I have been watching over this forum since the 350z came out and I am about a week away from buying a new one. It will be my 3rd Z car.

My first choice is "super black" with the factory 17" chrome/polished rims (not sure which it is). I have seen some posts about people complaining about this color but wasn't really specific about what the problem was, with the exception that "they'll never buy black again".

I know black is hard to keep clean, but being in southern CA I have gotten used to washing my car once a week anyway because of the massive amounts of dust. I really don't want a silver colored one since that is all I see around here. I liked the red initially but since I seen a few on the road, they aren't as good looking as the black with factory chome/polished rims. I think its the tone of red....not sure. Also, red non-touring, non-autos are REALLY hard to find at dealerships. It's still my 2nd choice with Silverstone being my next choice (if I must....its a georgous color...just too damn many of them).

Now that my purchase is down to the wire, I have a decision to make. But I want to know what is the big quip over black all about? Is there a scratch/swirl/chipping problem with this color more than others? I plan on getting the clear bra regardless of color.

Thanx all..

 

Ditto, black is hard to keep clean. You're going to have to accept that you will probably have a problem with swirl marks etc.... You have to be VERY particular when it comes to cleaning it. (ie: no car washes, use only microfiber towels or leaf blowers to dry, use gentle cleansing). If I had a black car, I wouldnt use the same microfiber towel on it twice. I'd also go out and buy a leaf blower to dry the car with after washing. Also, zaino is you're friend.

 

I've had my SB Z track model for a year and it's been no different to maintain the look than other blacks I'm owned over the years. It just takes more frequent washing than the other colors to maintain the look - and a sweet look it is ;-)

 

i have the balck, about every fifth washing i use the zaimol swirl remover, works wonders. Car still looks great, but i do wash it twice a week. Unless it is raining.

 

nothing WRONG with the paint.

infact its great; if you get chips in the bumper, that go through the primer, their invisible cause the bumper is black plastic. I have the same little road chips as the silver and white guys complain about, but I cant see them. of course the ones on the hood do show up; but theres far fewer of them.

 

Same here....nothing wrong with the paint...except the little bit of orange peel action. But black is just a PITA to keep clean...my first black car and I'll never do it again. While it looks AWESOME clean, if you don't keep it up...swirl city! But I'd have to say its worth it once clean...looks so mean.

 

I solved this problem by being very firm with my dealer. The dealer never washed the car. He called me when the truck rolled in, I helped him strip off the protective plastic. I took it home dirty, washed with Dawn, and started in with Zaino. I have zero swirls after 18 months!

Admittedly, though, if you're picking off the lot you don't have this luxury.

If my car was black, you might see swirls I can't see on the Silverstone. It's SO easy to introduce a swirl, even some types of thread in perfectly clean cloths can cause micro-scratches. If you're really into black and will wash weekly, I'd recommend that you make friends with Zaino Z5 or one of the other swirl-removers or coverers.

One color you didn't mention that you ought to consider - Daytona Blue is a drop-dead gorgeous color. I never really considered DB when I was ordering, but now that I've seen it I would choose it second over Silverstone if I had to do it all over again.

 

I had my heart set on SB but I would have had to wait until Aug. to get one. I bought the SS that my dealer is getting at the end of this month. After reading the replies on this thread I think getting the SS might be the right choice for me since I don't think I have the time or patience to give a black car!

 

Yeah, the nice thing about SilverStone is that even when it's dirty I get people telling me how good it looks!

 

Thanks for all the quick replies. I didn't know that the bumper itself was black, which is good. I have heard alot on here about Zaino and regardless of the color I buy, I'll be using it. I hate swirls and it seems the be the first thing I noticed on a brand new black G35 parked at work. Figuring they have the same soft paint the Z has, I was paying close attention. I don't want to have to constantly wax the car though to keep it from swirling. 4 times a year tops. This is a really tough call since the black is awesome. My 300Z was charcoal and looked great even with 2 weeks of dust on it. At least that color was rare on those cars.

I'm on my way now to my local dealer to answer a few questions I have. They have both black and silverstone models I can take close looks at and I want to see how "bad" the stock stereo really is.

 

I bought my Super Black Touring back in Sept 2002, and i wouldn't change to a different color if i had the chance. Black if maintained, is a striking color on the 350Z. I have no swirls to date, only a couple of "hairline" scratches naked to the eye if you're not looking for them. It's just a beautiful color, although it does require a higher dose of routine maintenance.

Good luck on whatever color you do choose.

 

The paint on the Z seems fairly soft, at least softer than some older black cars I have owned. If you are very careful washing and waxing it you will probably be happy with it. I used Zaino and every other time I would wax it I would use Meguiars Scratch-X which did a really good job of keeping swirl marks to a minimum. If you are using Zaino, I would use Z2 znd Z5 instead of ZFX, the ZFX is easier to use, but using Z2 and Z5 seemed to work better at keeping swirls and scratches at bay.

 

Once you go black.. you never go back. :-) lol, In all seriousness.. if you don't keep up the wash schedual on it, its not worth it. But if your somebody, like myself, who uses detailing his car as a hobby then buy black and then try and determine if the car is sky blue.. cloud white.. asphault black... lol Reflection Baby!

 

Agreed....the reflection is so worth it. I just got finished giving my baby a wash and a coat of Zymol, and the shine is so deep it blows my mind.

 

I just came back from the dealer and seen the amount of swirl marks on the 3 used black 2003's they had. I don't know if I want to deal with that, on top of the extra 10 degrees hotter inside it will be (it gets over 100 degrees here regularly).

As for the Silverstone, it just looks a bit dull to my liking. The cars I looked at in the sun were clean, but I think its all the metallic in the paint that dulls it out. I'm sure with lots of Zaino it would shine better. I'm just not a fan of silver cars. Best part is that the manager tried to tell me that SS was a rare color! Yeah...I only see 3 a day.

Damn, why don't they still make Brickyard, or a dark grey/charcoal? Those would have made the decision easy. No way I'm buying a used 2003...too many issues. There were even two used 2004 models there. Unbelieveable someone would put 2000 miles on a car and trade it in!

I think I'm going to try to shoot for my original choice "redline", now that I see what it looks like polished up with chrome 17's and tint (thanks to the gallery on this forum). I think all the ones I seen on the road were 'dirty'. I can at least wash and wax the thing regularly, but not excessive like the black will take. Bummer though, I REALLY like the reflectiveness of the black.

 

A dark dark grey color would have been cool....

 

I love my black. The paint itself isnt any worse than the other colors, just expect sh!tty nissan paint. Literally, the bumper chips like hell, and although it may be black, the chips have white edges, so mine kinda show. Anyway, with that said I would still buy another SB Z, it looks amazing when it is clean!

 

black my be the hardest to keep clean but looks the best clean

 

igotdamagicz - well said. agree.

While I think all colors are nice, side by side, I like the black better. It somehow make the car looks a little more copact, I like it.