Paint color that shows the least dirt/scratch/salt/dents?

Say I do follow through with the voc school paint job / rust work, I would be able to choose what color it gets painted.

Considering it would see a LOT of dirt / salt / etc, what would you say would be the best color paint to handle this?

It must be silver/gray as that's just about the only color you see cars in nowadays. Even white looks exciting by comparison so I'm guessing people buy it because they don't have to wash or care for it much.

gray.. the duller the better.. nothing shows up on gray.

White can be in rather bad shape & it's still not obvious

black bedliner

Silver is not a favorite. White does seem to look good in the impreza wagons. What about the colors like dark blue?

Kawasaki Lime Green. You wouldn't believe the amount of dirt that runs off my CRX when you wash it to get rid of pine sap or bird ordure even though it's "clean" elsewhere.

Honda Champagne Mist Metallic. Had an Accord in that color and it never looked dirty.

Beige, champagne, silver.

I would also have to vote for Champagne BEIGE Mist....or whatever you want to call light gold. It looks different than boring, everyday, every other car silver, and hides dirt and scratches well.

Another color is not used anymore but it is robin's egg blue or sky blue NON metallic. I once had a car that color (if I said what it was, it might make you not consider that color) and it hide scratches and dirt quite well. Mud? It couldn't do that, but dust/dirt? Yes.

bravenrace wrote: Beige, champagne, silver.

Yup, in that order no less. In order of who you'll represent with those colors: Grandpa, Grandma, Retirees...

Off-white. That covers a lot of ground. Stay away from dark colors.

silver/ pewter

Porsche color "Cloud Grey"

White. Or an "antique" white. My Miata is white and shows very little dirt, which surprised me when I first bought it. It just gets duller, rather than dirty.

In reply to Deadskunk:
I kind of noticed that too, except that once it goes past just a little dust, to full on dirty, it becomes immediately apparent. THis is on my QT1 Infiniti G20 - Antique white with pearl clear. In fairness, it may be the pearl that shows the dirt worse than single stage white would.

dark brown with a little metallic or a bronze like color is good for hiding rust. Dirt, not so much....

I agree with white or close to it.

I'm thinking single stage white at the moment.

Mud and dirt can be a source of pride for an Impreza, while road salt is quite unsightly and impossible to keep off in the winter.

Silver, but white does surprisingly well. It doesn't show light dirt, water spots, or salt spray.

4cylndrfury wrote: Porsche color "Cloud Grey"

Oh my.

I believe you just showed me what color my Celica needs to be.

I don't know where you people think white hides dirt. I have loathed every white car I've owned because they show dirt, grime, and filth immediately. It's impossible to keep a white car clean, yes, even a single-stage non-metallic.

Silver and Gray are much, much better at hiding the mange, but none of them can touch the light gold/beige/champagne colors. The metallic even helps break it up so splotches aren't noticeable. I haven't washed my 944 for 6 months and it still looks clean (unless you run your finger on it, ewwww) whereas if the Miata didn't get a weekly bath it looked like an abandoned car.

The 90 Celica that my wife had was white and I thought it took some time for it to look dirty, just don't run your finger down the side.

Except for mud or birds, our Solar Yellow Xterra never looks dirty . When you wash it, it looks WAY WAY brighter, but I never look at it and think "Man, I needa wash that sucka" The dark blue Bimmer though.... ugh. You can wash that thing and it's dirty again before it's half-dry.

I bet all the bright colors wouldn't show the normal stuff much. How about that bright green or orange from the Porsche GT3RS??

Black!