How do you rank the "durability" of the available SS exterior colors?
 

I'm curious: Of the available colors for the HHR SS, how would you rank the durability of the colors (i.e. look cleanest / newest the longest)? The colors are (in alphabetical order):

A. Black
B. Blue Flash Metallic
C. Imperial Blue Metallic
D. Silverstone Metallic
E. Sunburst Orange II Metallic
F. Victory Red

To save yourselves time, you can just put the letters associated with the color, or you can copy and paste the colors from this post.

REMEMBER: Most durable to least durable, NOT favorite to least favorite

I think:

1. Silverstone Metallic
2. Sunburst Orange II Metallic
3. Blue Flash Metallic
4. Victory Red
5. Imperial Blue Metallic
6. Black

1 Vr
2 B
3 Sm
4 So
5 BF

Wow, you're entitled to your opinion... but black as the second most durable color? Isn't black known to be the most difficult color to keep clean / nice?

I've never seen any data on something like this but if I were to guess, I'd say the darker the color (tonally), the less durable it would be because the darker the color, the more heat it would absorb. But I couldn't put them in order cuz it's hard to judge a tonal value of a color just by looking at it. I would take a picture of the color in black and white to judge it's tonal value.

Instead of offering my opinion, here are some cold hard facts about how well color ages on a vehicle. I went to http://www.edmunds.com/tmv/used/index.html and appraised my 1998 Black Camaro Z28. I was surprised to see that red does NOT detract from the final value of a car, even though I have seen many faded red cars on the road over the years.

Even though the colors for Camaros and HHR's aren't exactly the same, here's how the Edmunds color values affects the appraised value of my nine y/o car, from worst to best:

Dark Blue: -$46
Black: -$33
Light Blue: -$24
Dark Red: -$24
Orange: -$8
White: -$6
Red: +$47
Silver: +$60

I was totally blown away by that value for red. Red does NOT age well imho. I'm now wondering if that plus value of $47 for red was a typo and it should be a minus $47. :confused:

At any rate, looks like the best colors that would age well for the HHR SS would be Silverstone Metallic, followed by *gulp* Victory Red... it looks like the metallic blues do not hold their values well, which also surprises me...

I can personally attest that black does not age well. Every tiny single little scratch I've gotten over the years (and luckily I don't have many) shows up... but I've kept it in a garage overnight it's whole life so it's still in very nice condition...

Would you guys say that the Black and the Imperial Blue Metallic are going to be in the same durability "family"? (i.e. hard to keep clean looking, "swirls" too visible, etc.)

From the GM media web site;
For release: Aug. 16, 2007, 12:01 A.M. EDT 2008 HHR SS FAST FACTS
Quote: “They include (1)Victory Red, (2)Black, (3)Light Tarnished Silver Metallic, (4)Mystique Blue Flash Metallic and (5)Sunburst Orange II Metallic.” (Numbers in brackets are mine.) That would IMO make more sense the having two Blues?
I think that all new cars are painted with some form of BC/CC (base coat/clear coat) so what oxidizing (if any) or what you are cleaning/waxing is the clear, but dark colors certainly show the dust and scratches more (mirror effect?). I think they are all the same as far as durability.
:smile:

my personal experience tells me black is the hardest to keep clean and shows swirls & scratches the worst. Having said that, I think Black is one of the most attractive colors for any vehicle. So if you like it, and want to wash your car a lot, get black. Based on the Edmunds color appraisals, it doesn't look like Metallic Blue will age that well either.

When I use the word "durability", I mean appearance wise, not physically.