iSeeCars research shows that there is a direct correlation between the color of a car and its value in the used car market. What this means is that if you're buying a car to sell in a few years, it makes sense to pay attention to its color.
The study analyzed 650,000 three-year deals for the sale of used cars (2019 model year) that were made in the U.S. between August 2021 and May 2022. In addition to general forecasts, the data is broken down by specific car segments.
The sales figures were compared with the recommended retail prices at the time of the start of sales and were adjusted for inflation. This allowed us to determine the color preferences of different groups of "used car" buyers. Some colors depreciate more than others in the used car market as a whole.
The average wear rate for the cars analyzed is 15 percent, but for yellow, it's only 4.5 percent, for orange, which comes in second, it's 10.7 percent, and for purple, which comes in third, it's 13.9 percent. These bright colors tend to have a higher value in the used car market than other colors because of their scarcity.
Yellow is one of the least popular colors and is usually used for low-volume models such as sports cars, which can retain their value relatively well. However, the most popular body colors also have the greatest impact on the value of used cars. White is 15.5% - 0.5% below average, followed by black at 16.1%, then gold (16.7%) and brown (17.8%).
The white and black body colours are the most common, which means that such cars do not stand out on the secondary market. In contrast, gold and brown are rare and undesirable to buyers. iSeeCars' new findings are no different from the company's analysis last year. However, these are "general" forecasts, and the specific differences by segment are even more interesting. The vans are fundamentally opposed to this trend with an average wear and tear of only 11.7% over three years. This means that yellow did not fall in price (on the contrary, the result is worse - 14.6%), and beige depreciated by 4.8% from the manufacturer's suggested retail price at the start of sales.
Orange retained its position as the most preferred option. Grey and blue were also surprisingly high on the list. The worst was green, the same as yellow, 14.6 percent. Interestingly, yellow crossovers have a negative depreciation factor, meaning their prices have risen over the years (2.7%).
However, the average low price in this segment almost reached its peak at 16.6%. Worse, minivans are the only segment where prices have dropped by 18.4% in three years. It means you should never buy a black or red minivan or a brown crossover. At least in the United States, they lost a fifth of their value in just three years.
Coupes have the smallest price drop - 8.5%, but the distribution of colors in this segment is surprising: orange (5.6%) and purple (5.7%) have the least wear, and white (10.3%) and black (9.2%) have the most. However, the yellow color never "weathers out" due to the general characteristics of this type of cars and is located precisely in the area of the average cost.
Interestingly, convertibles on the second-hand market depreciate slightly faster than most cars in this segment - 15.8% over three years. The wear of this type of body is also almost independent of the color, yellow and black colors lead in this indicator - 11.2% and 17.3% respectively. However, the deviation from the average level of wear is very small. Meanwhile, the situation for sedans is very similar, but overall wear and tear for sedans is slightly lower than for the others, at only 14 percent.
