How much a car’s color matters for resale purposes is complicated. As a rule of thumb there are specific colors that are more popular. Near the head of the pack are always white, black, gray and silver vehicles. But people often choose vehicles and colors based on personal preference.

The majority of car shoppers care much more about the reliability of a vehicle, how it drives and the utility of a car, truck or SUV as it pertains to their needs.

Some car colors do statistically sell better than others, but that’s partially because there are just more cars of that color. For example, 26 percent of vehicles are white or some variation of white. By that logic white vehicles sell best – even though their popularity is in large part due to their numerical superiority.

Different colors are also more prevalent among certain vehicle types. For example, only five percent of pickup trucks sold are blue, while 15 percent of convertibles, coupes and sports cars are blue. As of now a blue Camaro will probably sell better than a blue pickup truck.

The Link Between Color and Depreciation

Enterprising researchers at iSeeCars have actually tracked vehicle color and depreciation, and they found that new vehicles with certain colors do depreciate at faster rates than other colors. Gold was the worst at 45.6 percent over three years, followed by Brown at 42.1 percent and Purple at 41.2 percent.

Some rare colors actually had the opposite effect and tended to maintain value better, including orange at 27.1 percent, beige at 22.8 percent and yellow at 20.4 percent.

Even though white, black and gray tend to be considered the safest color choices in terms of popularity they were closer to the depreciation of purple, brown and gold than to yellow and beige.

Those studies don’t tell the whole story. For example, we know certain types of cars are more likely to be certain colors. And we know certain vehicle classes depreciate more quickly or more slowly than vehicles in other classes.

Sports cars that hold their value better after three years are more likely to be yellow. That doesn’t necessarily mean the color yellow was a vital factor in low depreciation.

Either way, it’s still an interesting thought exercise. If you’re going to buy a new car you might want to shy away from gold or brown.

Another important point the study brought up was the pricing power of dealers. Since white, black, gray and silver vehicles are all common colors, buyers who are satisfied with those colors have more options available. Simply having options and the ability to shop around for different pre-owned vehicles means more competition and lower prices for those vehicles.

Will Getting a Unique Color Help Me Sell My Car for More Money?

No – not necessarily. Factors like condition, mileage and age will have a bigger impact on the price of your vehicle in most cases. We also live in a time where professionally installed vinyl wraps look great and last a long time.

You have the option to get a vehicle in whatever color is available and then have a wrap installed of the color you actually want. A good professional vinyl wrap isn’t free, but it might be cheaper than getting a custom paint job, and it might be easier than trying to find the perfect color on the perfect vehicle in the Washington, DC or Baltimore area.

What’s the Answer?

The best-selling vehicle colors nationally are black, white, gray and silver, with blue and red being nearly tied for fifth. That doesn’t necessarily mean you’re better off buying a black, white, gray or silver car, truck or SUV. Supply and demand play into color pricing.

Shoppers will have a lot of alternatives to choose from when choosing among vehicles with the most popular colors. The price of pre-owned white 2017 Toyota Camrys in the Washington DC or Baltimore area will be driven down if there are always 10 of them on the market at any given time. However, if there’s only one yellow 2019 Camaro available in the entire city, the seller can likely charge more.

Color will rarely, if ever, be the biggest factor in valuation, but it might make a marginal difference.

Ready to Sell Your Car in Washington, DC or Baltimore?

At DirectCarBuying.com we’ll buy your care regardless of its color. We’re committed to offering fair and fast cash payments to anyone who wants to sell their car in Virginia or Maryland. You can get a fast quote in the next three hours or call us at 877-927-6093 to learn more about the process.