NewHilux.net

Hi all,

as you know, i'm about to make an SR5 purchase. I need a light color but am not a fan of white.

So the dealership is trying to sell me a Pearl white. It really does look nice in the sun and I got excited. But then I thought to myself, how can the speckled metallic white paint be matched with after-market accessories or if I had an accident?

Does anyone have a pearl white and how is it maintenance wise? Can the paint be matched easily?

The only other colors I would consider is the white or Sky Silver.

I like either the plain white or silver, not a fan of the pearl, just personal preference though.

Seen a few of the pearl white luxs come through with colour coded kit and they come up nice.
Personally I like it and nearly bought it. But I have blue plates from my previous lux and when I had to wait 3 months for pearl and 3 months for blue I went with blue.
It’s a 2 layer paint job from my understanding, I’m a grease monkey not a painter.
Base layer and then pearl over the top.
Any paint shop worth their while will be capable of doing it.
If you got a chance before you buy go to a 4x4 show or stores open day if possible the show cars are often colour coded to show them off helps with the decisions.


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White for me, easy matching and the Pearl always looks dirty except in bright light. Pearl also shows dust well before white does. Pearl looks great in the showroom but once you buy it you own it.

My white still looks new after 5+ years and the paint is tough, not sure if Pearl shows scratches too, but white doesn't.

^^^^ This. White hides everything well. Dirt, scratches, off road dents......bloody car park dents

Awe, that does it for Pearl white then. I had my heart set on it because it really looks great.

Because I am after for a work vehicle too, I need a light colour.

So now it’s between Glacier White and Sky Silver.

Glacier white gets my vote, especially for a work vehicle which might get a few knocks. Silver looks great too, I have a silver hard top and white vehicle and it looks great. The silver hard top looks like it was meant to be

Look at what colour they chose for mines, roads, council etc.etc.

Mines, roads and councils are all white.

I know white is the most sensible.

Mine is glacier white and it hides the dirt and swirl marks really well my last car was a pearl purple and showed everything, thats why I went with the glacier white.

Does the colour have to be sensible. Or just stand out?

Personally love the blue as it is very visible.
Silver is nice too but has a tendency to blend into some surfaces in low light.
Heck after seeing a few red luxs lately the red has grown on me (but don’t know if the colour will fade with time. (A lot of older reds do across all brands) my old man always had red/maroon utes when I was younger for the increased visibility.
And nothing wrong with white. As it’s got one of the higher re-sale values as everybody wants white. Specific colours you need to find the right buyer.


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I have pearl and love it. I keep mine super clean and looks mint.

Myralga wrote:Does the colour have to be sensible. Or just stand out?

Personally love the blue as it is very visible.
Silver is nice too but has a tendency to blend into some surfaces in low light.
Heck after seeing a few red luxs lately the red has grown on me (but don’t know if the colour will fade with time. (A lot of older reds do across all brands) my old man always had red/maroon utes when I was younger for the increased visibility.
And nothing wrong with white. As it’s got one of the higher re-sale values as everybody wants white. Specific colours you need to find the right buyer.


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Nothing wrong with the other colors either mate. My favourite color of all is Graphite and then Black but I can't have either of those.

Drysie26 wrote:I have pearl and love it. I keep mine super clean and looks mint.

Does it show swirls etc?

How does the blue hold up to scratches and pinstripes from offroad driving? anyone know?

My sparky neighbour across the road has a pearl white Hilux and my next door just purchased a white Prado so seeing the both of them together (assuming that the white is the same as the Hilux) The Prado looks fresher in certain light.
Now the pearl Hilux hasn’t been cleaned since he brought it in Jan 17 but it does a good job of hiding the dirt.

I brought silver as it was closer to the business colours I use and is slightly different to the rest.
Personally I think the white stands out more although as there is so many of them it’s easily lost with other white vehicles hence confirming my decision to go with silver.
I have signwriting on mine too in black and orange.

Terror wrote:How does the blue hold up to scratches and pinstripes from offroad driving? anyone know?

Probably not!

Wheeling is bound to cause some damage. Some paints probably hold up better than others.

Blue probably isn't one of those though.

Terror wrote:How does the blue hold up to scratches and pinstripes from offroad driving? anyone know?

Ask me in a couple months after I been to darwin and back.

But in saying that. So far it does show marks.
Got lucky and was side swiped but it polished out previous lux (13 blue) not so lucky guard required a respray

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Myralga wrote:Does the colour have to be sensible. Or just stand out?

Personally love the blue as it is very visible.
Silver is nice too but has a tendency to blend into some surfaces in low light.
Heck after seeing a few red luxs lately the red has grown on me (but don’t know if the colour will fade with time. (A lot of older reds do across all brands) my old man always had red/maroon utes when I was younger for the increased visibility.
And nothing wrong with white. As it’s got one of the higher re-sale values as everybody wants white. Specific colours you need to find the right buyer.


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Well after owning 10 Hiluxes since 1981 first one was yellow (2.2 diesel ) then I started to buy red ones except my first D4D 3.0 in 2006 was silver not that keen on it was told no more red ones to be made, then two years later told red was back, traded it after only two years just to get a red one so now after owning eight reds (current 2.8 D4D) never looked back never had a problem when trade in time,never had a paint fade or peel off, always got top dollar for them have bought off four different dealers over that time because I drive a pretty hard bargain. One dealer told me " when I sell you a vehicle we never make much money out of it I quickly told him we have both been doing this for a long time so stop with the bullshit we both know the vehicle will not leave the show room till the dealer get,s what he want,s for it .
In case anyone does not know with the advent of computerised record keeping by the dealers it is a good idea to go to a different dealer every time you trade up because the first thing they do is go back to the sales record to see how much you paid for it, before they value your trade go to a different dealer first question they ask is oh how much did you pay for it now you can say gees I forget it does make quite a difference. Just love red ones.

I have the blue, not as fast as the red ones, but i like it.........I like it a lot.
It shows, dust/dirt and grime, but not to the point of if it was black and always looks dirty (if that makes sense).

As mentioned above, i have had a silvery/grey car before the days of DRL's or auto headlights, and always wondered why people were coming straight at me on rainy or overcast days......That thing had more hits than Elvis.

The smart people would choose the crystal white, a brother of mine, a plumber has one and i swear he hasn't washed it since he bought it.......still looks great, hides any dings/dents/scratches well, and easily touched up if needed.

My car does show imperfections, such as bird shit or dents, but you have to be looking at the right angle to see them.

I stayed away from the pearl white. It is an actual pearl and not metallic. My reason was for touch up.
A small dent or scratch on a panel with a normal or metallic paint is easy to fix, that panel just gets re-sprayed. When you deal with a pearl paint, it really depends on how it comes out of the gun, so instead of just that one panel, it might lead to the whole side needing a re-spray. These things have big panels.

If your concern is the well body.....I wouldn't bother. Beat the daylights out of it, smash it to pieces. These trays are falling out of trees and run at $100-$800 depending on your source, get one from a dealer for a case of beer, he probably has a yard full of them from guys getting trays or bodies put on. If you have the space to store it, just put it on at re-sale time.
Im not a painter, just relaying what I've been told, and as always theres good and bad tradespeople , some that have the experience, and some that don't

I've own a pearl and the one major downside is it's going to be impossible to colour match for colour coded accessories or after a prang.

Dont believe any crash repair shop that tell you they can get it exact.

It comes down to a technical issue as to how the original paint was applied in the factory (misted) and how the shop will apply it (sprayed).

I have my rear bar, front bar and hard cover colour coded and it's only on the odd occasion in particular light they all match the body.