Car colour and resale value linked

By Matt Brogan | October 10th, 2008

When it comes to choosing your next car, British vehicle valuation firm HPI has discovered that following trends could cost new cars owners big bucks when it comes time to sell.

To prevent a disaster come sales time, HPI Chief Valuator Alan Senior offers a few words of wisdom that may avoid leaving prospective buyers green around the gills.

“The main problem for buyers is choosing a colour that suits the car, as this can be a very important factor in deciding how much value it will retain,” explains Alan Senior, HPI’s used car valuations expert. “Silver has become a favourite choice over recent years, however, this means it could be out of favour for those wanting something different. Too many of the same models in the same colour can lead to over-saturation in the market”.

“As with clothes, black is probably the safest option, as it always seems to find a buyer no matter what make or model. The latest trend for white is in many ways similar to yellow or bright green; you either love or hate it, so take this into consideration. Some colours work well on sporty models, but are bad news on larger saloons or hatchbacks.”

Colours that find buyers include Black, for its classic, timelessness that suits all types of vehicles, closely followed by Silvers, though Senior warns there are too many cars around in the market in this colour. Champagne is a good alternative on premium models.

With Blues metallic is a must, with bright hues working well on sports models. However Blue is not good news when it comes to people movers, hatch backs or sedans where medium to dark shades work better. Solid blues are okay on small hatch and sports models, but dark blue is a real no-no.

Solid red is said to be fine on smaller hatches, and on sport models but go for a metallic red if buying a sedan or people mover. Traditional White whilst considered “the new Silver” suits sports cars and coupes, but has limited appeal on larger sedans and people movers / SUVs.

Greens are a bit tricky and while brighter shades may work on some small hatchbacks and sports models, is a definate no go zone on anything else. Hero colours suchs as yellows, purples and the rest come with Senior’s warning of “buy at your own risk” with these trends often short-lived seeing used buyers steer clear just a few years later.

“Many car owners don’t think about resale value when choosing the colour of their car. In our experience, the colour can have a huge impact on pulling buyers in, so we’d advise buyers to think carefully before making a statement in a cerise MPV.” Senior concludes.

Tom

Not surprised

Some of the colours from the VT-VX Commodores look so dated. Particularly tiga mica on an executive and stuff like that. White looks good on the SS’s from that era, white is actually a top pick for any car really.
Flying High

yeah possibly… at thr end of thr day, if you like a certain car in a certain colour, chances are quite reasonable that someone else looking to buy that mosel second hand will be thinking exactly the same thing in years to come.

Far more important to look after your car and keep it in good nick if you were really worried about resale value.
Andrew M

when i recently purchased,
i had 3 colours tossing around in my head.

i ruled out 1 because i feared it would date a little quicker.
i ruled out the second because there are soooo many shades of that blue around nowdays.

i settled on the one i felt looked good, wouldnt date as quick, and wasnt every where
Casey

It’s funny how eventually (if you live that long) colours come back in style.

Remember the XAs had Purple/Orange/Lime etc… now look at BA-BF.

Same goes with HQs and Yellow/Green/Orange etc… V2 Coupe had Devil Yellow, Hot House, Jaffa and so on.

I guess what I’m saying is it’s swings and round-abouts and personally, I’d rather have a colour I love and enjoy my car than worry about what someone else thinks come sale time.

As Flying High said, a well cared for car means more than paint colour to most rational people.
http://www.sigma-galant.com Nemesis

Keep in mind too that black is the best colour for ugly cars as it hides/shades some of their ugliest features. Great for those ugly Ssangyongs and Peugeots!!
http://faster DanMan

Colours are emotion and have nothing to do with logic so why even try?
Buy the colour you like.

What you hate someone else will like and vice versa..
Who cares what HPI think in England..(they are far away so must be smarter)
http://skyline The Salesman

Agree with Danman,
If there is a buyer for it new you will find a buyer for it used, you might even find you retain better value if the color is unique.
If you want to know what is not popular have a look at the dealers stock at the end of the year. I am loaded with White and Silver everything.
Andrew M

thats right salesman,

my dealer told me that they had a yellow car with a red interior on the 2nd hand lot.
he termed it as “Different”, but then went on to say they had someone come in and absolutely fall in love with it.

sure you can sell anything,
but the prettier daughters are easier to give away, and that, you cant deny.
http://skyline The Salesman

My wife was the last of three sisters to fly the coupe, and she is a stunner? At least i think she is.
And she bought a car from me, thats how we met nine years ago. She got a good deal hay
Golfschwein

I’d like to see this article specific to the Australian market.

