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Why Does White Cost $200 More Than Every Other Color In The Us?

10K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  The_White_Pearl_2011 
#1 ·
I was playing around with the configurator on the US website and I noticed that white pearl costs $200 more than any other color. Why is this?
 
#2 ·
I'm guessing popularity because officially red is the most expensive color to make from a body shop stand point. Pearl can be expensive too if it has a lot of pearl flakes in it.
 
#4 ·
QUOTE (ssmuff @ Jul 30 2010, 12:21 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346165
Aww the black has pearl also and it is not $200 more. It might come down to Korea ideals. I believe brown and white are a sign of wealth. I could be wrong but that's just me.
It's funny because here, every color BUT white is $450 extra. It comes down to white being the only solid (non-pearl/metallic) color.
 
#5 ·
It's because white is the best color!!!!!!!!!!

Really, if the amount pearl flakes impacts cost, I can see it. The amount of flakes is tremendous. It looks like a stripper before any of the glitter has fallen off.
 
#7 ·
QUOTE (Davez621 @ Jul 30 2010, 02:13 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346175
It's funny because here, every color BUT white is $450 extra. It comes down to white being the only solid (non-pearl/metallic) color.
Well that sort of blows my theory. I remember buying artist oil paint and white always cost more. It was explained to me that it had titanium dioxide, which was expensive. Maybe it is cheaper down under.

From Wikipedia: "Titanium dioxide is the most widely used white pigment because of its brightness and very high refractive index (n = 2.7), in which it is surpassed only by a few other materials."
 
#8 ·
QUOTE (ssmuff @ Jul 30 2010, 01:36 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346181
If you say so. So your white has more flake then my black?
Yes, white is the flakiest. Or, is it that the people that buy white are the flakiest. Hmm, can't remember.
 
#9 ·
QUOTE (midas69 @ Jul 30 2010, 03:41 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346220
Yes, white is the flakiest. Or, is it that the people that buy white are the flakiest. Hmm, can't remember.
The theory is rubbish. There is no manufacturer here in Australia that charges more for pearl white than other colours. In this country it would be very questionable practice and I doubt it would be allowed - they are essentially charging more without providing more.
 
#10 ·
QUOTE (Davez621 @ Jul 31 2010, 12:29 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346284
The theory is rubbish. There is no manufacturer here in Australia that charges more for pearl white than other colours. In this country it would be very questionable practice and I doubt it would be allowed - they are essentially charging more without providing more.
Sonata just don't want you to have White Pearl color as a popular color. They want to sell other colors. But if you insist, make it costs $200 more. Why? Who knows! Why charge $200 more, and not $50, or $500? Because they can!

The choice is yours. If I were King, I will just make all color same cost to the consumer.
 
#14 ·
I could see silver blue being more $$$ but charging more for white is ridiculous. Think they do it because Ford, Lincoln and Cadillac charge a premium for white.
 
#15 ·
Pearl white is $495 on the Buick LaCrosse. The $200 that Hyundai charges is a relative bargain compared to what other automakers charge.

Pearl paint is typically a tri-coat process. There is a basecoat, a pearlcoat, and then a clearcoat. Other paints have a basecoat and a clearcoat. The additional charge is related to the added pearlcoat during the paint process.
 
#16 ·
QUOTE (ryster @ Aug 1 2010, 02:38 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346516
Pearl white is $495 on the Buick LaCrosse. The $200 that Hyundai charges is a relative bargain compared to what other automakers charge.

Pearl paint is typically a tri-coat process. There is a basecoat, a pearlcoat, and then a clearcoat. Other paints have a basecoat and a clearcoat. The additional charge is related to the added pearlcoat during the paint process.
Most colours are pearlescent or metallic these days and would have the same number of layers. Why would pearl white have more layers than pearl black or red? No logic there.
 
