Apart from playing too much solitaire for my own good and writing these lists, I spend a lot of time on online car configurators. You know, those sections of an automaker's website where you can create your dream car, feel a sense of accomplishment for five seconds, and then get back to that paper you were writing. (Though in my case, it's more like "Let's see what I can do to double the price of that Cayman...")
Well, one thing I've noticed is that some cars don't have very many colors to choose from, short of a $99 Maaco paint job, with the reason being sales numbers for these cars is low.
As a result, I’ve decided to mention the vehicles that have a paltry selection of colors, lest you go into a showroom and have a sales consultant try his absolute hardest to convince you beige is the new brown and how "stylish" it is, never mind his white shirt, khakis, and likely clip-on tie.
Author's Note: If you've been mercifully reading these lists for the last two or three weeks, I need list ideas, before I, like every other automotive writer, do a "Five Cars Sold Elsewhere That Should Be Sold In America" list. Any suggestions are much appreciated and I'll give credit where it's due.
Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet
When I spend over $40,000 to purchase a vehicle like the Murano CrossCabriolet, I'd like to actually have a palette of more than five colors to choose from. After all, I'm going to have a difficult time selling it, and it won't be because of the color. (This is, of course, if I was the type of person who buys a CrossCabriolet. Which'll probably be in a couple years when the value hits rock-bottom.)
That's a pity, because the only colors offered now are black, white, silver, and burgundy, instead of that light teal that served as the launch color (and is in the picture). And the people who would buy the CrossCab would want a baby blue, possibly a nice pink, and a bronze that would remind you of Paris Hilton's skin (that last one was offered at launch too).
Hyundai Genesis 5.0 R-Spec
As I've waxed poetic before, this is a perilously underrated car. But I didn’t mention a downside to it, which, apart from being a $47,000 Hyundai, turned out to be color selection according to the Jalopnikcommenters. Therefore, I promptly went to Hyundai's configurator and discovered the ugly truth for myself, though I was more taken in with the comparison to the Lincoln MKS, something I was surprised Hyundai bothered with.
This may be due to a major 2014 redesign of the Genesis, since there was no updated webpage for a 2014 model. Personally, I'm fine with the R-Spec's color palette, which consists of white, black, grey, silver, and red, but not blue. Honestly, to fulfill the car's purpose of being completely anonymous and being mistaken for something else (John Krafcik may heavily disagree with me), the colors do their job.
Any manual transmission-equipped Honda Accord sedan
Just be aware. If you consider an Accord sedan with a manual, you will have a choice of only two colors. Either silver or grey. No white. No blue. No red. Unless you go for a manual Sport version, in which case you getblack or grey. In other words, Honda couldn't care less about manual Accord buyers, many of whom will have to pay list price, because manual Accords are so rare.
That's a shame because the Accord, especially with a manual, is among the best front-drive midsize sedans on the market. Meanwhile, the Mazda6 offers an equal-opportunity experience in selecting hues whether the car has an automatic or manual. And the Mazda6 sells nowhere in the volumes that Accords do. On the other hand, the Camry doesn't even offer a manual.
Mazda MX-5
Maybe the lack of color selection is due to a future update of the MX-5. But there are only four or five colors available on this car, none of them being orange or any shade of blue. But that's what you would want with a sports car like the MX-5, especially since you need to stand out from the other MX-5 owners at the autocross course.
The most Jalop of all the MX-5's, the Club version, only has four color options: silver, black, red, and white. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a disgrace because colors like orange, a light blue, and yellow would go fantastically with those black wheels. Though let's face it. People will voluntarily become colorblind to buy the MX-5 since no other two-seat roadsters can match its price.
Any flagship German luxury sedan
Believe it or not, the Audi A8, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, and BMW 7-Series offer brown (a favorite Jalopnik color, since we all love the 1970s) apart from the usual five or six shades of black. I can understand why the colors tend to be quite boring, since the super-rich who drive and are driven in them need the color to match their suits.
However, none of them offer red. Which irritates both me and presumably foreign royalty. Yes, you probably can specify a certain red from the through BMW Individual, Audi exclusive, or Mercedes-Benz designo for a high price, but there's nothing wrong with offering red for normal buyers.
I was reminded of this when I saw an older Barolo Red Metallic S-Class pass by a couple weeks ago and wondered if I could get that color on the new car. Unfortunately, the answer was no on the configurator, leading to this list. Hopefully, Mercedes-Benz sees fit to offer red on the S-Class to put an end to the $99 Maaco paint job special.
Which other cars offer a trivial selection of colors?
This silly list originally appeared on my Kinja blog BecauseCAR.
Photographs courtesy respective manufacturers.