well im going to look at a 02 red 18k miles for for 28,999 and an 02 black 22k miles for 25,999. which one would you get? and anything i should look out for. thanks

 

Make sure you get a carfax report on each vehicle. What options do the cars come with?

 

If they're in about the same condition, I'd take the black one. Really a good price, in most areas. Options available were very minimal, and not worth affecting your decision.

 

Make sure you see the paint job on the black one in a good sunlight. Not too much is hidden in a black car...but if you're ****, which most Vette owners are, if the black looks even the slightest bit off, you'll never really truly appreciate the car!

 

4000 miles more but $3000 less sounds like a better deal to me. The only option on mine was the front license plate cover. Do I miss BSM's, fancy rearview mirror or memory seating, No! I'n my opinion you can always add the other stuff later if you so choose.

 

Black. Without a doubt.

 

It would depend on the condition of each car. 4kmi difference is nothing. Get the red one, you can always add black stripes

 

Um, I don't know...............



2002 black Z06

 

Black

 

BLACK!!!

 

I'll gladly trade my black for a red.
I clean it, by the time I get around to driving it, its dirty

 

I used to detail cars when I was in flight school and had a black CRX and had a lot of experience with paint and colors.
I would go with the red one and here are the reasons why:

Black is a color that is really really hard to maintain looking nice, the smallest imperfection shows up very clearly and distinct.
Over time the paint will naturally get small scratches in it from rubbing against it, washing it, normal usage, this is called spider webb as the appearence of it looks kinda like one all over the whole car.
In short the black color has tendencies to age fairly quickly so black cars look really nice when brand new but after a couple of years they look more aged than for example Red or Blue.
It is pretty much unavoidable just part of the normal aging process using the car.
To get rid of this spider webb and other imperfections collected on the paint finish over the years and get the nice mirrorlike finish back you have to buff out the paint with a high speed rotating 4-5000 rpms buffer using several different grids of compounds.
Its like you sand down part of the first layer with the damaged surface of the clearcoat and melting it toghether with the heat from the friction of the buffer.

The drawback with this is that the buffer can leave small swirlmarks in the paint job which are very very difficult to avoid on a black paint job since imperfections show up so prominently on them.

It is so hard to buff it perfect and not leave swirlmarks that you really
have to find an expert detailer that really knows what he is doing.
If you end up with swirlmarks in the paint its really hard and tedious to remove.

Many detailers do not even wanna touch a black car due to this since it is one of the hardest colors to get back to perfection and the most time consuming.

Another reason not to get black is if you live in a "hot" state or decide to move to one in the future with high temperatures and alot of sun like California, Arizona, south Texas or Nevada the high temperature will be absorbed many times better that other colors like Quicksilver metallic or red or blue resulting in much faster fading of the paint and subsequently having a hotter interior during summerdays.

The easiest colors to maintain long term are the following:

All Metallic like silver, Gray or Quick silver which are the easiest of all.

Different variations of Red (very easy)

Different shades of Blue

Different shades of Yellow

White is very easy to maintain but can be difficult to match if a single panel have to be repainted after an incident due to natural tendency to yellow over time.
In your case I would personally get the red car due to this plus it has less miles on it.
Mine is torch red 2003 Z and when I looked around for one I specifically ruled out all black cars due to these reasons, I live in Cali so I dont wanna fry eggs on my hood summertime either..

Hope that this will help you in your decision.

 

It's a no brainer.The car that is $3000 less ! If the Black Car checks out I would buy it in a NY minute for around that price.

I would not worry about a car with a few issues in the paint, be more concerned with the condition and inspection. Purchasing a car for $3000 less allows you room on the other end for negotiation.

I have a Black 01, it's just as much fun to clean it as it is to drive it. I really don't care if it gets dusty it never really gets dirty. Even if you drive a Red car , the wheels are gonna get filthy from the brake dust and the wheel wells are gonna get dirty so ya gotta clean the car anyway.

here's a list you can use in no specific order.

Check off each item, go slow.

paint
wheel rash
lower air dams
tires/life
lights/signals
horn
backup lights
interior lights
dash lights
windows
door locks
panel edge seams
door handles
door close
antenna
trunk close
hood close
wipers
seats/bolsters

engine, clean?
oil level
listen

tire kit
steering column?

drive
brakes
noise
transmission
clutch
rear end
leaks under car

air/heat
radio/cd

DIC codes

stock wheels
stock exhaust
2 keys
manuals

 

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you and say "what a bunch of crap". The pic of my car above is my 02 and I took that pic in October 07....five years later! There's nothing dull about the paint.
And I have NEVER used a buffer on my car. And I definitely don't have swirl marks...........anywhere. And if you think the red doesn't get scratches or spider cracks, think again. ANY car will do that no matter what color you get. If a detailer doesn't want to "touch a black car" then he's not good enough to touch my car. My paint hasn't faded, but I've seen hundreds of reds that get dull over time. As for the heat, yeah it gets hot..............TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONING. LOL.
Oh man, you are so full of it........................no offense.

 

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you and say "what a bunch of crap". The pic of my car above is my 02 and I took that pic in October 07....five years later! There's nothing dull about the paint.
And I have NEVER used a buffer on my car. And I definitely don't have swirl marks...........anywhere. And if you think the red doesn't get scratches or spider cracks, think again. ANY car will do that no matter what color you get. If a detailer doesn't want to "touch a black car" then he's not good enough to touch my car. My paint hasn't faded, but I've seen hundreds of reds that get dull over time. As for the heat, yeah it gets hot..............TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONING. LOL.
Oh man, you are so full of it........................no offense.

