I'm a safety buff, so as I shop for an automatic 2004 Focus hatchback (2.3L), I've been looking only at yellow or white. But there seem to be many more automatic 2.3L ZX3s in black than in white or yellow.

What do you think of getting a beautiful black Focus and adding yellow and orange stripes?

I actually did this in the 1980s, adding a 3.5-inch band of solar yellow and a 3.5-inch band of Day-Glo orange 3M tape to my silver Plymouth Champ. Drivers stuck behind me would switch lanes just to avoid having to look at the dazzling colors. Kids would grin and point.

The main drawback was that the colors faded over time. Oh, and that after I flipped off a tailgating punk, I couldn't hide.

I may go this route again. What would be the best way? Tape? Paint? This time, I want the colors to remain rich, so I'm prepared to forgo fluorescent.

How wide can the stripes be without looking gaudy?

If I hire a shop to do the striping, what kind of shop do I want--detailing? How should I describe what I want?

I would go with orange over yellow. I also wonder how a stripe like the Mustang warrior in pink car would look. It's a wide stripe with a thin stripe on both sides.

I understand what you're trying to do with making your car more visible, but personally I don't think it makes much difference. I drive a Competition Orange SVT and people still will pull out in front of me or cut me off. I thought the color would make the car more visible to idiots out there, but I was wrong. If you try to make something idiot-proof, they'll just build a better idiot.

Now this is my kind of Focus owner! From a French Focus owners' forum: (http://www.passion-focus.com/forums/index.php)

http://www.passion-focus.com/cus_membres_forum/x-trem_focus/Photo_007-1024.jpg

please no brite stripes...

black is a luxury color... it is a privilage to have luxury, please dont abuse your privilages. thats whats wrong with this world today..

I'd be leaning more towards the "orange" get that porsche gt3 rs look:

http://www.niot.net/niot_570/porsche_911_gt3_rs_niot.net%20(37).jpg

I drive a Competition Orange SVT and people still will pull out in front of me or cut me off. I thought the color would make the car more visible to idiots out there, but I was wrong. If you try to make something idiot-proof, they'll just build a better idiot.

Glad someone else is having issues with people acting like they don't see a car. I can't tell you how many times I've had people looks straight at my yellow car then pull out in front of me. Doesn't seem to make a bit of difference if I have the lights on during the day either.

To the OP.
It is your car don't let anybody tell you you can't do something. I would stick to tape on the back of the car. That way it would be easier to take off in case the car is around long enough to sell it.

I'm thinking of getting a banner for the back of the Aerostar that says :

CAUTION: ASIAN WOMAN DRIVER

You can duct tape construction vest to your car.

That porsche is sick. But... i would go with a metallic red, i know it wasnt one of your options, but IMO orange would be too "halloweenie" and yellow just didnt look good IMO. I think you would be better off buyin a silver SVT or zx3. That way its bright, its a great looking color, and well, its a focus, so your 3 for 3. I have a black one, so i like to use the horn as a warning

While it's difficult to control (since conservative types are more likely to shun bright colors), there is evidence that white and yellow vehicles get hit less often. There's a reason that companies like 3M and Reflexite sell bright-colored tape to fire departments and road crews.

Tape that's designed to reflect at night will not be as effective by day. To hedge my bets, I'm leaning toward fluorescent orange nonreflective (http://reflectivelyyours.com/generic147.html) for day together with fluorescent yellow reflective (http://www.nextag.com/DayBRIGHT-fluorescent) for night.

Thinking outside the box pays--literally. The cheapest yellow and white ZX3/ZX5 automatics are running between $9K and $10K. I've found a black ZX3 PZEV automatic with 40K miles for $7500, a silver ZX5 PZEV automatic with 21K for $6500!

Unfortunately, my job is currently in a holding pattern; I can't buy till I know things are secure, probably around August 15....

Cant see this working without being very tacky looking =/

get a sexy black one and add some LED tails! problem solved

Problem not solved:

LED tail lights do nothing to make the Focus more visible from the sides.
LED tail lights do nothing to make the Focus more visible from the front.
LED tail lights do nothing when the lights are off and do little to make the car noticed on a sunny day.