I painted the lounge room of my last house a vivid Ashley Blue. A French blue, if you like, quite similar to the backdrops used in TV studios. My friends predicted the end of the world would come with it, it’d make the room appear too small, you won’t be able to sell, rah, rah, rah.

It was all nonsense, of course. It looked fantastic when finished, I enjoyed it for 12 years, and I sold the house quite quickly to someone who, obviously, liked it also.

So, I’m with most of you guys. Buy what turns you on. It’s yours, not the next owner’s.
Golfschwein

Go, Salesman!
Frontman

Once saw a Yellow Elantra wagon with a safety orange GT style stripe on the lower doors. Thought the wholesaler was off his rocker. It sold within two weeks at full retail??????
If it is odd, like Lemon Yellow Lanos Sports (Daewoo needed to leave the lemons on the tree longer) somebody WILL come in and salivate over it.
If buying new, Fords idea of changing it popular hero colours on XR’s at regular intervals works well as they become limited in supply
Jimbo

When I was looking at my 207 I fell in love with a burnt orange demo that was going at quite a good price. The dealer took me aside and said that he could sell me that one if I liked.
However then he warned me of the dangers of the bright lairy colour and offered me a new black one with quite a bit of free fruit to sway me in the direction of the more sensible colour.
In the end I took his advice and could not be happier. Last time I was there for my 6 month service the same burnt orange demo was still in the yard.
He is probably kicking him self but that dealer did me a big favour and ended up stuck with the demo as a result.
Flow

I had a series 1 VX SS in the tiger and I still think it was the best colour of the rather limited choice available. At the time you could only chose between white, black, tiger. Red and silver were introduced with the series 2.

I may be a sucker for a “different” colout but, I’ve got an ignition SSV now.
http://skyline The Salesman

I love the look of the Tiger mica in a VT SS, still a good looking car

craig

Im with you guys tiger mica vt s or ss is still one the best looking cars on the road by far. It dont matter what angle you look at a vt series 2 s or ss they look awesome. I still turn to look at them 10 years on.

zahmad

Tiger Mica is a great colour for the VT!
http://faster DanMan

Still ‘hothouse green’ did become a bit stale on holdens a few years ago ‘overexposed’ indead.

The only ‘logical’ colour not to buy is yellow because it apparently suffers bad oxidisation in the uv soaked Australian sun.
revolvor

white is most popular in Oz due to the heat factor. you cant use UK details and translate them here. i lived in the UK for 18 months and you hardly saw a whitte car! Look around when you drive here. Funny how the outside of a car has many colours, but the inside where – we spend all our time – normally has one or two options – black or brown, with blue occasionally
Wheelnut

I agree Salesman the VT is a great looking car particularly when compared to the Toyota of the same period
However most Holdens have been able to age better than Toyotas over the years..

Proof being that they sold more of them when new and that more people want them as either collectables or restoration projects [street machines] etc

Nonetheless.. Colour is often the hardest decision to make when buying a car. which is understandable because whereas Tiger for example looks good on a Holden VT SS; it would look absolutely shocking on a Toyota [any model].
why?…. because of the design of the car itself

For example is “Atomic” looks great on a VE SS Ute; Okay on the Sedan but completely wrong on the Sportwagon

It all comes down to the Style Size and Shape of the car

craig

Very true vt wagon dont have the same appeal as a sedan in tiger mica. That colour was made totally new for the vt and still nothing else looks as good with that colour like the vt ss come to think of it nothing else looks as good as a vt ss in tiger anyway slightly biased but not completely vt ss in tiger mica owner

Fenno

Obviously this is english because black is the total opposite here in Australia whereas white tends to be the bigger seller.
We cant even move black in Summer but come winter they’re lining up.
Dog-d1ck red, N1pple pink and Aereola brown seem to be the slower colours when it comes to desirability.
http://skyline The Salesman

Wheelnut,
I dont know, the Avalon in tiger with a body kit would have been hot.
I am being carful not to start a new debate, we all know Toyota’s the new king.
Fenno

ahh Salesman…you such an antagonist…You’ll draw on the dingo crowd quoting every JD power survery and string of nascar wins if you keep that up.
Wheelnut

I remember Mistubishi did a Limited Edition of Magnas with PPG “Colour Effects” paint that changed colour fepending upon the amoutn of light and the angle from which you looked at it.