I agree with Z06RL.. I am glad GTA-nitz is not my detail man..

 

Sort of a rude retort, huh? I agree totally with GTA-nitz's honesty concerning black paint and the care they require if you intend to keep them damn near perfect. I've had NUMEROUS black cars throughout the years and am EXTREMELY **** when it comes to a vehicle's appearance, both inside and out. Without a doubt, when it comes to keeping a car looking PERFECT, black is THE most difficult of them all. Most any true detailer will tell you the same. Although there's no way for you or I to prove our points objectively due to distance, I find it VERY hard to believe that you have a daily driven (or garaged for that matter) black "anything" that has NO swirl marks. Find a good sun spot and look at your car in/at every angle. There's going to be swirl marks, unless you JUST buffed your car, either with an orbital or random orbital buffer, depending on your level of skill.

Oh, and nowhere in his original message did GTA-nitz say that red "doesn't get scratches or spider cracks". He did however allude to the FACT that lighter colors (red being lighter than black) do hide their imperfections better than darker colors. Re-read his message as it was intended to be read....a constructive bit of note-worthy advice.

All the above comments made by GTA-nitz were done so in a way to give the potential buyer something to look for and consider when purchasing his "new" Z. This is what the original poster requested. So with that in mind, I applaud the time GTA-nitz devoted to giving credible, sound advice!

....And yes, I do know a "little" about detailing black cars!!! i.e. My '86 GN below:

 

So... you guys are saying that black is easier to maintain than red or another color?
How about not being so defensive just because you guys have black cars..
I didnt say that the cars are ugly or that its bad or anything.
Black looks awesome allthough it shows imperfections much more than an actual color.
I NEVER stated that red or blue doesnt fade or get spider webb because it definetely does without a doubt but it will show up more in black to the naked eye.
I had a black 97 Supercharged Trans Am WS-6 for a while with 550 whp.
It was a very good looking car in that color but at the 60000 miles it had 10 years of service you started to see some aging in the paintjob showing up, especially in flourecent light in the garage.
Metallic colors like silver look newer much longer than dark colors like black in normal usage, its common knowledge.
I dont know the history of your cars, how many miles your cars have, if you drive them as daily drivers or not, how you take care of the paint job ect..
You got a very nice looking Z06 and I really like the black color.

All I said was that black requires more maintenance as a finish rather than an actual color and if you drive this car daily not doing anything to it other than washing the car like most people do for 80-100000 miles,
the age is going to show up more to the naked eye in a black color rather than a for example silver metallic or red one over a long term span like 10 years.

Its physics, thats how light breaks against a black/dark background through a prisma, in this case the clear coat.
That black absorbs heat multiple times better than most other colors has also to do with reflection of light since a lighter color reflects it away better than a darker one, thats physics too by the way, on a very very basic level.

If you just keep your car in the garage never driving it ever nor use it, wash it, touch it, it could be 50 years old and not show any aging to the paintjob so saying that your car is 5 or 10 years old looking still good has to do with many factors like milage, daily driver or not, track car or street, freeway driving.
An original paint job can tell very much about the story of a car for those who know how to read it.

You never used a rotational buffer on your car because you never needed to, maybe you dont drive it daily, maybe the climate where you live is not that harsh on the car but I never stated that you absolutely have to use a rotational buffer on a car either did I?

There is many factors that play a roll in that matter.
You are not gonna have swirlmarks in it in that case either.
They dont just show up by them selfes, you have to put them there you know.
Its a procedure that you wanna avoid if you can, it still kinda hard on the finish.
The rule was always do the least amount of work that will get the job done.
I mentioned that detailers wouldn't touch black cars, it was because the black finish was much harder to work with and more time consuming than other colors so why doing a black car when you make the same amount of money on a silver metallic one in lesser time.
Its just the working detailers perspective thats in the industry.
Some of the guys simply charged more for a black one due to longer work labour.

I ultimately agree with the other guy here about fully inspecting both cars and pic the one that is in the best technical condition since paint can always be easely corrected in comparison to mechanical problems.
The guy was asking for advise about the colors and their pros and cons so i just felt I could help out with my experience from this industry, there is no need to argue about it.

I just dont understand why you guys came up with what I said was crazy and me being full of it?
Its simple physics, every physics book at a highschool level describes these phenomenons so its not some sort of black magic I came up with...

 

Color is a personal thing, buy what ever color you like. All these stupid threads about which color is the best is ridiculous.

Saying that

Black is the hardest color to maintain, it shows every little flaw, this is a FACT, not an argument. I have had several Black cars and would never buy one again, you have to be extemely careful washing and drying, what type of cloth to dry with, etc. To some the rewards are worth it, and I can understand that. Black does look unbeliveable when done right.

My best friend is selling his 6 month old Viper because its black. I told him to consider another color, he never had a black car and found out the hard way.

My 2cents

 

If I have anything with black it has loads of clear on it. imho the factory clear on a black paintjob is entirely too high maintenance.

I will qualify my statement in that my black vehicles are all motorcycles and the only ones that look like crap are ridden more than they are parked and they have factory paint. That said. The bikes with layers of clear are SOOO much better looking. None of these bikes live outside, which is another consideration.

Moral of story. Buy cheaper black Z and spend savings on clear coat. ;-)

bob

 

why do these prices seem so low?
Or is it just me?