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Painted VS Black Hard Top?

70K views 122 replies 78 participants last post by  tomthbomb 
#1 ·
my dealer found pretty much exactly what i am looking for in a JKUR.

except one minor thing: the hard top is black and the jeep is white (other than winter chill, white i think is my favorite).

not sure how i feel about it. but the more i think about it the more i think it probably isn't a big deal. my new house has a garage, and being in VA, i can get away with no top A LOT of the time so i doubt it will be on except during the winter. thoughts? big enough deal to place an order instead? it does save me money. so torn. maybe swap it for a soft top (i know they are all black)? is it paintable for cheap?
 
#2 ·
It's a matter of preference. I'd never want a body color top. Ever. Others feel passionately the opposite way. Up to you.

You can always ask the dealer if he'll swap it with another one on the lot, and if not you can always try to find somebody to trade with after you buy or take it to a body shop to be painted.
 
#4 ·
i just saw an all white sahara the other day and was impressed. normally i like the contrast of black and other colors

hard to tell though, ill have to see in person most likely. ill try and find one locally today.
 
#5 ·
I have black JKU with a painted black hard top. My jeep is my DD and won't see much offroading (yet at least). My wife and I have a 14 month old so much of our free time is spent hanging with the boy but when he gets a bit older we'll take him out on trails. anyways, I went with the painted top because I thought it just looked sexy matching the black body paint. I did test drive a solid white, with white hard top, wrangler and not going to lie...it looked awesome too. I like the look of the painted tops but at someone else mentioned, it's a matter of personal opinion. I'll also add that I dont think the fears of the painted tops getting scratched easier, etc is totally warranted. especially with a color like white. the clear coating over the top of the paint should actually help to protect it a bit. plus, if you get a color like white and you get dual tops, you can always use the soft top if you want that contrasting white on black look but you'd also have the painted top if you wanted to have a white out. not sure if that helps at all but thought I'd contribute. haha
 
#7 ·
You're going to have to make up your own mind on this. If WE gotta do all the work on THIS kind of deal....*kaff*kaff*...*rumble**moan**

Personally I don't care for the same body/fender/top color set up on any I've seen. But I don't have a vote here.

Probably I'd get used to it eventually if it were in my driveway.....
YMMV........
 
#19 ·
There are plenty of them out there. If you want the painted top then get it. If thats what I wanted I would give up other options before that because other options are easier and cheaper to add afterward. You dont need your dealer to find it for you, go to jeep.com and do a search and try autotrader too.
 
#26 ·
Color matching Hardtop is FUGLY and starts to make the Wrangler look too much like an H3!
 
#27 ·
Got the white JKU with the white top. Love it. Why? Loads of reasons. First - Because there's 6 years of JKU's having a black top. There's barely 2 years of body-matched colored tops. So you start out looking different than the majority of 4 doors already, just by production numbers. Secondly - the unpainted black top always eventually looks sun-bleached and faded dark grey to me AND shows lots of digs and scrapes. (I was keeping it polite, but since others have expressed their unbridled negative opinions about color tops, let's say the unpainted top looks "Pedestrian", "Plain", "Uncustom", "Boring". Or just go with Fugly if you like) Thirdly - who doesn't like ice-cream trucks? Fourthly - Yeah, the red cross would look cool. I think I'll incorporate it into my Yeti Rescue Team theme. Fifthly - To each his own man, but I think the hardshell painted tops look a thousand times better than the black/grey ones. I like them in almost any color I see them in. Makes the car look bigger. Sixthly - That all said, I got the dual top option, and I swapped my soft top on last week. So half the year, I get to rock the contrast, and half the year I get to be an ice cream truck. It's the best of both worlds. :punk:
 
#33 ·
love it, just what i said too! split the year with white on white and then get the contrast while the soft top is on - win win. I love my painted top. Looks awesome and differentiates me from other wranglers. I get comments all the time about how slick it looks. I think over time, it will hold up better than the flat black tops as well. just my opinion. like others have said though, its your Jeep and it's going to be your 35K spent so get it the way you like it.
 
#28 ·
I think I like the plastic better, though I've seen some color matched hardtops and they look pretty sharp. What are there trade-offs? Does plastic fade quickly? Does the painted hardtop susceptible to scratching or chips if you're not careful storing when it's off? Is there a big weight difference? If so, enough to affect gas mileage?
 
#29 ·
I vote painted black hardtop. The old factory paint scratches way to easy. And if it was painted i could buff it out. With the old style i just get white scratches.:banghead:
 
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#31 ·
Black Sharpie is your friend on the flat black factory top!
 
#36 ·
Personal preference. I have one of each. 2011 black with matching painted hardtop and a 2012 white with black hard top. I am not a fan of the all white. Most of the year the white jeep will have a black soft top, so I better like the black and white look.
That being said, I do like the matching sand colour body and tops.
 
#37 ·
I just started peeking at JKU's today. I was a bit bummed to find the only options were black or body-color.

My 99 TJ is green w/ tan hard and soft tops. I like the combo/contrast.

The black, dk red, or dk green, dk blue would look great w/ a tan top! But alas... no gots.

Not a fan of the body color either... so I guess it'd be black.
 
#39 ·
First is SO GOOD to be back in the Fam :)

Just got my 2012 Sahara Black Forest Green with all painted matched and it was on the list of reasons i wanted it. I think that although more functional for offroad abusive, the black plastic fender look just looks "cheap" to me for some reason. I owned a couple TJ's that had that small steel fender with the black plastic flare which i liked, but now i think it looks like Jeep tried to save money on steel...lol...
 
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