Sure it wasn’t popular but it would be perfect if you couldn’t make up your mind what colour you wanted…
Yellow-Gold-Orange-Pink-Red-magenta-Blue-Purple-Green-Black….Just wait a couple of minutes

Although it probably would have looked better on anything else other than a Magna
Andrew M

when holden brought out the tiger gold, it was the ducks nuts.
it was easily the best looking colour for a couple of years.
now days, quite a few years on, i reckon the tiger gold looks dated whenever you see it around.
JasonP

Geez Salesman, just when you said something nice about a Holden.

You know in your heart, they couldn’t even give the Avalon away, whatever the colour!

Wheelnut, the entire Magna build qualifies as “Limited Edition”. Magnas were more “Cadigan” than a Camry.

I still love my VE SS in Black, & really, the heat only gets to the interior via the glass anyway.

That said, I’m considering adding a small hatchback to the fleet, probably in a dark metallic grey. (Possibly a Mazda 2).

Maybe a POM will buy it off me in 5 years or so.
http://skyline The Salesman

Subaru WRX STI in rally blue and gold wheels,
Now that was a combo i liked.
Not in the bug eyed shape, or current shape.
Some colors suit cars more than others.
http://skyline The Salesman

JasonP Says
Geez Salesman, just when you said something nice about a Holden.

Jason i am not nice, read the blogs, i am a bloodless cyborg looking only to siphon as much cash from anyone who looks remotely at buying a car.:)
I have nothing against any brand in particular, i have said this before.
Some cars I like and some I don’t, regardless of brand.
http://faster DanMan

I can say something nice about GM…

umm will get to you all on Monday..

Oh their share price in the lowest since 1953 today..

Excellent value for money… is that ok?
JasonP

Salesman, that’s why I use a Broker when buying cars!

Less gouging, or at least it seems that way.

“Hello?”
“Get me a price on this model.”

“Then drop it round to my place.”

Geez mate, The Blue Subie with the Gold Wheels.

You just don’t get it, do you?
http://skyline The Salesman

Jason,
I don’t get it?
First of all, you pay a broker to sell you a car?
I guess they told you their commission isn’t attached to the cars price?
Tell you what; i will be at least $500.00 better than your broker on your next purchase guarantied.
What’s wrong with a blue Subaru?
I thought it looked good in that color.
JEYKL & HYDE

if there is a magic formula for what colour sells what car,you would be smarter than einstein to work it out completely.mr salesman,all sales manager’s prefer white mate..it’s hard to talk them into silver.i wondering big time wether you left any g.p. in you future wife’s deal,and if so how remourseful you were later on when you married her.karma’s big time you know.i’ve sold a few green corolla’s in my time…talk about national value’s…hated tiger,but loved raven(dark purpley black)
JasonP

Yeah Salesman, I know how it works.

Cheap at twice the price so I don’t have to schlep from yard to yard.

What brand(s) of new cars do you sell?

The Subie’s colour is ok, the gold wheels were tacky.
JEYKL & HYDE

jason,think hard about this picture…you sell a product,understand it,study it,promote it,love it even.one day you get a fax inviting you to compete in a “reverse” auction of your product,that is your lowest sell price doesn’t even guarantee you will sell it,and the clock’s ticking..ebay style.you get caught up it this,sell it alot cheaper than even your business can sustain….then after the sale the customer lob’s at your door with a range of questions and complaints….WHAT DO YOU DO!!!WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF THE CAR BROKER.VULTURES ANOMONOUS.and the really f..ing stupid thing is that you could of better used your time starting a business relationship with mr salesman…..really really dumb…..
Cupid Stunt aka No Name

I was amazed at the number of white car when I was in Oz. You’d be lucky to see two a year “up-over here”.
Strangely we have two dark met blues in the stable at the mo.
Like yah say buy what you want to suit yourself. As the article states you’ll get less on the resale for the white Mondeo than the AU$750 it costs to have the met silver here in the mothership.
Tom

I would just like to clarify my original point, i think tiger mica looked excellent on a SS, decent on a S and awful on an executive.
Tom

When they say you can only get certain colours on ‘sports cars’, yet others on ‘family sedans’ i think our local manufacturers have done a great job of differentiating the sedan into basically a sport car look with just wheels, ride height, a few side skirts, colour. Its amazing how good a VE SS-V looks and how ordinary a Omega looks.
Tom

Wheelnut, i agree that atomic green looks far better on the ute than the sedan, why is that?

