Yellow, Beige, And Orange Cars Have The Best Resale Value: Study

2022 Audi RS3Image: Audi

Car values have been fluctuating recently. Depending on what you drive and your loan that could be a good or bad thing. Used car values are going back up, while new car prices continue to get out of reach. If you already own a vehicle and are looking to get out of it, be it with a trade-in or private selling, a number of things can affect the car’s value, like the color. A new study by iSeeCars shows what colors get the most and least resale value out of a vehicle.

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iSeeCars analyzed data from 1.3 million used vehicles over the last three years and found that bright colors have the best resale value. Yellow, beige, orange, and green round out the top four colors with the best resale value. Yellow cars held their value the best. The average vehicle loses 22.5 percent of its value after three years; yellow cars lose just 13.5 percent.

Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat WidebodyImage: Dodge

Owners of darker-colored vehicles seem to get hit the hardest. Colors like purple, silver, and black round out the bottom of the list. Sorry gold car buyers, your cars lose value the most with gold cars tanking 25.9 percent in value in just three years.

2024 Chevrolet Trailblazer ACTIVImage: Chevrolet

Things get a bit strange when you look at the data broken down by vehicle segment. For SUVs, yellow was the top color with just 9.1 percent in value lost; gold was the worst with 27 percent of value lost in three years. Meanwhile, beige was the number one color with beige pickups losing just 7.9 percent of their value over three years; silver trucks get hit the hardest with 16.5 percent lost.

BMW offers a brown on the 7 Series. But they call it Frozen Deep Gray and it costs $5,000.Screenshot: BMW

Brown strangely — but beautifully — is the best color for sedans. Brown sedans lose 16.5 percent of value over three years. Why brown? iSeeCars says it’s a safe color. “Brown is a conservative, non-flashy color that blends in and doesn’t make any waves, which apparently makes it popular with buyers in this category.” Purple sedans fare the worst taking a 24.6 percent hit in three years. Yellow is tops on coupes, which shouldn’t be surprising. Yellow coupes lose 15 percent of their value; silver coupes take a hard hit with 30.1 percent in value lost over three years. For minivans, green is the best with a 19.8 percent drop in three years. Silver and black minivans take the biggest hit of any vehicle in all segments with a whopping 36 percent drop in value over three years.

While the result of the study can be an interesting tool to help car buyers, it also sends a message to automakers who have been putting vehicles on the market with dull color pallets. So automakers take note: we need more yellow, orange, and green cars!