Both are terribly boring and average.

 

Always bet on black.

 

My flint gray has grown on me. I drove it to test the Executive trim. Wife wanted blue, showed her the gray Exec., she forgot about the blue and we bought it. After a month... I must say this is a fantastic color for the T3, the metallic paint glimmers, it looks like polished gunmetal. This gives a billet-like look to the body panels on the T3. Also, there is low contrast with the wheel well trim and the brake calipers are very close to the body color.

 

How is it for showing dirt/water spots? Does it hide crud at least reasonably well? I don't want another black car and while silver is forgiving, I'm bored with it (my a4 of 11 yrs was silver).
To be honest, I like the red that the cayenne has - pity the vehicle nets out to be $90+k compared to 65 for a similarly equipped treg.

 

I like the flint. It's most like the offroad gray color on my T1 (which is obviously the best color )

Although any color is great as long as it's on a Touareg!

 

Going through the same conundrum myself. Haven't seen the flint in person and also wondering if it is as hard to keep clean as black.

 

Agree about grays and gunmetal catching curves on the sheet metal nicely, dunno about showing dirt

I also decided to avoid black due to its terrible interaction with my OCD...

White has been nice in terms of catching the eye but not showing dirt or swirls-- i think the finish will last longer merely because i have been washing it less, a good waxing every 4 months or so followed by gentle rinses every other week.


White unfortunately is getting to be all the rage on new cars, upscale or not...

 

Saturday is car wash day for my rides, if it rains, the vehicles get an interior clean-up in the garage. I dont care how dirty it looks, gonna wait until Saturday.

Flint Gray is easy on the eye when dirty. There I said it.

The tough area on my T3 is the panorama roof. Be advised Rain-X the glass, much easier to clean. I use a micro fiber brush w/3 ft. handle to reach/wash it. Then, I use a squeegee to wipe away the rinse water.

About the water spots, there are products that soften the water at the hose nozzle. Gotta fix water hardness, the sun will etch the mineral deposits into the clear coat and ruin the appearance of any color paint job. The duster will look filthy in about a week, works better after it looks like a mess.

Get a California Car Duster, use it at the end of the day, not in the morning dew, if the T3 has been outdoors overnight. The duster mop contains parrafin (magical property to collect dirt), you may notice streaks on the clear coat at first, no worries. Wipe the vehicle as soon as you get home, I can skip a car was if I dust it daily.

 

My favorite is Campanella White if you still can get it. I know it's opposite of gray but IMHO fits Touareg very nicely.

 

Euros love any color as long as it is a version of Grey, light grey ,dark grey blue grey etc. My theory is it blends in to the enviroment of grey cities and dark clouds. They still make great cars. JP

 

I think the graphic and visual themes used in the 2012 MY Touareg brochure really emphasizes your notion. I do not know the current advertising linguistic stylistics to describe it, but other words that come to mind are high tech, city and suburban architecture, design "sophistication", etc. The (my) Flint Gray Touareg just spent 3 nights and days in San Francisco's financial district, where coincidently, many oem car brands film their automotive advertising. In looking around this district, I could see how you could come to your conclusion. We had 2 literally glorious San Francisco days and nights and of course a "famous" fog morning.

More on point, I would have been fine with 7 of the 8 offered colors. The Flint Gray metallic seems to hide dirt pretty well, despite it being very close to black. If I had to rank order the current 2012 color offerings it would be:

1. Campanella White
2. Cool Silver Metallic
3. Canyon Gray Metallic
4. Flint Gray Metallic
5. Galagagos Gray Metallic
6. Night Blue Metallic
7. Toffee Brown Metallic
8. Black

 

Agree, the Touareg in white has a nice appeal with the metal trim and the alloy wheels.

 

1. Campanella White
2. Cool Silver Metallic
3. Canyon Gray Metallic
4. Flint Gray Metallic
5. Galagagos Gray Metallic
6. Night Blue Metallic
7. Toffee Brown Metallic
8. Black

Not a bad color on the list, really-- I've seen them all on the road or on the dealers lot, and each has a great presence and show the angles and curves differently.

What I've noticed is that color preference in cars is dictated a great deal by body style, and especially the color of trim (black, glossy, anodized vs chrome) because each of these trim colors or textures harmonize or clash with various colors differently. Finally I am impressed by what a difference fashionable colors make. White is the new black, thanks to MB, and silver seems so 1999 nowadays...

 

Indeed. Flint Gray Metallic was not MY first choice. I do have to say it has grown on me. The one procedure we do follow (as we live in a more semi arid and sun drenched climate, is to open as many doors to let the hot air out before we get in.

 

After much complaining because there is no red, my wife chose canyon grey. I insisted on cornsilk because I really dislike black interiors. Grey is grey, but the canyon has grown on me. It's light enough to show the lines of the car but not dark enough to show dirt vividly.

I do sometimes reflect, sitting in traffic, that here I am in my grey suv, along with everyone else in their grey suvs. But it's still a good looking vehicle. I really like the interior.

