the fact that I have remote start - so in warmer weather my a/c is always left on, and I start the car a few minutes before I get in it = nice and cool car inside most of the time

[sonicii]

Maybe.. but changing from a dark maroon car to a silver car made no noticable difference to internal temperatures after parking in the sun all day before I was able to get a secured spot to leave the windows down a bit. darker paint may cause it to heat up a bit quicker, but it seems to settle out at about the same internal temperature regardless.

I found the roof lining temperature after parking in the sun for hours was still much much cooler than internal surfaces that had been exposed to the sun.

[V(35)Powarh!]

hey man if you can maintain it then id say go for it - all my cars have been black lol i love it, when its clean it looks boss as fck! but as mentioned im pedantic as hell but i still notice everything from little dings or swirls as they tend to show more on black cars, so going through the car wash i dunno about that.... it attracts alot of dust ill clean it take it for the day and come back and its all dust built up (does my head in ) but on a cloudy day or at night its schhhlickkkkk and scchhmickkkk! good luck with it - oh and get sunroof it makes it stand out more imo

[V(35)Powarh!]

oh btw how often do you guys with black cars wash urs? is it bad to clean once every weekend? though clean black cars cant go wrong! thats why i do it only cause i love it so much haha

[sonicii]

it would be better to clean any car once a week than once every month or so.. Provided you are using quality products. (don't even think about using dishwashing liquid!)

[V(35)Powarh!]

Lmao nah man only quality products on my baby not even I get quality when I shower lol meguairs all the way.... btw anyone rate mothers? Ive tried the other day, one of their washes (supercheap auto special) seems pretty good too!

[Black Dog]

hey man if you can maintain it then id say go for it - all my cars have been black lol i love it, when its clean it looks boss as fck! but as mentioned im pedantic as hell but i still notice everything from little dings or swirls as they tend to show more on black cars, so going through the car wash i dunno about that.... it attracts alot of dust ill clean it take it for the day and come back and its all dust built up (does my head in ) but on a cloudy day or at night its schhhlickkkkk and scchhmickkkk! good luck with it - oh and get sunroof it makes it stand out more imo

Yeah just can't beat black, especially on a sporty car. I got an idea, if the dust builds up to much after running the car through a car wash, I'll hit it up with an outdoor blower vac ... It's a hard choice but I reckon I might go for it... Maybe, arghh I dunno.

It would help if I could see the 370GT in person. Speaking of that, I will be in Adelaide on the 18th of this month, Wednesday coming. If anyone knows of somewhere that has the 370GT coupe any colour, could you please let me know. I haven't even seen one in person, let alone sat in one or driven it. I reckon it might be a good idea to do that before I order mine.

Cheers

[NISSAN GTR]

I have had 4 black cars ,nothing looks better than a black Skyline , the way to keep the car clean is to put a COVER on when not using it

If i didn't have a garage i wouldn't own a black car due it being dirty all the time , also if your going to use a carwash you don't deserve a black car , it will look crap in no time with scratches & swirls

Also black cars will keep you toasty warm in winter , hot as f...k in summer

Edited June 13, 2014 by NISSAN GTR

[Nightcrawler]

There is a black one at Synergy mate. DO NOT buy it though - it has been wound back around 100,000km. We did a little expose on it on Facebook where someone tracked down the auction sheet for it showing 17x,000km on the odo at auction, and lo and behold it is here for sale on the lot with 7x,000km on it! It has been taken off Carsales (presuably due to the expose we did), but I am pretty sure it is still on the lot (was the other day when I went past anyhow).

This one is there too:

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Nissan-Skyline-2007/AGC-AD-14249040/?Cr=3&sdmvc=1

and interestingly since the expose on the black one, it suddenly includes at the bottom:

"Japanese owners manual and service books, Export Certificates (Japanese de-registrations)."

[Black Dog]

I have had 4 black cars ,nothing looks better than a black Skyline , the way to keep the car clean is to put a COVER on when not using it

If i didn't have a garage i wouldn't own a black car due it being dirty all the time , also if your going to use a carwash you don't deserve a black car , it will look crap in no time with scratches & swirls

Also black cars will keep you toasty warm in winter , hot as f...k in summer

It will be kept undercover for sure. The carwash I use is the type without brushes, nothing touches the car. Surely it won't get scratched by that process? I use it on my Bimmer which is a dark grey and I don't reckon any scratches come from the car wash.

There is a black one at Synergy mate. DO NOT buy it though - it has been wound back around 100,000km. We did a little expose on it on Facebook where someone tracked down the auction sheet for it showing 17x,000km on the odo at auction, and lo and behold it is here for sale on the lot with 7x,000km on it! It has been taken off Carsales (presuably due to the expose we did), but I am pretty sure it is still on the lot (was the other day when I went past anyhow).

This one is there too:

http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Nissan-Skyline-2007/AGC-AD-14249040/?Cr=3&sdmvc=1

and interestingly since the expose on the black one, it suddenly includes at the bottom:

"Japanese owners manual and service books, Export Certificates (Japanese de-registrations)."

Yeah Sinergymotorsports was were I was going. I haven't found any place else that have them... Don't worry they have never been in the running to get one from. I reckon I know what car you are talking about. I went to the 'Japanese History Check' site and paid to get a copy of an auction sheet for a certain car I have been talking about recently. Anyway I saw a warning on their Facebook page about the car from Adelaide man the BS a lot of these places try to get away with is out of control...

Cheers

Edited June 13, 2014 by Black Dog

[junkie]

Never had a black car but both of mine now are dark blue so its not far off in terms of time and effort. If its a daily driver, you will need to wash it once a week. The most important part with a dark car, is knowing the correct washing process. Otherwise if you stick to old school sponges, dirty buckets, wrong cleaning products and old bathroom towels, the paint will look like crap in no time

You can also use a good quality quick detail spray with clean microfibre towels to clean light dust off without scratching and creating swirl marks. Its a pretty quick process but something that will need to be done a couple of times a week, and once again technique will be super important

My 35 would last about 3 days of daily driving before looking dusty on dry days, but would stay cleaner on wet days due to fresh coating of wax. Also, if the paint is waxed, its much easier to clean and bird poop doesn't stick as much... oh and always be prepared for bird poop. leave it on hot paint too long and it will etch into the surface. I always carry some Autoglym bird crap wipes in the glovebox

[V(35)Powarh!]

Very true about bird poop also bat poop does my head it these bastards seem to like poopin on black cars for some reason thats what I think anyhow... junkie interested tp know what process you use for washing cars just might help me better it cheers