Does Car Color Matter? (2024)

FAQs

Does Car Color Matter? ›

Neutral colors have better resale value.

If you are buying a new car, the car's color can affect the resale value of the car. If you're purchasing a used car, color can matter, as well. In terms of resale value, choosing the color of a car is similar to selecting the color of a kitchen or living room.

The color of your car doesn't affect your insurance rate. Instead, your insurance company uses other information, like your car's age, location, usage, and your driving record, to help determine insurance rates. Learn more about the factors that impact auto insurance pricing.

While the best car colors for resale value tend to shift year after year, you can typically expect less common colors like yellow, beige and orange to retain their value better.

White Cars

Overwhelmingly, white is considered the safest car color with the lowest risk of being struck. According to one study, white cars are 12% less likely to be in a crash than black cars, even during the day.

Maroon, pink and cream remained the least popular colours, comprising just 604 registrations combined. Meanwhile, orange, bronze, turquoise and brown fell in popularity compared with 2023 volumes.

The cheapest color to paint a car is typically one of the standard, non-metallic colors such as white, black, or certain shades of red and blue.

You'll often hear people say that certain car colours are more expensive to insure than others. Red and yellow cars, for instance, are often labelled as "risky" and therefore attract a higher premium. But that's actually a myth about how car insurance works.

A very bright color such as yellow is probably as effective as an expensive security device in discouraging thieves, Vollaard says. Red, orange, brown and green vehicles are probably less likely to be stolen, too, he says. Vollaard also suggests checking vehicle theft rates.

Does Car Color Affect Price? In general, color won't affect the price a buyer pays for a new vehicle. It can, however, affect the resale value—but not for the reasons you might expect. Supply and demand and the combination of vehicle color and type (i.e. sports cars) also play a role.

What color car is the hardest to sell? ›

White Cars

Cars painted in white tend to hold their value better than other colours, and this is because of its universal appeal. White is a classic, clean, and timeless colour that is favoured by many buyers, which makes it an easy sell should you ever decide to sell your car.

Brown, a shade that is uncommon across most vehicle types, also happens to lose its value faster than any other color, depreciating at a rate 1.2 times faster than the industry average.

While car colour alone won't entirely protect you from theft, choosing a less-targeted colour can be one of several steps you take to reduce the risk. Bright and less common colours like yellow, orange, and green tend to be stolen the least, while darker colours like black and blue are more frequently targeted.

What Is The Best Car Color To Keep Clean? Beige, light blue, light gray, and silver are the best car color choices for those who want to keep their vehicles clean. In addition, white paint can hide dust and debris well. But, dirt that accumulates can be tough to hide on a white car.

Black Cars

Of all the colors, black is considered to be the riskiest choice. Why? Research suggests that black vehicles are involved in accidents much more frequently than other color cars. During the day, black vehicles are associated with about a 12 percent increase in crash risk.

There isn't a single best car color: it all boils down to your personal preferences. You may decide to go for neutral and simple colors like black, white, silver, or gray because they guarantee a good resale value and easy maintenance. You may choose a bright color like red or blue if you want a sporty look.

White is considered to be easy to maintain and has the highest resale value among all colours. The next most popular car colour on our list is silver, which is preferred for the same reasons as white - it's easy to maintain, makes dust less obvious, and has high resale value.

How Changing a Car's Color Can Affect Its Value. If the vehicle you're considering repainting is a collectible classic in good condition, changing its color might negatively affect the value — or you could fail to make the repainting costs back when you sell the car.