Which Colors Help and Hurt a Car's Resale Value?

Highlights:

• A vehicle’s color can have a substantial impact on how quickly it loses value, with the highest depreciating color losing nearly four times the value compared to the lowest

• Popular colors, including white, black, and silver, have minimal impact, meaning they won’t hurt resale value but they also won’t help a vehicle maintain its value

• Some of the most beneficial colors for retaining value, including yellow and orange, may surprise consumers

A car’s color can help or hurt its resale value, according to a recent analysis by iSeeCars.com. After comparing prices of more than 650,000 recently sold three-year-old used cars, iSeeCars determined the average three-year vehicle depreciation rate by car color. 

 “A vehicle’s color is among the primary considerations after shoppers have decided on a make and model,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “With depreciation being the largest cost of vehicle ownership, consumers should carefully consider their color choice–especially if they plan on selling their vehicle.”

Vehicle Depreciation by Car Color

Bold colors tend to hold their color best, while common colors depreciate at a rate close to average.

Overall, yellow is the vehicle color that holds its value best, depreciating 70 percent less than the average vehicle. “Yellow is among the least popular car colors with the lowest vehicle share and is commonly a color for sports cars and other low-volume vehicles that hold their value relatively well,” said Brauer. “Because yellow vehicles are so novel in the secondhand marketplace, people are willing to pay a premium for them.”

Orange ranks second as the color that holds its value best. “Like yellow, orange comprises a small overall share of vehicles and is most often found on low-volume sports and muscle cars,” said Brauer. “Orange is such a novel color that it is often the choice for popular special edition vehicles, like the 30th edition Mazda MX-5 Miata and the 2023 Toyota GR86 Special Edition, which are typically limited production vehicles.” 

The paint colors with the highest depreciation—gold and brown—also have low market share, but depreciate far worse than average. “Rarity alone does not equal value. If a color doesn’t resonate with enough used car shoppers it will hurt resale value, even if it’s uncommon,” said  Brauer.

White, black, gray, and silver, are the most popular car colors and depreciate at a rate close to average. “Many consumers choose these grayscale colors not because they like them, but because they assume everyone else does,” said Brauer. “Because these are the most common colors they aren’t in short supply, and choosing these colors won’t help or hurt resale value much.” 

Beige, a relatively uncommon car color, also depreciates at a rate close to average, while four jewel tones – purple, red, green, and blue – hold their value better than average. “Although the term ‘beige’ has become synonymous with boring, it encompasses a spectrum of hues from off-white to a light brown and stands out in a parking lot while still being a neutral color,” said Brauer. “Red, green, and blue fare slightly better than average because they are slightly more novel than grayscale colors and allow drivers to stand out without having to choose a flashy, obscure color.”

Car Color Depreciation by Vehicle Segment:

Because car color depreciation varies by vehicle type, iSeeCars analyzed the depreciation of each car color within the major vehicle segments.

SUV Depreciation by Color

When examining the SUV segment, iSeeCars found that the color that holds its value best is yellow, while brown depreciates the most. 

Similar to the overall list of colors across all vehicle types, flashy, uncommon colors are the lowest-depreciating colors for SUVs, with yellow SUVs actually appreciating in value after three years and orange and green having the lowest depreciation. “The Jeep Wrangler and the Jeep Wrangler Unlimited comprise the vast majority of mainstream yellow SUVs and these popular vehicles have been selling at prices above MSRP, even after three years of use,” said Brauer. “Similarly, the Subaru Crosstrek, which holds its value exceptionally well, comprises a large share of orange SUVs while the value-retaining Subaru Forester accounts for a large share of green SUVs.”

Pickup Truck Depreciation by Color

For pickup trucks, beige retains value the best while green depreciates the most.

All pickup truck colors depreciate less than the average vehicle given the popularity of trucks, and beige is the color with the lowest depreciation. “Toyota introduced a ‘quicksand’ beige hue which was exclusive to its TRD Pro off-road editions in 2016 before becoming available on all of its pickups in 2017,” said Brauer. “Toyotas represent the vast majority of available beige pickups and their stellar value retention help beige trucks maintain their value.”