You may have enjoyed painting the town red in your gold mechanical baby, but trying to sell it could leave you feeling blue. These are the latest findings in a recent report from the vehicle research website iSeeCars.com. Their study focused primarily on car colours and their effect on value.

The best (& worst) car colours for resale value.

On average, bold car colours boast a better resale rate, while standard colours could crumple your profits and leave you with less cash. To help you make cents of their findings, we’ve compiled a list of hues that can help your vehicle hold its resale value and colours that can ruin your ride’s resale rate.

 Car colours with the best resale value

  • Yellow: Depreciates 4,5% over three years, on average.
  • Orange: Depreciates 10,7% over three years, on average.
  • Purple: Depreciates 13,9% over three years, on average.
  • Red: Depreciates 14% over three years, on average.
  • Green: Depreciates 14% over three years, on average.
  • Blue: Depreciates 14,3% over three years, on average.
  • Gray: Depreciates 14,3% over three years, on average.
  • Beige: Depreciates 14,4% over three years, on average.
  • Silver: Depreciates 14,8% over three years, on average.

Car colours with the worst resale value

  • White: Depreciates 15,5% over three years, on average.
  • Black: Depreciates 16,1% over three years, on average.
  • Gold: Depreciates 16,7% over three years, on average.
  • Brown: Depreciates 17,8% over three years, on average.
A vehicle’s colour could help or hurt its resale value.

In a grand voyage to uncover which hues help or hurt a car’s resale value, the analyst at iSeeCars compared prices of over 650,000 used cars that were 3 years old and had been recently sold. They reported that bold colours are most likely to hold their value. In contrast, common colours tend to depreciate at an average rate. Their journey didn’t end there. They also uncovered that yellow is the most valuable colour amongst convertibles and SUV lovers, while (our favourite colour) orange appeals to those of the coupe persuasion. Beige is best for bakkies, while purple boosts the value of sedans the most.

A point Karl Brauer, iSeeCars Executive Analyst, wasn’t afraid to drive home was that “A vehicle’s colour is amongst the primary considerations after shoppers have decided on a make and model,”. Adding that: “With depreciation being the largest cost of vehicle ownership, consumers should carefully consider their colour choice – especially if they plan on selling their vehicle.”