Even though people generally choose the color of their cars based on their personal preferences, when it comes to resale value, it seems certain statistics are worth considering.
A Study conducted by car search engine iSeeCars analyzed over 2.1 million used car sales and found that color did indeed impact value when passing on ownership.
For example, cars depreciate 33.1% on average in the first three years, with yellow ones holding onto their value best, registering a depreciation rate of just 27%. On the opposite end of the spectrum are gold cars, which depreciate by a whooping 37.1%.
“Yellow cars are relatively less common, which could drive up demand and help maintain their value,” said Phong Ly, iSeeCars CEO. “Our analysis shows that yellow vehicles have the lowest depreciation of any color for lower-volume cars like convertibles. Interestingly, yellow is also the color with the least depreciation for popular body styles like SUVs and pickup trucks.”
According to the research, orange and green cars are also good at retaining their value, and like yellow ones, they are also less common. Together, yellow, orange and green cars only make up 1.2% of all three-year old cars.
Before you “blame” these numbers on rarity alone, consider the fact that the three worst colors, beige, purple and gold, also make up a very small percentage, rated at 0.7%.
Interestingly, just because certain colors hold their value very well, doesn’t mean those cars are also selling quickly. Yellow cars average 41.5 days on the used car market, with orange ones at 38.1 and green at 36.2, all while the “average car” needs 36.5 days to sell.
