Quick Facts About Two-Tone Cars and SUVs
- Two-tone paint jobs add interest to a car or SUV’s exterior by combining paint of a dominating color with an accent contrasting color.
- A paint job with two colors grabs attention and adds the effect of making a vehicle look higher-end and more distinctive.
- Examples of two-tone cars and SUVs include the 2025 Nissan Kicks and the 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz.
Although a sought-after feature of upscale European carmakers like Rolls-Royce decades earlier, two-tone cars have been a tradition in America since the 1950s. That’s when General Motors’ design czar Harley Earl began using splashes of contrasting color on vehicles. Several decades later, two-tone paint schemes began a noticeable comeback with the resurgence of Mini and its contrasting roof color in the early 2000s. Today, carmakers like Chevy, Nissan, and Hyundai have jumped on the contrasting-roof-color bandwagon.
Here, we will delve into the two-tone phenomenon as well as provide a partial list of 2025 and 2026 vehicles offering it if you’re in the market to buy a car or just want the look. Use the jump links below to skip ahead.
- What Are Two-Tone Paint Jobs?
- Why Two-Tone Paint?
- 2025 and 2026 Vehicles with Two-Tone Paint
- How to Get the Two-Tone Look on the Cheap
- Our Take
What Are Two-Tone Paint Jobs?
Two-tone paint jobs are factory efforts to add interest to a car or SUV’s exterior by combining paint of a dominating color with an accent contrasting color, often white or black. Two-tone paint jobs aren’t setting the world on fire. However, at least 20 carmakers have recognized the value of separating certain models from the pack by offering two-tone paint jobs for those. In a couple of cases — Land Rover and Mini — most 2025 models get the two-tone look. Although Harley Earl tended to use contrasting colors on hoods, side panels, and (gasp) fins, current two-tone vehicles are more likely to sport a white or black roof over a solid-color body. The 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz provides a provocative example of the magic a carmaker can achieve with two-tone paint.
What Two-Tone Paint Jobs Are Not
Many models of cars, trucks, and SUVs offer contrasting accents, such as side-view mirror backs, wheel flares, bumpers, spoilers, racing stripes, and so on. Although we argue these affectations add flair and interest to a vehicle’s appearance, we don’t equate them to two-tone paint jobs. Nope. Here, we stick with contrasting paint on body panels like roofs, hoods, doors, and so on.
Why Two-Tone Paint?
As in any industry, automotive product planners are always on the hunt for inexpensive ways to make their products stand out. Although coating a car in more than one color paint costs more than using a single color, it’s still relatively cheap, considering a two-tone paint job’s visual impact. A two-tone paint job not only grabs attention, but it also adds the effect of making a vehicle look more distinctive and expensive.
2025 and 2026 Vehicles With Two-Tone Paint
We’ve assembled a list of several models as examples of two-tone paint jobs on cars, SUVs, and even pickup trucks. They represent a sample of the carmakers and their models available with the look. By the way, although some carmakers offer multiple models with two-tone paint jobs, Toyota and Nissan lead the pack, each offering several models with optional two-tone paint jobs across several segments and price points.
- 2025 Bentley: All models
- 2025 BMW i7 M70
- 2025 Cadillac Escalade IQ
- 2025 Chevrolet Blazer
- 2025 Chevrolet Equinox
- 2026 Chevrolet Trailblazer
- 2025 Ford Bronco and Bronco Sport
- 2025 Ford F-150
- 2025 Hyundai Kona
- 2025 Hyundai Venue
- 2025 Jeep: All models
- 2025 Kia Sportage
- 2025 Kia Soul
- 2025 Land Rover: All Range Rover, Defender, and Discovery models
- 2025 Lexus GX
- 2025 Lexus LC
- 2025 Lexus RZ
- 2025 Lexus UX
- 2025 Mini: All hardtop models
- 2025 Nissan: All models except the Versa and Frontier
- 2025 Ram 1500
- 2025 Rivian R1S
- 2025 Rivian R1T
- 2025 Rolls-Royce: All models
- 2025 Subaru Forester
- 2025 Subaru Solterra
- 2025 Toyota: Most models except the Sienna, 4Runner, GR Supra, and Sequoia
- 2025 Volvo EX30
- 2025 Volvo EX40
- 2025 Volvo XC40 Recharge
- 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz
- 2025 Volkswagen Taos
How To Get the Two-Tone Look on the Cheap
If you are smitten with the two-tone look and would like to affordably add it to your vehicle, we suggest a vinyl wrap. A major benefit of wrapping is that it can be any color under the rainbow. In other words, you aren’t restricted to white, black, or whatever color accent paint a carmaker offers. Moreover, if you become bored with it, the wrap is easily removed or even replaced with another color. The surface to be wrapped must be free of dings, dents, or other surface imperfections.
Otherwise, the installation and materials are quite affordable. For example, the experts at Precision Wraps & Graphics in Greenville, South Carolina, tell us that wrapping the roof of the current generation of Toyota Camry costs between $1,100 and $1,300. When professionally done, it is virtually indistinguishable from a Camry with the factory two-tone paint job. Larger vehicles will cost somewhat more to wrap, while a small vehicle will be somewhat less.
RELATED: How Much Does It Cost to Wrap a Car?
Our Take
Opting for two-tone paint on many of the models we’ve listed above isn’t prohibitively expensive. It’s a simple way to set your ride apart from most of the other vehicles in the parking lot without a lot of thought or cash.
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