# dear car manufacturers, why can't you make this consumer happy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 31, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387 "2009-08-31T19:05:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/1 "2009-08-31T19:05:50Z")
There is new car talk around here, some guy over the cubicle wall is buying a new car because his old car won’t pass the smog test anymore. So I got the new car bug as happens to everyone once in a while and started looking around at the car sites. The car I’m looking for: four-door generic family sedan. Think Toyota Corolla or Camry, or Mazda3 or Mazda6, or Honda Civic, or Volkswagen Jetta. Something simple like that. I want a manual transmission. Other than that I have no special demands. Except that I want ayellow car. That’s right, yellow. Why can’t anyone make a yellow car? Or something besides the boring black, gray, silver, white? Some companies are bold and offer a red version. Ooooh! Well I don’t red. I want **yellow**. Or maybe green or purple, something that sticks out (you can use this as a reference: [wikipedia’s list of colors by shade](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_colors#Colors_by_shade)). When I go to the manufacturer’s “build your own car” site, I expect to see yellow listed as an option! Or green! Or sky blue! So who makes a brighly colored car that’s not red? Someone has to! Or do they really expect me to go down to Home Depot, buy a couple of cans of Ralph Lauren yellow and a paintbrush, and slap it on myself? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/2 "2009-08-31T19:13:30Z")
Simple guess. There’s no demand for yellow cars, and they don’t want to spend the money to manufacture a car that will sit on the lot. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/3 "2009-08-31T19:19:47Z")
But there is demand! I’m right here demanding it! ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/4 "2009-08-31T19:23:48Z")
You could buy a car and spend about two grand to get a good paint job. It can even be the exact shade of yellow you like. Oh, and the 1990s called. They want their yellow car back. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![mischievous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mischievous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mischievous)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/5 "2009-08-31T19:24:24Z")
Well just last year I test-drove all of the four-door generic sedans, and the one I liked best was the Hyundai Elantra. So I bought it in purple! Incidentally, I’m pretty sure the Cooper Mini comes in psychotic yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/6 "2009-08-31T19:26:19Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > But there is demand! I’m right here demanding it! “No demand” in this context = insufficient demand. If the car manufacturers found that 50% of their customers preferred pink cars with green polka dots, they’d be supplying cars painted like that. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/7 "2009-08-31T19:30:51Z")
So, Giles, you’re saying that the problem is not with the car manufactures, but with you guys. Well get with the program! Demand yellow! And how will the companies know if people want yellow when they don’t offer it as an option? Riddle me that! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/8 "2009-08-31T19:38:32Z")
[These](http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&source=hp&q=porsche+yellow&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=LiacSozwEoHpnQfgrumVCA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1) guys seem to make quite a few yellow cars. Manual transmision too. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/9 "2009-08-31T20:02:13Z")
A yellow car? Do you really want everybody waving furiously at you from streetcorners? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/10 "2009-08-31T20:02:35Z")
My wife firmly believes that yellow cars suffer permanent physical pain. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/11 "2009-08-31T20:05:48Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > So, Giles, you’re saying that the problem is not with the car manufactures, but with you guys. Well get with the program! Demand yellow! And how will the companies know if people want yellow when they don’t offer it as an option? Riddle me that! Well, they have other ways of finding out what customers want, e.g., surveying a small random sample, feedback from car dealers, etc. Once upon a time, Henry Ford offered cars “in any color as long as it’s black”. Eventually, even that opinionated curmudgeon got the feedback that customers wanted their Model T Fords in other colours. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/12 "2009-08-31T21:21:31Z")
There is a story a rich guy wanted his car the same shade of red as his wife’s nail polish. He could not find a paint that matched so he bought the polish in bulk and got someone to paint the car with it. Might be an urban legend. ---
**Author:** ![kath94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/67e7ee/32.png) [@kath94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kath94)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/13 "2009-08-31T22:00:13Z")
I was SO disappointed when the Dodge Neon came out in such boring colors. I mean, here is a car called “Neon.” It should come in some wild NEON colors. But no. The usual boring black, white, gray/silver. Shouldn’t there have been a neon green, bright orange, shocking pink, chartreuse? ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/14 "2009-08-31T22:23:18Z")
My mother bought a Honda Fit (USA = Jazz) last year which is a very nice yellow. She LOVES it. Of course, she lives in Australia. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/15 "2009-08-31T22:27:35Z")
Chevrolet offers their Aveo in yellow, both as a 5-door and a sedan. I’ve also Chevy’s Camero and Cobalt coupes in yellow, but I think they are both special editions. Edit: the Honda Fit is called the Honda Fit in the US, but yellow doesn’t not appear to be an option here. ---
**Author:** ![dynamitedave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed655f/32.png) [@dynamitedave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dynamitedave)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/16 "2009-08-31T22:29:10Z")
A friend of mine had a yellow car. Problem was everyone knew where he was going and where it was parked nightly. :smack: Around here, Suzuki do yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/17 "2009-08-31T22:44:54Z")
The Chevy site says the yellow Cobalt is a regular color. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/18 "2009-09-01T18:58:17Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > A yellow car? Do you really want everybody waving furiously at you from streetcorners? Yes. Yes I do. When I go places like New York City or San Francisco, people usually ignore me. I feel like the invisible man. I would be much happier to see smiling happy faces and people waving at me when I drive by. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/19 "2009-09-01T19:07:40Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > The Chevy site says the yellow Cobalt is a regular color. Where did you see that? I went to the “build your car” portion of the site, [here](http://www.chevrolet.com/vehicles/2009/cobaltsedan/build.do), and I tried 3 or 4 models. I didn’t see yellow as a choice for any of the models I chose. I didn’t try them all because the site was acting very slow for me. In any case, the first car I bought (back in my student days) was a used Chevrolet Chevette, automatic. That car was so terrible it would take a lot to convince me to buy another Chevrolet. Especially with all the problems GM has been having lately. On the plus side, my Chevrolet Chevette, which I got really cheap, was lime green. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387/20 "2009-09-01T19:56:40Z")
You can get a Mazda 3 with a 6-speed MT in a nice bright blue: [http://images.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/images/build\_buy/redesign/2010\_configurator/pho\_bui\_m3ssgt\_ext\_blue\_glory.jpg](http://images.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/images/build_buy/redesign/2010_configurator/pho_bui_m3ssgt_ext_blue_glory.jpg) Corolla comes in a bright blue: [http://www.toyota.com/img/vehicles/2010/corolla/gallery/full/2009-Corolla-14.jpg](http://www.toyota.com/img/vehicles/2010/corolla/gallery/full/2009-Corolla-14.jpg) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dear-car-manufacturers-why-cant-you-make-this-consumer-happy/508387.md?page=2)