Ford Raptor Forum

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I feel your problem bro. I waffled back and forth over black and white because of exactly what you are saying. Me and my girlfriend both loved the Molten Orange, but it's not available in 2012. So when it came down to it, I ordered blue. Up north a vehicle is dirty as soon as you drive 50ft from the car wash in the winter time. I drove by a couple of Ford dealerships, even the black Raptors sitting on the lots looked dirty! Have you considered the Race Red?

I've got two black vehicles and getting those swirl marks suck. The best way is to wash the truck (I use ivory soap to not strip the previous wax job), then I use a squegee to get about 90% of the water off the truck, and then spray on Griots Garage Spray on Wax Spray-On Wax - Waxes & Sealants - Waxing - Car Care - Griot's Garage

this stuff pulls the swirl marks out and gives your truck an off the showroom finish.

I've been using their stuff for years, and won several car & bike shows.

Peter

i had a pretty deep scratch running down the side of my truck. it was deep enough to feel with my fingernail....
Before:





Then:


After:

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I'm a big fan of the new Meguiars line of "ultimate" products. They really have stepped it up a notch over their traditional line of off the shelf products.

A squeegee has zero nap whatsoever and if there's even 1 tiny spec of dirt you're dragging it straight across the surface. Squeegees are not swirl friendly. A waffle weave microfiber is a much better choice for drying since the dirt won't be drug against the paint the whole swipe, and they're extremely absorbant, much more so than a standard towel, and ring out easily. 1 will dry the entire truck wringing it out a couple times.

Also no spray on wax will "pull the swirl marks out". It may contain fillers that will fill the swirls to make them less noticible and hide them, but the only way to permanently remove swirls is a compound or polish depending on how severe they are.

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REPTAR - 2012 SVT Raptor Supercrew, Ordered 08/26, VIN'd 12/15, Sch'd DAY of 1/19
M.HYDE - 2000 HD F-150 #0356 of 8197, 700/784, 10.32 @ 131.45
D.JEKL - 2000 HD F-150 #1552 of 8197, 372/450, 13.59 @ 100.95 - SOLD
GEN.0L - 1985 XL F-150, 1994 Lightning 5.8L Donor Engine Swap

A thought has just occurred to me though.

Every truck gets scratched. Its just the black ones that show them.

I guess, theoretically if you are really keeping your truck clean and waxed, then you shouldn't have any flaws in the paint.

It doesn't matter what paint color you get, either way, your paint is screwed.


BTW, this is my way of justifying the color choice.

I'm just going to get black and say screw it.
Unless I find out that the resale value is affected if its a black truck.

Well it's the scratches that show that matter lol. Scratches that you can't see don't affect the value because nobody knows they're there lol

But yes, no matter what the color, they're all going to swirl, scratch, mark up the same. It's just the darker the color the more they show. Lighter colors tend to hide swirls and scratches better, and metallics also hide as well. So the metallic tux black is better for hiding swirls than ebony black, but still will show way moreso than any other color offered.

As for resale, the more popular colors may not hold value higher, but they may be easier to sell in the future. Still waiting for the 2011 breakdown, but for 2010....

-Tuxedo Black - 4,642 (44.5%)
-Moltan Orange - 2,498 (23.9%)
-Oxford White - 1,825 (17.5%)
-Blue Flame - 1,472 (14.1%)

44% of the 2010's were black, so with nearly HALF the Raptors sold in black, it's the most popular color by a long shot, so finding a future buyer should be relatively easy as well.....as long as the paint is in good condition lol

There are some colors that take a hit on blue book. Green is one of those. When I sold my stealth it actually had like a $400 hit on bluebook value because Green is one of the least desired colors of cars now days lol.

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REPTAR - 2012 SVT Raptor Supercrew, Ordered 08/26, VIN'd 12/15, Sch'd DAY of 1/19
M.HYDE - 2000 HD F-150 #0356 of 8197, 700/784, 10.32 @ 131.45
D.JEKL - 2000 HD F-150 #1552 of 8197, 372/450, 13.59 @ 100.95 - SOLD
GEN.0L - 1985 XL F-150, 1994 Lightning 5.8L Donor Engine Swap

With those numbers I wonder why they got rid of orange? I'm still peeved about it.

Well that's nice to know.


I can also see why a regular old green wouldn't be so desirable too.

IMO, if they had a Dark, Dark Forest Green with the same kind of metallic flake in it that the tux black has they'd sell a crap load.

I have noticed a couple of trends. People really seem to like those vibrant pastel colors like blue flame and molten orange. But on the other had, more people seem to like the dark metallic colors too.

What I wouldnt to for a Metallic Forest Green metal flake color on a raptor with no graphics. That would be sweet.

__________________
REPTAR - 2012 SVT Raptor Supercrew, Ordered 08/26, VIN'd 12/15, Sch'd DAY of 1/19
M.HYDE - 2000 HD F-150 #0356 of 8197, 700/784, 10.32 @ 131.45
D.JEKL - 2000 HD F-150 #1552 of 8197, 372/450, 13.59 @ 100.95 - SOLD
GEN.0L - 1985 XL F-150, 1994 Lightning 5.8L Donor Engine Swap