Driving palette: how car’s color affects its resale value

What colors facilitate, and what colors impede the resale of a used vehicle? iSeeCars.com company found the answer, which will come as a surprise for many.

A recent study by the American car search service iSeeCars.com revealed that the color of the vehicle can substantially help selling it, or just the opposite, it can decrease the car’s price.

The difference can, in fact, be rather feasible: the cars of «unpopular» colors can lose as much as four times in value in comparison to popular palette. The most frequent colors for a car – white, black and silver, for example – have the minimum impact on the car’s price. They neither make it cheaper, nor help the price stay the same.

Some other colors, on the other hand, can come as a pleasant surprise for the customers. Among the most advantageous are yellow and orange!

The color of your money

«The color of the car is one of the main criteria among customers, who are certain about the make and model at this point» – says Karl Brauer, iSeeCars’ executive analyst. – «As depreciation makes up for a lion share of the price of owning a vehicle, those who are into buying a brand-new car should think carefully about its color. If they intend to re-sell it with profit later, of course».

To make this task easier for them, iSeeCars.com analysts looked into over 650 thousand used cars of 2019 model year, that were sold between August 2021 and May 2022.

The manufacturer's recommended retail price for each vehicle was adjusted for the dollar equivalent inflation of 2022, and then compared to average market prices for second-hand cars. The data are combined into tables according to vehicle color and body type.

Depreciation according to car’s color

Bright colors, as a rule, are better at keeping the vehicle’s price stable, while the ordinary colors lead to the price decrease.

The yellow color of the car is the best at sustaining the car’s price. «This is unexpected, since yellow is one of the least popular colors among the brand-new cars. This is usually the color of sportscars and other limited-series cars, which lose in value insignificantly over time» - says Brauer. – «Yellow automobiles are not frequent on the used-car market. Perhaps, that’s why people are willing to pay for these vehicles more».

Orange is the next color among those that keep the car’s price at bay.

«Just like yellow, one doesn’t come across orange as often. Yet again, this is usually the color of limited-edition «sportscars» and «muscle cars» - Brauer continues. -  «It is also used for the anniversary editions, which are released in limited numbers. For instance, Mazda MX-5 Miata 30th edition and Toyota GR86 Special Edition 2023».

The cars painted in gold and brown lose in value the most. They too don’t frequent the market as often, but they lose in price above average.

«The rarity of the color is not equal to its value. If the color does not resonate with enough buyers of used cars, this brings down the price of the vehicle significantly» - claims Brauer.

White, black and silver are the most popular car colors, and they depreciate moderately.

«Many customers choose these colors not because they like them, but more like «to be like everybody else» - says Brauer. - «Since these are the most widespread colors, their selection has little to no influence on the re-sale price of the vehicle».

Beige can fall into the same category, as well, while purple, red, green and blue are a good choice for the future re-sale of the car.

Car color depreciation by vehicle segment

The loss of car’s value depends primarily on its physical wear-and-tear. However, as iSeeCars found out, car color depreciation is also a relevant concept, and it depends on a particular type of vehicle. Let's look closer at the main trends. 

SUV depreciation by color

Examining the SUV segment, iSeeCars analysts found that yellow is the best color in the SUV segment to retain its price, and brown is the worst.

Cars in bright, unusual colors are the least likely to lose value in the SUV segment. Yellow cars may even increase in value after three years, and orange and green cars at least don't lose too much in value. 

«The most popular yellow SUVs, Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, sell for above the recommended retail price even after three years of use» - Brauer reveals. - «The same can be said about Subaru Crosstrek, which is often found in orange, and the green Subaru Forester».

Pickup truck depreciation by color

Among pickup trucks, strangely enough, beige retains its value the best, and green - the worst.

Pickup trucks of all colors depreciate less than passenger cars, with beige-colored vehicles losing the least in value.

«Toyota must have started the fashion trend by introducing a «quicksand beige» shade for TRD Pro pickups in 2016, and then for other vehicles as well» - Brauer says. – «Toyota has the most beige pickups, and they're losing in value very slowly».

Another color of pickup trucks with low depreciation is orange.

«Orange keeps the price of pickups up because it's a new color in the segment; it's hardly been used before» - Brauer says. – «But it has, as they say, come in handy. In many cases, customers are willing to pay extra money for it, like in the case of Ford Ranger, which charges additional $595 for that color!»

Sedan depreciation by color

For sedans, the most winning color is purple, and the most disadvantageous is black.

Besides purple, the least depreciated color in sedans is red. 

«This proves yet again that even in the relatively conservative vehicle segment, there’s demand for unusual colors» - Brauer notes. – «That being said, purple is one of the least common sedan colors. I can only name one model that comes in purple en masse, this is Dodge Charger. And that is clearly one of the secrets of its popularity!» 

Convertible color depreciation

For convertibles, the brighter the color, the better; the more subdued and more neutral the more unprofitable from a commercial standpoint.

One could say that yellow is the perfect color for convertibles. 

«It's the best in terms of residual value, as demonstrated by many Porsche and Chevrolet Corvette models that have retained their price over the years» - Brauer says. – «People who buy these cars want to stand out, so mediocre colors are taboo for this segment».

Depreciation of coupes by color

The coupe segment is mostly made up of sportscars and «muscle cars».

Like pickup trucks, coupes of all colors retain their price better than other cars. 

«There is not much supply in this segment, hence the demand on the secondary market is high. Accordingly, all colors depreciate less than the market average».

Nevertheless, orange automobiles are always in demand. «We're talking about classic American sportscars - Chevrolet Camaro, Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Corvette» - Brauer provides examples.

Minivan depreciation by color

Among the minivans, green is the most winning color. Red, on the other hand, is not the best choice.

Minivans are depreciating at a more rapid pace than any other car type. Yet green minivans decrease in value a little less than others. 

«In general, minivans are a smart choice. However, if you want to make the purchase even more profitable, go for green-colored vans» - Brauer says. – «This is, perhaps, one of the few exceptions with a reserved color helping in sales. People often think that bold or rare colors will reduce the re-sale value of a vehicle. But in reality, it's often the exact opposite!»

Sources: iSeeCars.com, Blog.cheapism.com