 

After much complaining because there is no red, my wife chose canyon grey. I insisted on cornsilk because I really dislike black interiors. Grey is grey, but the canyon has grown on me. It's light enough to show the lines of the car but not dark enough to show dirt vividly.

I do sometimes reflect, sitting in traffic, that here I am in my grey suv, along with everyone else in their grey suvs. But it's still a good looking vehicle. I really like the interior.

Hey Bill how did you find the cornsilk, did you have to order it or find it from another dealer? I wonder if dealers can find the car you are looking for from other dealers via a database. VW doesn't really do this with its new inventory search on its website.

 

In Australia, we only get a plain white, not Perl White. As such very few white Touaregs are sold, when I was looking the only colour that was readily available immediate delivery was white, as they could not sell them. Some where up to 9 months old and not sold.

 

think the Touareg is for someone who is self-confident, not a show off but likes a nice vehicle. The Touareg driver is not out to impress anyone except for showing off the Touareg's handsome good looks, and having someone ride with them mudding, see the awesome torque and performance of the diesel, awesome fuel pump economy, and sit inside the interior and say "wow this is really a Volkswagen" and "wow this interior is really uncluttered, user friendly, and well laid out"..

This is spot on.

 

I have pure white. I would never have ordered Campanella. In fact, had a black T3 ahead of it.

Love the pure white. Have a Campanella white Audi and it doesn't look clean somehow beside the Touareg. Happy to PM images if you wish....However, canyon or flint? Flint, every time. It's a real grey. Or gray.

 

The OP IanR was asking for opinions on Flint Vs Canyon.
I have the flint on my 2012 TDI and love it. I find it does not show the road dirt very much - but you have to be careful to dry it completely after washing or else the water spots show.

 

Threads drift for various reasons, others experience being one of them.

Grey & black are more susceptible to showing dirt and water spots. So much so, and for that reason (and theres a lot of acreage to clean on a Touareg) I changed colour from black on my 2011 to white on the 2012. My daughter's black T2 never looks clean.

 

I figure canyon will hide dirt well as. It seems to have a hint of brown and while darker than silver is much lighter than flint. Anyone here with a canyon care to sound off pls?

 

I've got a 2012 TDi in canyon grey and I'm don't see any "brown" tones. That said I would say its closer to a warm cast iron colour, with flint more of a light charcoal with a touch of blue. I also find that the canyon grey is reasonably good at not showing road dirt, as far as that goes.

 

The warm tone you mention is probably what I'm interpreting as a bit earthy. Out of curiosity, did you consider both? Did anything in particular sway you to the Canyon over the Flint?

 

Yes, that's probably it, just a semantic difference ;-) !
Well, yes, we looked at both at the dealers, a flint gasser and the canyon TDi. The TDi had just come in, and the fellow who ordered it cancelled, so it was available immediately, and it was fully loaded, and canyon is kind of a classy colour, and we wouldn't have to wait for 7 months for a TDi ( which was THE reason to get a Treg) and the wife loves the heated steering wheel and the dog lives the heated rear seats, and did I mention it was there, and available, with no wait??
Very glad we got it, and very happy with the colour too, even though there seem to be way too many grey vehicles out there these days....

 

My dealer had most all the colors with same equipment, so I could pick and choose (only missing Galapagos). Traded in a White car, and since I bought mine 3 yrs ago, all my neighbors have bought white. So that was out. Black is too much work. Was negotiating on a Flint, but switched to the Canyon at the last minute. I've since felt a bit of remorse since the Canyon is close to very common gray offerings from VW, Honda, Acura, and BMW. The Galapagos or Flint are more distinctive.

If I could do it again and order exactly what I wanted, I would seriously consider Toffee over Black. The Toffee is usually paired with Saddle Brown, and although I like the leather bits, the brown plastic bits are cheap looking. Beautiful color and something you don't see every day.

 

IanR, I had the choice between Flint and Canyon and my gut feeling was Flint was a nicer grey. I bought it and it has not been difficult to keep looking clean and it looks great / sparkles just after being washed. Black interior looks good too.

Having said that, if you live in a part of the world where there is a lot of sun I would not recommend a grey car. In the sun it just does not have the impact of say a white or brown Touareg.

My recommendation is black/black if you live in rainy climates.

White or Brown on Tan if you live in the sun (and do not have messy kids )

 

I do not know guys… What are these 5 pages of posts all about? What is a better soda – Coke or Pepsi? What is a better whisky – Scotch or Bourbon? And the list goes on. Should one try and see to be able to decide for oneself? Reminds me about describing what the taste of oranges vs. taste of apples is to a person who tried neither one of them. No offence meant, just a smiling!

 

x2 LOL same here!

 

It is precisely that. Given the limited color choices, strictly a person's opinion backed up by what ever reasons or lack there of, behind it.

 

We have a passion for fashion.

 

Indeed.

I have not yet seen the 2013 VW T brochure. But having seen the 2012 MY's, itt could not have been cheap to put IT out ! ?

 

I'm in the printing biz. The most expensive part of the brochure are the color swatches.

 

I was also. It was the whole effort, not just the printing that was subbed out.