Paint - an optional extra

50Twuncle

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

"Only available in beige"
Are you sure? I couldn't even find beige on the configuration page of the Nissan website.
As far as I can tell, the base colour is ivory.

Ivory beige same difference

AndyMc.....

50Twuncle wrote: »

Why make the only free paint beige ?
Surely white or red would have cost the same ?
But beige being a disgusting colour means they get more people paying for an option...

The non metallic white or red wouldn't make a lot of difference, most private buyers would pay the extra for metallic paint.

George_Michael

50Twuncle wrote: »

But beige being a disgusting colour means they get more people paying for an option...

A business trying to make more profits, whatever next!

If customers don't think paying more for a different colour is worth it to them then they simply won't do it and if they do decide to pay more, isn't that they choice?

reeac

Strider590 wrote: »

They probably sell so many in that colour that they paint them all beige from the factory and changing the colour is what costs.

Quite. A relative who's spent decades in the motor industry told me one that manufacturers would really like to make cars in one colour only due to the cost of cleaning out the paint plant when changing colours. One gambit that they use is to show only one colour of car in their adverts with the aim of making that one colour fashionable. Looking back over the years I remember when silver was the colour, followed by white along with black. Not sure whether red is coming in now. I have two red cars and one silver one.

Owain_Moneysaver

50Twuncle wrote: »

The new Micra (from about £11,500 for a 900cc version !!) is available only in "beige" unless you pay extra for a different colour - since "beige" is not a very nice car colour - Nissan are effectively making paint an optional extra !!

What's the extra paint charge compared to vinyl-wrapping the whole car (which you can change whenever you want to)?

AdrianC

Charging for some paint colours/finishes has been around for decades.
Having a single colour standard, then charging for any other, is very common - probably the norm now.

And that's before we even consider Henry Ford's "any colour you like as long as it's black" on the Model T - which was actually driven by production constraints as much as logistics, as black was the quickest-drying enamel at the time...

RichardD1970

AdrianC wrote: »

Charging for some paint colours/finishes has been around for decades.
Having a single colour standard, then charging for any other, is very common - probably the norm now.

Been the norm for as long as I've worked in motor manufacturing (30 years).

My car is brown although the actual colour is "Lunar Sky" :rotfl:

Beige/brown, or variants there of, seem to be quite popular at the moment, even on some prestige marques.

AdrianC

RichardD1970 wrote: »

My car is brown although the actual colour is "Lunar Sky" :rotfl:

...also called Brisbane Brown.

parking_question_chap

Surely they are just keeping a base colour to keep the costs down, and asking people to pay for it if they want anything else.

Jeez, no need to lay an egg about it.

consumers_revenge

grannies like beige....