#17 ·
QUOTE (Davez621 @ Jul 31 2010, 12:29 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346284
The theory is rubbish. There is no manufacturer here in Australia that charges more for pearl white than other colours. In this country it would be very questionable practice and I doubt it would be allowed - they are essentially charging more without providing more.
Much of the world's TiO2 comes from Australia. Just saying.

If a dealer tries to charge me more for a certain color, I'll go somewhere else.

A lot of times, the color the customer wants is not on the lot. The dealer sometimes has to charge $100-300 more
for transport and/or stock transfer if the customer can't wait for his color to come in.
 
#19 ·
I noticed in your US manual that your remote has a "panic" button. We don't have this button on our remote here in Australia. If someone lives in such a crime ridden area that they need a panic button, how can they even afford a new Sonata?
 
#20 ·
QUOTE (Davez621 @ Aug 1 2010, 02:50 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346518
Most colours are pearlescent or metallic these days and would have the same number of layers. Why would pearl white have more layers than pearl black or red? No logic there.
You have metallics that are mostly 2 stage and then you got pearls that are three stage. Some colors like the black pearl are simply called black pearl but aren't true 3 stage paint process.

Let me break it down.

Cars nowadays are either 2 stage colors or 3 stage colors, some even 4 stage and more. Most are either 2 or 3. What does this mean? It means there are three layers of paint including the clear vs the two layers of paint on most other colors.

It obviously takes longer to paint a car with 3 layers as opposed to a car with only 2 layers, hence why they cost more. If I was to do an estimate for a true 3 layer pearl color it will cost slightly more than painting a 2 layer metallic color. Some of these car companies have every right to charge a premium because it costs more in materials and more in labor.

Some colors are called pearls but aren't 3 stage colors such as the black pearl on the sonata. I haven't looked at the formula for the white pearl, if somebody can get me the paint code i'll look it up and confirm all this. I have a black ''pearl'' and i'm 100% that is a 2 stage color, we've already had to get one of those painted.

Now i'm sure there are also companies out there charging a premium because of uneducated consumers.
 
#21 ·
QUOTE (eyecue @ Aug 2 2010, 08:34 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346631
You have metallics that are mostly 2 stage and then you got pearls that are three stage. Some colors like the black pearl are simply called black pearl but aren't true 3 stage paint process.

Let me break it down.

Cars nowadays are either 2 stage colors or 3 stage colors, some even 4 stage and more. Most are either 2 or 3. What does this mean? It means there are three layers of paint including the clear vs the two layers of paint on most other colors.

It obviously takes longer to paint a car with 3 layers as opposed to a car with only 2 layers, hence why they cost more. If I was to do an estimate for a true 3 layer pearl color it will cost slightly more than painting a 2 layer metallic color. Some of these car companies have every right to charge a premium because it costs more in materials and more in labor.

Some colors are called pearls but aren't 3 stage colors such as the black pearl on the sonata. I haven't looked at the formula for the white pearl, if somebody can get me the paint code i'll look it up and confirm all this. I have a black ''pearl'' and i'm 100% that is a 2 stage color, we've already had to get one of those painted.

Now i'm sure there are also companies out there charging a premium because of uneducated consumers.
If this is true, that white pearl costs more to paint than other colours, then why don't insurance companies charge more to insure them? (seeing as in an accident, it would cost more to respray?).
 
#22 ·
QUOTE (Davez621 @ Aug 2 2010, 08:45 AM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=346633
If this is true, that white pearl costs more to paint than other colours, then why don't insurance companies charge more to insure them? (seeing as in an accident, it would cost more to respray?).
Everything I said is true.

Call up your local insurance company and find out. Post your results.

My guess would be it's too insignificant of a cost to make that much of a difference in insurance rates. It's not that much of a difference in cost. There are so many other variables that this variable is not that significant. They go by model, and usually the higher the model the more costly to repair so if you got pearl on a base model that would probably be very rare.
 
#23 ·
If the paint code is JR for the white pearl then yes that came up as a tri stage paint. So now you know why pearl cost a little more.
 
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