Color-Keyed Resale Values

It seems that in addition to a vehicle’s age, condition and mileage, and local supply and demand, a car’s color can affect a given vehicle’s resale value. Orange, yellow and green vehicles were found to retain the highest percentages of their original values after three years, at 78.4, 78.0 and 75.5 percent, respectively, compared to 70.2 percent for the average auto. That’s according to a study of 1.6 million vehicles conducted by the used-car website iSeeCars.com. At the other end of the spectrum, gold and beige models fared the worst, holding onto just 66.5 and 68.8 percent of their initial cost after three years. “One of the main contributing factors here is supply and demand,” says Phong Ly, CEO of iSeeCars.com. “The more unusual colors, such as orange, yellow and green are not as readily available, yet they are popular with enough car buyers to create a demand that directly affect their resale values.”