Ongoing General Automotive Thread 2.0

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I've seen vehicles with European plates on the front as a novelty thing. I assume you can't have plates from other provinces or US States used this way, but are those European ones legal?

Coming back from Fairmont I passed a van with Swiss plates on front and rear. I'm assuming it must be legal to drive here if they paid to ship it over, but it got me wondering if there are any restrictions on out of continent vehicles in Canada

[puffnstuff]

I saw a van a few weeks back with Argentina plates on it

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Coming back from Fairmont I passed a van with Swiss plates on front and rear. I'm assuming it must be legal to drive here if they paid to ship it over, but it got me wondering if there are any restrictions on out of continent vehicles in Canada

Ya, there are different regulations down to silly things like marker light placement. So you may not be able to register it here without modifications. I've seen European vehicle plates in the Yukon, and I suspect they get 6 months or something without needing to register.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Witnessed the worst accident I've seen in person today coming back from Drumheller. Driving on HWY 9 just east of Beiseker, I see this massive explosion with a giant fireball about 1km in front of me, looked like a Michael Bay movie. Got closer and saw a red pickup with half of it's front end just gone, and a tractor-trailer in the ditch completely engulfed in flames. Guessing the pickup hit the truck fuel tank first. Got out to see if I could help whomever was in the pickup, but it was on fire too and when I was about 10 feet from it a fuel line blew up and turned it into a flamethrower. Another bystander managed to calm it down with a fire extinguisher, but from the look on his face I don't think anyone in that truck survived. At that point my kids were freaking out, so I turned around and left before the scene got any more chaotic. Quite the end-cap for an otherwise great family day

[cam_wmh]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

For some reason, new car buyers love boring ass colours. Whites, blacks, and greys -- dark and light. I don't get it either.

I had ####ing 3 choices. Black, White, Blue. Like cmon.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Seeing more of these primer grey/putty/matte/muted colors on vehicles. Not sure what it is about them but they seem so ugly and lifeless as a result.

They remind me of plumbers putty or an incomplete clay car model. Maybe just me though.

The new putty colour trend started by Audi. The difference is no metallic flake in the paint to give it that sparkle you're used to seeing.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

I had ####ing 3 choices. Black, White, Blue. Like cmon.

Manufacturers have been doubling down on very limited and restrictive colour palettes too. It's kind of stupid.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I've seen vehicles with European plates on the front as a novelty thing. I assume you can't have plates from other provinces or US States used this way, but are those European ones legal?

Originally Posted by habernac

You can put any plate on the front of your vehicle here. Lots of people with Hawaii, etc. All legal.

This is not legal, but rarely enforced it seems:

You cannot display more than one licence plate on your vehicle or any other type of plate that could be mistaken for a valid licence plate.

https://www.alberta.ca/licence-plates

[Acey]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Seeing more of these primer grey/putty/matte/muted colors on vehicles. Not sure what it is about them but they seem so ugly and lifeless as a result.

Especially for "luxury" cars. Why are almost all new Mercedes/Audi/Lexus either black white or gray? It's infuriating. I had to settle for a gray S5 because with the injuries from my crash I didn't have the energy to go on a goose chase across the country for a blue or red one. I'm considering wrapping it but it's so much effort and the work of maintaining it.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Acey

Especially for "luxury" cars. Why are almost all new Mercedes/Audi/Lexus either black white or gray? It's infuriating. I had to settle for a gray S5 because with the injuries from my crash I didn't have the energy to go on a goose chase across the country for a blue or red one. I'm considering wrapping it but it's so much effort and the work of maintaining it.

Because zey are ze Germans and zey vill asking ze questions here!!

[dammage79]

The issue IMO with all these primer color cars is that they're still glossy AF. Give me a factory Matte or Satin and I can live with it.

I'm really into these newer silvers that almost have a satin finish to them though. GM and Dodge both have one that's not too flashy.

[Acey]

I heard factory matte is a nightmare to repair/paint if required, and you're better off buying a gloss car and a full car matte PPF. Money wise it's kind of a wash given the premium Mercedes charges for matte on the CLE, for example.

[Erick Estrada]

Matte paint only works for a garage queen. For the majority of people it's not going to age well if used as a daily driver.

[speede5]

The colour issue is annoying because the manufacturers make more safe colour (black, white, grey/silver) vehicles when there are no orders because the charts say they are the most common, and people buy them because there's no options on the lot so the numbers skew towards these colours being the most popular.

I'm trying to find a new to me diesel truck right now and it feels like 90% are white which is my least fave.

White being the most popular fleet colour sure doesn't help.

[Erick Estrada]

I do believe that this is maybe one of the worst eras for paint as the streets are a sea of white, grey, and black. Maybe it's due to those colors being more appropriate for SUV's than say red, blue, or green but man everything out there looks the same these days. As for trucks there's always going to be a lot of white because it's safe for commercial purposes.

[Table 5]

I don't care if the Crossovers and SUVS have boring colors, but atleast give the small cheap cars and sports cars fun colors. Something like a Miata shouldn't have one real color (soul red) and then the rest being varying shades of neutral.

Remember when VW offered like 30 colors for the GTI? That was sweet. Now it's back to the basics.

At least Porsche offers the option to do something interesting (even if most people still seem to get silver or black). They'll make you pay through the teeth for something truly unique, but atleast it's an option.

I'm not a fan of matte paint, but I guess that's a personal preference. I dislike that trend almost as much as black wheels.

[Table 5]

I haven't really kept up to date with wrap technology, but I'm pretty impressed with what can be done now. I was on a club drive a few weeks ago, and this one Boxster had a metallic BRG wrap that looked fantastic. I had no idea it was a wrap till he mentioned it. I assume it wasn't cheap, but was a good solution to something more interesting (the car is white underneath).



Anyone have any idea how long these things hold up for?

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I haven't really kept up to date with wrap technology, but I'm pretty impressed with what can be done now. I was on a club drive a few weeks ago, and this one Boxster had a metallic BRG wrap that looked fantastic. I had no idea it was a wrap till he mentioned it. I assume it wasn't cheap, but was a good solution to something more interesting (the car is white underneath).



Anyone have any idea how long these things hold up for?

Not long if you're driving in winter or before the streets are cleaned up or on the highway/Deerfoot.


If its a garage queen they last quite a while.

[PepsiFree]

It’s the white vehicles that kill me the most. They just look like fleet cars to me. Cruising down the highway and you end up surrounded by a dozen different makes and models, all white, and it’s just hideous.

Some colors are genuinely ugly. So I get wanting black, or silver, but white? Never.

[photon]

Yup, I would have loved to find my car in orange. I like the Dravit Grey in the sun but I mean look at this:



Yes please.

Or even the metallic-y red: