I bought a 2006 SL last month and it is Dark Slate, not Smoke. Maybe I have a 2006.5?

 

It's always good to do your homework BEFORE you buy a car to know exactly what you're driving...


Oh and welcome to the Org...

 

Hmm. Actually spent about 6 months doing the research. When I decided to buy I was surprised by the color listed on the sticker since it is a 2006. All of the features are 2006, just the color choice was different.

Plus, I couldn't pass up the price...

 

Not unheard of at or near model year changeover. Take care of it... in 50 years you could have a collectors item on your hands. Just make sure you have proof that it was original paint. My uncle had a '57 T-Bird factory painted in a '58 color (metallic charcoal, coincidentally) that made it worth about 50% more than a typical '57.

 

Now I feel pretty stupid. I looked at the sticker again and is says "Smoke". Thought I was losing my mind, but found the dealer paperwork where it says "Dark Slate" so I didn't totally make it up!

 

I'd never do a black car again. Huge pain to keep clean...

 

I'm not claiming that black is exactly easy to keep clean, but the hardest of all to keep clean for me has been the white ones... always have to keep a gallon of wd-40 or kerosene handy to clean all the road tar off.

At least the dark ones hide that stuff and a quick wash gets the dust and pollen off.

Silver's were the easiest of all, especially the Polished Titanium '03 Max, which is a bit darker than the typical silver.

Of the 18 cars I have owned/leased...
... so this opinion/observation comes with some experience with black cars.

 

Of the 10 I have owned
-----------------------
6 Red
2 White
1 Black (by far the hardest car to keep clean, never again!!!)
1 Silver

 

I've had 2 black cars the 77 280 & a 95 Xj6. Both were terrible to keep clean.
Look great when they are cleaned and waxed. for about an hour.
The white and silver cars-trucks were the best to stay clean from my experience.
2 Black
3 white
3 Red
3 Silver
4 Dark Green
1 gold
4 Blue
2 burgandy
1 Teal Blue
1 Brown

I have had a few cars over the years too, with a mix of colors and the lighter colored cars have always stayed clean longer. Just my observation from having had many different colored cars.

 

My last black car was a 1949 Studebaker. There was no air conditioning in cars back then. I swore that, should I survive that blast furnace, I would NEVER NEVER ever look twice at a black car again. I kept that promise.

Any possibility of 'backsliding' on my disdain of black is eliminated every time I pass by a black car in a parking lot and feel the heat literally radiating off the thing. By contrast, I can lay my hand on a white or silver car in full sun and not be burned.

Those who live in a hot climate and buy black cars are putting vanity over practicality.

After years of such colors as 'sand' (tan), 'firegold' (rust), 'white mist' (cream), and two dusty/smoky blues (lighter shade), six of my last seven vehicles have been silver.

 

Aesthetics maybe, not vanity. I like other people's cars in black, too.

 

and just as the dark ones "hide that stuff", so do the silver and others "d'ont show the dirt" i.e. all cars are equally dirty... but do they appear so?

 

spirited bronze ftw!

 

maX5 - Nice car. I liked the spirited bronze from the first time I saw it in March 2003.

It exudes a sedateness that I find very soothing. For me, it fairly reeks with a plush feeling of quality. Had I lived somewhere that half the days of the year did not approach 100 degrees, I would have chosen spirited bronze for my Maxima.

I was most disappointed when Nissan dropped spirited bronze at the end of the 2006 model year.

 

I think a Maxima looks good in most colors..