# New car color

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 20, 2026, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265 "2026-05-20T22:30:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/41 "2026-06-01T16:17:44Z")

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Here you go.

> **[Boston Man Killed In Stoughton Crash | WATD 95.9 FM](https://959watd.com/blog/2021/01/boston-man-killed-in-stoughton-crash/)**
>
> One person has died following a crash in Stoughton Thursday night. Massachusetts State Police say that at approximately 11:30 p.m. Troopers responded to reports of a multi-vehicle crash on Route 24 southbound near Exit 20. A preliminary investigation...

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/42 "2026-06-01T16:21:38Z")

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Thank you. Not something I’d seen before. I take it you’re from MA or nearby.

In the Northeast where everything is gray and dismal, and maybe even dark, several months per year, the choice to paint emergency vehicles the same color as fog and wet freeway spray makes very little sense.

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**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/43 "2026-06-01T18:51:47Z")

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There are network externalities at work here. Once a particular colour establishes itself as a standard, it becomes rational for buyers to choose that colour even if they don’t like it, to maximise resale value. It’s a bit like Keynes’ beauty contest - what matters is not whether you like it, or whether you think the others like it, but whether you think the others think the others like it.

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**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\
**Post date:** [June 1, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/44 "2026-06-01T19:01:09Z")

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My car is dark gray (almost black) because I do not want to stand out on the road. Perceive me as a forgettable vehicle and then forget me, please. I don’t need weirdos road raging on me because I’m driving something “different”.

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/45 "2026-06-05T16:53:09Z")

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I think these colors stimulate something in our brains that is also stimulated by the “oddly satisfying” videos on YouTube.

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**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-car-color/1030265/46 "2026-06-05T21:16:27Z")

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For me it’s “oddly creepy”!

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