Is metallic paint better than solid paint?

[fs-mini]

Hi All,

I have searched the forum and did not get anything close to my question, so ...

I have placed my 05 MCS order and thinking about what color I should get. Down to Hyper Blue (metallic) or Pepper White (solid). Most likely I will parking my MCS outdoor. Under the California sun, will the color of PW fade away or turn more creamy color few years later? Is metallic paint more reliable in that sense?

Also, any photo of the hyper blue interior matching desh? Remember I saw once, but couldn't find it back.

Thanks.

[whovous]

If you give it enough time and do not take care of it, any color will fade in the sun. White, however, does not have much room to fade, and dark colors will always fade more than light colors.

For me, the downside of PW was not fading, but waxing. There is just no way to make it as shiny as some of the darker metallic colors.

On balance, I would suggest you choose the color you like best, and not worry about the sunshine effect. Whatever color you get, take care of it!

[marrsbar]

Go for the pepper white, its gonna be more unusual than the blue, which everyone will get. Mini is all about being unique! I hated the pepper white but its grown on me and I really like it now.

Chili red always polishes up beautiful, it looks so good. Metallic is definately not better than solid. It all depends on personal taste, some people like bungalows, others like houses.

[lukebuzzy]

The downsides of getting metallic are that it has a clear coat which makes fixing small chips harder. Also if you need a panel resprayed matching the color is harder also. On the plus side its metallic.

[KenL]

Quote: Originally Posted by lukebuzzy

The downsides of getting metallic are that it has a clear coat which makes fixing small chips harder. Also if you need a panel resprayed matching the color is harder also. On the plus side its metallic.

Think the MINI solid colours are also clear-coated.

Metallics are probably harder to match but a decent body-shop should be able to blend it well enough so you can't tell.

[benmcguire]

i agree that some solids look better than metalics, i have a solid black ONE and i think it looks much better than the more expensive metallic black

[I love MINI, Laura]

I just like the colour or not. I wanted a black car before I looked at the mini so when I was faced with the choice of either metallic or solid I asked the dealer to show me the differences between solid black and metallic black. He couldn't point out distinctively which one was which so I went for the cheapest! Free or £250 I could spend on a cd changer!