# Why Don't Cars Come in two colors now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 13, 2013, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161 "2013-10-13T21:37:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/21 "2013-10-14T02:06:43Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > WAG here, but maybe because custom-painted/decorated cars may be more difficult to resell than a more “boring”-coloured car. It’s my understanding that custom paint jobs and aftermarket accessorizing is very popular in a few small sub-cultures and shunned everywhere else. Sure, you can get a car and turn it into a souped-up lowrider with a fancy racing stripe and neato painted flames, but you’re only going to get a reasonable price for it in the 'hood. Self-respecting middle class white collar workers won’t go near it even with a ten-foot pole. They want an ordinary factory-spec American, Japanese, or German car that looks normal. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/22 "2013-10-14T02:16:01Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > It’s my understanding that custom paint jobs and aftermarket accessorizing is very popular in a few small sub-cultures and shunned everywhere else. Sure, you can get a car and turn it into a souped-up lowrider with a fancy racing stripe and neato painted flames, but you’re only going to get a reasonable price for it in the 'hood. Self-respecting middle class white collar workers won’t go near it even with a ten-foot pole. They want an ordinary factory-spec American, Japanese, or German car that looks normal. I think it’s more that nobody really wants a boring looking car, but hardly anyone agrees on what’s interesting and what’s tacky. With a boring generally non-offensive car, you have a much bigger pool of people to (grudgingly) buy the thing. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/23 "2013-10-14T02:30:56Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Mine is a Subaru. Is it two-toned paint or are the lower claddings a different color like [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Subaru--Baja.jpg). There are a lot of vehicles with colored claddings, not so many with two-toned paint jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/24 "2013-10-14T11:33:39Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 72% of cars made in the US were either white, black, silver, gray, or red. Given that data, it’s clear that people like neutral colors. Multiple colors are hardly neutral. I disagree. I don’t like dark interiors because they’re even hotter in the summer. The last time I was looking at cars, there were two seat color choices, tan or black. The big ‘but’ was that you only got one interior choice with most of the exterior colors. I liked the blue but I didn’t want a black interior. If tan was an option, I would’ve bought the blue one in a second. I ruled out blue exterior based solely upon the undesirable interior color. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/25 "2013-10-14T12:11:44Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Is it two-toned paint or are the lower claddings a different color like [this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Subaru--Baja.jpg). There are a lot of vehicles with colored claddings, not so many with two-toned paint jobs. Its paint. Its on my car. And its two different colors. Do we really need to pick nits? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/26 "2013-10-14T15:24:32Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Its paint. Its on my car. And its two different colors. Do we really need to pick nits? Sorry, just curious because I’ve never seen two tone factory paint on a Subaru. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/27 "2013-10-14T15:37:39Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Sorry, just curious because I’ve never seen two tone factory paint on a Subaru. My wife had a 1997 Outback wagon (very similar to [this picture](http://rockrivertimes.com/wpapp/wp-content/uploads/WEB_DSCN0610.jpg)). The gray at the bottom of the front quarter panels and doors was definitely paint, not cladding. You can see that the bumpers were purely gray, but, from the front of the front wheel well, to the back of the rear wheel well, the gray was paint (complete with a gray-and-body-color pinstripe). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/28 "2013-10-14T15:46:12Z")
[Some cars](https://www.google.com/search?q=dodge+challenger+392&tbm=isch) come with such wide racing stripes that they might as well be considered two-tone. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/29 "2013-10-14T15:52:50Z")
Try to find a Toyota Land Cruiser that _isn’t_ two-toned these days. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161/30 "2013-10-14T16:07:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Try to find a Toyota Land Cruiser that _isn’t_ two-toned these days. Here: [2025 Toyota Land Cruiser | Toyota.com](http://www.toyota.com/landcruiser/#!/Welcome) You don’t really see too many of those on the streets because, you know, $80k Toyota. I assume you’re thinking of the FJ Cruiser which is sort of a retro take on the old 70’s Land Cruisers. The roofs are always white and the pseudo-cladding at the bottom is always black, so except for the white and black ones, they’re three-toned! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-dont-cars-come-in-two-colors-now/671161.md?page=1)