What color cars are getting cheaper faster?

iSeeCars research shows that there is a direct relationship between a car's color and its value in the used car market. This means that if you are buying a car to sell it in a few years, it makes sense to pay attention to its color.

The study analyzed 650 000 sales transactions of three-year-old used cars (2019 models) completed in the USA between August 2021 and May 2022. In addition to general forecasts, the data is broken down by specific car segments.

Sales figures were compared with the recommended retail prices at the start of sales and adjusted for inflation. This made it possible to determine the color preferences of different groups of "used car" buyers. Some colors depreciate more than other colors in the used car market as a whole.

The average depreciation level for the analyzed cars is 15%, but for yellow this figure is only 4.5%, for orange, which takes second place, 10.7%, and for purple, which takes third place, 13.9%. These bright colors tend to have a higher value on the used car market than other colors due to their scarcity.

Yellow is one of the least popular colors and is usually used for low-volume models such as sports cars, which can hold their value relatively well. However, the most popular body colors also have the greatest impact on the value of used cars. White - 15,5% - is 0,5% above average, followed by black - 16,1%, then gold (16,7%) and brown (17,8%).

White and black body colors are the most common, which means that such cars do not stand out on the secondary market. Conversely, gold and brown are rare and undesirable for buyers. The new iSeeCars findings do not differ from the company's analysis last year. However, these are "general" forecasts, and the specific differences by segment are even more interesting. Vans fundamentally go against this trend, with an average depreciation of only 11.7% over three years. At the same time, yellow is not among the leaders here: its depreciation is 14.6%, above the segment average, while beige lost 4.8% of the manufacturer's suggested retail price at the start of sales.

Orange retained its position as the most preferred option. Gray and blue also turned out to be surprisingly high on the list. The worst figure was for green, the same as for yellow, - 14,6%. Interestingly, yellow crossovers have a negative depreciation rate, meaning their prices have risen over the years (2,7%).

However, the worst color in this segment loses up to 16,6%. Minivans fare the worst: over three years they fell in price by an average of 18,4% - more than any other segment. This means that you should never buy a black or red minivan or a brown crossover. At least in the USA, they lost a fifth of their value in just three years.

Coupes have the smallest price drop - 8.5%, but the color distribution in this segment is surprising: orange (5.6%) and magenta (5.7%) have the lowest depreciation, while white (10.3%) and black (9.2%) have the highest. However, yellow never "fades" due to the general nature of this type of car and sits right around the average value.

Interestingly, convertibles depreciate slightly faster on the secondary market than most cars in this segment - 15.8% over three years. Depreciation of this body type also hardly depends on color; yellow and black lead in this indicator - 11.2% and 17.3% respectively. However, the deviation from the average depreciation level is very small. Meanwhile, the situation for sedans is very similar, but overall depreciation for sedans is slightly lower than for the rest - only 14%.