# Why Do People Buy WHITE Cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2002, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015 "2002-03-31T03:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/21 "2002-03-31T16:51:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Surreal \* > \*\*Why do people buy white-painted cars? Do they have some sort of a problem with actual colors?? Or do they have personalities that allow them to enjoy all things bland- vanilla ice cream, plain potatoes, etc.??? Why do they do it??? \*\* White horses just aren’t practical for most of us. Marc ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/22 "2002-03-31T17:52:46Z")
> [@](#): > > But I also think that if someone were to take a poll asking “What is the most BORING color for a car that you could possibly imagine?” that more people would anwer “white” than “bright red”. I _know_ I’m not alone on this. I dunno. I think I’d have to say that tan or beige seem considerably more boring than an eggshell white. Not that that would reflect anything in particular about the owner of said vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Spider](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Barking\_Spider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Spider)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/23 "2002-03-31T18:18:01Z")
I live in the desert, and I do notice a disproportionate amount of white cars up here. Having said that, I do own a white van. It’s not a bad color. Its’ easy to keep clean. The colors I dont care for are the silver tones on so many cars today. That and dark purple. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/24 "2002-03-31T19:06:41Z")
I drive a white car. It wasn’t my choice (it’s my mom’s old car), but I like it because I can see it more easily among the red, blue and green cars in the lot. If I wash it regularly (which I do every two weeks or so), it looks clean. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/25 "2002-03-31T19:42:11Z")
I bought white to better radiate the desert heat when I lived in SoCal. Also, dusty black cars look dusty. Dusty white cars don’t. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jacksen9 \* > \*\*My theory is that white vehicles are stopped for speeding less. I think if two cars are speeding, one white and one red, the red one will get the ticket. \*\* I have read articles in the newspaper addressing this issue where they interviewed CHP officers and did studies on ticket data. White cars got ticketed **most** , apparently because they clash with the mountains and trees and are more visible to police. Red and green cars tend to blend into the surroundings. ---
**Author:** ![Nacho4Sara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Nacho4Sara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nacho4Sara)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/26 "2002-03-31T21:15:13Z")
I hate white cars because whenever I spot one, I worry that it’s a cop. Especially when I’m speeding down the highway and glimpse a flash of white in my rearview. I always get freaked out for a moment. Therefore I hate white cars. However, I wouldn’t presume to say anything about the drivers of white cars based on that. ---
**Author:** ![NardoPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NardoPolo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NardoPolo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/27 "2002-03-31T21:24:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bearflag70 \* > **White cars got ticketed most, apparently because they clash with the mountains and trees and are more visible to police.** That also happens to make them more visible to other drivers, which is generally a good thing. I mean, you wouldn’t want a macadam-colored car, would you? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/28 "2002-03-31T23:30:51Z")
> [@](#): > > The colors I dont care for are the silver tones on so many cars today. That and dark purple. _Hey!_ My Cherokee is dark purple! (It looked blue in the catalog, and being a guy I thought “deep amythist” meant “dark blue” because that’s how it looked in the photo.) And yes, the colour has grown on me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2002, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/29 "2002-03-31T23:31:01Z")
Yeah and how cool are they in, say…the desert, or hell, wherever? But particularly when it’s all hot and sweaty, white things look so…clean. I like white cars, even though we don’t have any. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/30 "2002-04-01T00:17:55Z")
We bought our white car because we got a good deal on it - someone else had ordered it, but cancelled the order before it arrived. It had a heap of optional extras loaded on, and it was much the same price as the same car without extras because it had been sitting in the car yard for a couple of months. Our previous car was metallic blue. It was gorgeous, and I had a hard time adjusting to a plain white car after the great fun colour our old car had, but “colour” was at the bottom of a long list of things we wanted in a car - this car happened to fit the bill in every other sense. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/31 "2002-04-01T00:45:24Z")
I just find it funny that the OP makes the assumption that a boring car color makes the driver boring… the only person I know who drives a white car is one of the most dynamic, interesting, social people around… So much for car theories, eh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/32 "2002-04-01T02:46:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*OK, but I’ve noticed that a great many commercial fleets owned bt corporations are all white. \*\* The company where my dad works has a fleet of assorted vehicles–vans, pickup trucks, cars, etc. All of them are white with the company logo painted on the door. The cabs on their tractor trailers, however, are chartreuse (I guess you could say it’s the company color). I have no idea why they would choose plain white for the company vehicles, unless someone decided that a chartreuse Cadillac would look really unprofessional. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/33 "2002-04-01T03:07:22Z")
[response to hijack] > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ResIpsaLoquitor \ ***Noooooo! Unless you’re talking about printer’s ink, BLACK is the absence of color! BLACK! White is the equal combination of the three primaries: red, yellow, and blue. That’s why white light, filtered into a prism, comes out as a spectrum: it’s white broken into its component parts.** You’re not totally wrong, but you’re also not right. When you’re talking about light (additive colors), black is the absence of color. If you combine light of the primary colors (red, green, and blue-violet), you get white. When you’re talking about pigments (subractive colors), white is the absence of color. If you combine pigments of the primary colors (magenta, yellow, and cyan) you get black.[/response to hijack] The question remains: If white is an uncool color for a car, what is a cool color? I love my white car. Those magenta and turquoise cars look stoopid. ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/34 "2002-04-01T03:33:32Z")
I’m one of those whose last priority is colour. Hence, our car is 3/4 white and 1/4 green. But I’d prefer a car that didn’t show the muck so much…we do a lot of long-distance highway driving and camping so every bug shows up on the car. What is the best colour for hiding dirt? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/35 "2002-04-01T03:39:02Z")
What about a white SUV? What does that mean? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/36 "2002-04-01T03:59:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > **OK, but I’ve noticed that a great many commercial fleets owned bt corporations are all white.** It keeps Fred from saying: “I hate this green car, I want a red one, like George has!” :mad: [sup]I sold more than that SOB did last month[/sup] ---
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/37 "2002-04-01T17:34:41Z")
I drive a white car - after shopping used vehicles it was one of two finalists - I chose the white because it had the bigger of the two engines and I live in a mountain state. I can speak with authority, though, that between my former black car and the white one, the white is significantly cooler on sunny days. Tinted windows help, too. ---
**Author:** ![Retief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Retief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retief)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/38 "2002-04-01T18:39:56Z")
I too live in a hot (very hot climate, its about 95F right now) and own a white vehicle. I have both a white Landcruiser Prado and also a red mustang with black interior. Guess which gets hotter when parked in the sun? After an hour you can’t touch the sterring wheel of the mustang without scorching your hand. The SUV by contrast is nice and cool even after being in the full tropical sun for 2 or 3 hours. The mustang is a nice little car, but if I had my time over, I would have bought a roomier car and certainly not that colour! By contrast I would buy another Prado tomorrow (white) and turn in the mustang, if I had the cash available. It seems to be popular in downunder too: [http://www.wintoy.com.au/newsletter/Prado50thAnn.html](http://www.wintoy.com.au/newsletter/Prado50thAnn.html) Retief ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015/39 "2002-04-01T18:47:16Z")
Put it this way - if Gandalf the White could drive, I bet he’d drive a white car. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-buy-white-cars/101015.md?page=1)