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Why white rental cars?

Why white rental cars?

I got asked again the other day. Why are so many of your hire cars white?

Now this is not the first time I have been asked this question, or something quite similar. It pops up from time to time, particularly when customers look into our plant room and observe a sea of white beings with faces staring back at them just begging to be hired out. What? You haven’t ever thought the fronts of many cars resemble faces with their chrome grill mouths and their polycarbonate plastic eyes staring back at you? Well never mind. Perhaps I just have an overactive imagination.

So, back to the oft repeated question. Why so many white cars? Well, for a start, we live in sunny Queensland and it is warm pretty much all year round here. Some even claim it can get hot in the summer months. We all know closed up cars can get hot very quickly; particularly when left out in the sun. If you have ever owned or used a black car here in Queensland, you will most certainly know that a black car can heat up so much faster than a white car. Ever tried resting your hand on the bonnet of a black car for several minutes on a hot day? There are plenty of other less painful ways to torture yourself.

Now, most people would agree that a white surface reflects more heat than a dark surface. I.e white rental cars are generally cooler than dark coloured cars. This generally means they take a little longer to become uncomfortable to touch and to heat up inside due to less transference of heat from the hot exterior panel work to the inside of the car.

But wait. There’s more. In car rental, there is the unfortunate fact that there is a higher risk of accidents caused by driver’s no doubt being less familiar with the hire car than they car with their own vehicle. A portion of these accidents may no doubt also related to visibility. A white car does stand out on the road so much better than most other colours. Some colours, black, silver and grey cars in particular, tend to blend more in with the road surface and particularly in some light and weather situations are often not seen as easily. I remember years ago having a mid grey car for a few years. I swear I had more near misses in that car than pretty much all my other cars since that time. It was small and just didn’t stand out on the tarmac. It stands to reason that if other road users can see you easily, there is a reduced chance they will run into you; especially if they are not paying attention to their driving. Why else would people turn their headlights on in times of poor visibility?

But wait. There’s even more. (Sorry, no steak knives though). In the automotive industry it is well known that a flat white paintwork is easier and cheaper to repair than most coloured paints. This helps keep the costs down for both our customers and us. Damage involving iridescent paint can cost more to repair than a ‘white without the sparkles’. Unfortunately not all manufacturers offer a flat white paint on some of their vehicles; Nissan and Suzuki being two that spring to mind.

And finally, for some strange reason, white cars do not tend to show the dirt as easily as many other colours. Consequently, after you have picked up your pristine ‘white’ rental car from Aussie Bargain Car Rentals, you can rest assured that it should remain looking reasonably clean throughout your hire as the usual road grime accumulates on the paintwork. It’s so much nicer driving a car that looks clean isn’t it?

So to summarise the answer is, visibility, safety, cost of repair and they generally stay looking good longer throughout your hire.

So why do we have some coloured cars in our fleet? Well we don’t want to be accused of being too boring. Plus some cars just look so much better in other colours; take our light gold Hyundai Tucsons for example. In the gold colour (called mid silver for some strange reason) they look really smart; however in white they look, just ‘wrong’. Well that’s our opinion anyway.


Posted By ken

Updated : 4th February 2023 | Words : 721 | Views : 5813 | Comments : 1

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