These Are the Best and Worst Colors for Car Value Preservation, According to New Study

A car’s color can affect how quickly it loses value, with the color with the highest depreciation losing nearly four times as much as the lowest. After comparing the prices of more than 650,000 recently sold cars, the latest iSeeCars study determined which colors help, hurt, or have a minimal impact on a vehicle’s resale value for drivers in Houston.

Here are some highlights from the research:

A vehicle’s color can have a significant impact on how quickly it loses value, with the color with the highest depreciation losing nearly four times its value compared to the lowest color.
Popular colors including white, black and silver have minimal impact meaning they don’t hurt resale value, but they also don’t help a vehicle maintain its value
Some of the most beneficial colors for value retention, including yellow and orange, may surprise consumers

Here is the ranking of the average three-year depreciation of each car color:

rank	Colour	3 years % depreciation	$ Difference from suggested retail price	Compared to the overall average
1	Yellow	4.5%	$3,155	0.3x
2	Orange	10.7%	$3,825	0.7x
3	Purple	13.9%	$5461	0.9x
4	Red	14.0%	$5,399	0.9x
5	Vegetable	14.0%	$5,596	0.9x
6	Blue	14.3%	$5,582	1x
7	Gray	14.3%	$5,635	1x
8	Beige	14.4%	$5,960	1x
9	Silver	14.8%	$5499	1x
Overall average		15.0%	$6,096	1x
10	White	15.5%	$6,490	1x
11	black	16.1%	$6,993	1.1x
12	Gold	16.7%	$6,719	1.1x
13	Brown	17.8%	$7,642	1.2x

The study also includes an analysis by car type: (SUVs, pickup trucks, convertibles, coupes, sedans and minivans). The full study can be found here†

iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer appeared on KPRC 2+ to discuss the investigation. For his insights, watch the video at the top of the page.

You can stream KPRC 2+ on weekdays at 7am click2houston.com and the KPRC 2 app†

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