I’m also going to go out on a limb and say that Holden is a master of picking the right colour and wheel combo’s for its cars. Ford, despite over the years making ‘better’ cars, i still thought the VZ was a much more attractive car, especially a SS in red, or a VY SS in green. And i would buy it for that very reason.

Right now a black HSV GTS is one of the most attractive cars on the road, even when you throw it next to something like a M3 or M5.
Wheelnut

Tom – It all comes down to style shape and size…
I mean a Charade would look Okay in Hot Pink but could you imagine a Hot Pink Gallardo Koenigsiegg or M3?

All that extra bodywork and expanse of retina burining colour would be too much to deal with on such a large car
Dlr1

Obviously the UK is totaly opposite us in regard to the black/white choice, but like real estate and their location factor, the three things that are more important than colour are condition, condition, condition. no matter what the colour!
http://skyline The Salesman

JEYKL & HYDE,
Couldn’t have said it better myself, i make nothing from the sale and then i have to give the save service and care to the customer, who the broker made more money from. Oh, and the broker is nowhere to be found after the sale. They call salespeople thieves, at least we are they after the sale.
When you buy a car from a dealer you buy service as well. Some of my customers have paid more based on that alone, don’t they deserve attention before the broker sale?
I worked for a large multi dealer franchise who cut brokers off, and guess what, the customers started coming directly to us.
We call a brokers customer an orphan, because nobody wants to own them……
Luke

Everyone’s been commenting about how good VT SSs look in Tiger… I also think a tiger SS still looks good, but the article points towards tiger coloured VT executives as pictured. Seeing them on the road, I have to agree – on the rep mobile, tiger has dated really badly.

I guess the bottom line is if you buy the bottom of the range, don’t get it in the limit edition ‘hero’ colour.
Golfschwein

My recent favourite is Morpheous, as used by Holden on the sporty VEs.

It would look ridiculous on the Golf (unless I lowered it, tinted it and put a set of 18s on), but fantastic on an SSV.
JasonP

JEYKL & HYDE & Mr Salesman, you both make good points, & to a certain extent I agree with both of you.

However, just been to a dealer who has taken more than 48 hours to get back to me with an on road price.
I’m ready to buy, & am prepared to take delivery yesterday, picking from the cars they have in stock at their dealership, colour not withstanding!

I contacted a broker I’ve personally used 3 times, & my father has used 5 times, & he’s responded within 2 hours, & without going backwards & forwards, has confirmed a price over $1600 cheaper than the best I could obtain elsewhere, including other brokers. And this is on a car with a $16500 retail price!

Remember, just cause you sell someone a car, doesn’t mean they will definitely go back to your dealership for servicing & warranty complaints. Quite often they’ll go to a closer dealer, even for the free first service.

If I have a warranty issue with a car, there’s very little the salesman can do about it anyway, except refer it to the Service Manager.

My SS (via a Broker) was supplied thru a Brisbane Holden dealer that sells a lot of fleet cars.
I tried my local Holden dealer for servicing, but their service was horrible, & not even the extremely attractive receptionist could balance out the experience!

Having previously lived on the Sunshine Coast for nearly a decade, I often co-ordinate business trips to the coast with the need to have the SS serviced. I’d previously bought a car from that dealership, & they are 130km from my homebase. The service is superb.

What brokers do though, is very often provide a sale thru a dealership that the purchaser would never have shopped or gone to.
In my case, the supplying dealer is a location I would have never gone to, or even phoned.
The General Manager will tell you a sale is a sale, & there would hve to be something in it for the dealer, otherwise, no sale. (Let’s not even get into Holdback & Floorplan allowances; they should be for the dealer, no matter what)

There’s pluses & minuses in both our arguements, but these days, buyers shop everything from small appliances, whitegoods, through to cars, homes, & mortgages.

Salesman, I believe you work in Nambour or the Sunshine Coast? Do you sell new Mazdas?
If so, let’s talk.

Just to make the slightest reference to the topic, I just buy the colour I like.

