My wife was at O'Donnell Honda in Ellicott City, MD today for an oil change on our daily driver Accord. While she was waiting she started to inquire about the 2002 S2K's. The salesman said they expect the first one in November (a blue). Anyway, she also asked what they have been giving for 2000 S2K trade-ins, to which he responded around $28.7K. Then he asked what color, and she told him white. He then said, "well, it would be less for a white since silver is the most popular color." Apparently, a white S2K just isn't worth the same as the other colors. All of you other owners who proclaim their colors superior to white must be right after all.

I hate idiot salespeople.

 

how dumb does the salesperson think you are?!

 

It was my wife to whom he was speaking. I don't know if he would have said the same thing to me or not. I guess I'll have to run a little controlled experiment!

 

The world needs at least a few brain dead people, I figure, no matter what colour she said, that would be the cheapest one.....AGHHH!

 

Sounds like a typical dealer to me.. "Oh, you washed the car 5 times, well its worth less now!"

 

disclaimer: i am not knocking the white s2ks out there. just stating my experience and drawing a conclusion from them...

this is not the first place that i have heard this comment from dealers, nor is it new in auto sales. certain colors will command more money than others, regardless of whether or not you think it is worth it. it is just a matter of demand. when i bought mine (silver/red), i heard from various dealers that not many people were asking for the white s2ks and most 'settled' for the color because they wanted the car itself. for us die hard s2k lovers, ask yourself a question assuming that we all generally agree that the new blue color is not the best choice...if there were two s2ks in the local showroom (one blue and the other is your first choice in color) and the color of choice was tagged higher, what would be the price premium that you would pay for the color of choice? $500? $1,000? $1,500? i would have paid the premium for my silver/red...perhaps up to $2K...or waited. if blue was the only car there, i would not have even considered it unless it was at some discount.

i used to work with a gal who went to buy the VW bug when they first came out. the year that she ended up buying, yellow was introduced and dealers were asking $6k more than black (what she eventually bought) for the exact same car.

over time, the color has less of an effect on the perceived worth of a car, but i believe that it is possible that in some markets color will dictate some price variation...

 

Tile - I certainly agree with your point. In fact when you use online valuations (like Edmund's), the color will impact the price of the car.

However, even though the white S2K is the most rare (does this mean the least desirable - I don't know), in general a white car is viewed as a positive, not a negative. In fact, I believe white is the most popular vehicle color in general. Color choice is certainly a very subjective and personal thing. I am sure many white S2K owners chose white, as opposed to settled. Furthermore, I would guess that many silver owners settled for silver since it was/is the most available (the flip side). I definitely do not believe white would be as objectionable to as many people as the blue (or even yellow for that matter). In other words, it is not a color you "either love or hate."

 

I actually passed on black and red for a silver. It was mentioned by three seperate dealerships that silver is/ was the most requested before I had told them my preference. I see mostly black as the preferred color in cars around Los Angeles. (Yes its for the black hearts we all have for living here...hehe)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pittpanther
[B]
However, even though the white S2K is the most rare (does this mean the least desirable - I don't know), in general a white car is viewed as a positive, not a negative.

 

I think that color does matter. I paid an extra $1000 to get a yellow instead of a black, so why wouldn't someone else pay $500 more for a red than a white? Especially on a car like the S2000 which is all about emotion, not practicality.