And just so there’s full disclosure, I’m a Mortgage Broker…. Pluses & Minuses there too….
Wheelnut

Whilst Tiger was/is a nice colour I actually prefer the Unique “Jaffa” Colour on the Limited Edition HSV 5th Anniversary VT Clubsport R8s

Although my favourite colours at the moment is “Karma” on the VE Ute and “Breeze” on the New Falcon Ute
Andrew M

Wheelnut,
when i get a second ill take some pics of my new ute and send it round to you guys.

i wasnt 100% on breeze on the BF shape, but on the FG shape its a hands down winner.

i passed a holden mate of mine on the road friday morning, he hadn’t seen it yet, but as soon as i passed him he rung me straight away and the first thing he said was it looked awesome

on the flip side, if i was to get the BF shape i would have settled on EGO, but in the FG shape, EGO looks no where as good IMO
JasonP

I’m still in love with the look of my SS in Phantom Black.

However, there are quite a few in the same colour in Sth East Qld.
JEYKL & HYDE

jason p,

i respect your opinion..next time i bet you will ring that “way out”dealer for your next quote.what i don’t understand is that you at least sound like a half intelligent bloke,and that you couldn’t get a good quote in a single day.any decent dealership will double close you before you leave,that is ,you will speak to both the sales consultant and the sales manager before you leave,and once they have established that your a “goer”,and the cars in stock or easily getable,they will have nutted out the best possible price for you.problem in city area’s is that you can get “burned”if you chicken out in the end.doesn’t happen much in country area’s(they might see you again one day,and reputation counts).if you say you got your car $1600 cheaper on a $16.5k car(and lets assume your broker gets $500)then i’d say someone has burned their fingers on you(no future in it 4 anyone!!!).and finally,a felt bad about calling (car)brokers vultures…it least the buzzards don’t start eating you till you dead,no,their closer to virus’s or cancer(they keep eating until your dead).mortgage broker ah…i’m told the writings on the wall in that profession.i know a REALLY good one who has just shut up shop after 30 years.all the best anyway…
JasonP

J&H,

If he’s shut up shop after 30 years, he couldn’t have been all that good. It should have been a very saleable business.
Rates are down, & the market is re-igniting.

I simply just don’t have the time to go around to all of the dealers, & do the dance.
Borrowers never ask me for a higher interest rate on their mortgage cause I’m a good bloke.

Haven’t heard back from Mr Salesman; hopefully he’s putting some deals together. It is saturday after all.

Anyway, I did end up getting the colour I wanted.

Metropolitan Grey on a Mazda 2 5 Door.

Hopefully someone will like that colour in 5 years time.
D 1 0 N

I think white looks good on the higher end cars (Audis, BMWs and the like, white M3 = hot), but on the cheaper end of the market (e.g. Corollas and Commodores) they just make you look like you’re driving a fleet rental
BOSSCR

Here is my BIG PREDICTION!!!!!!!!

Pastel (non-metallic) colours to come back in a big way. Baby blue, soft pink, butter yellow etc….. The hero colours of the 70′s make way for the pastels of the 80′s. Think VH and XF!

That said, I have a champagne 380 – Company choice, sure as hell not mine (looks like a grandpa car).

Ive always been a fan of white, and im getting bored with silver. Charcoal is always a safe bet. Easier to maintain than black….
AAA

Black is the worst colour for resale value. Unless ur in the UK where even the cabs are black.
JEYKL & HYDE

jason p,

if you think the “markets reigniting”.you truly need more than a broker…..
Tom

If you are talking Falcon’s its bionic or go home
Stephen

Gents,

We drive the current Honda Civic bought specifically for baby who is now a toddler. Colour is silver. The car still looks very sharp after 14 months and is pretty easy to keep clean, which is important here in Melbourne with the water restrictions.
The previous car was a black Integra. It was difficult to keep clean, showed scratches easily and used to get really hot inside. We don’t have these issues with the silver.

Cheers
James

its expected really.

Sports cars, modern hatches look good in white.
Some look good in yellow, most likely the real sporty ones. (EVO, 350Z comes to mind)
All look “okay” to “good” in black, as most cars do, sporty or luxury… small… BLACK is safest color, it can interpreted as aggressive (red interior, red calipers etc), sophisticated (chromed grilles, chromed wheels etc).

Black is just universally the most versatile color for cars.

Silver is second to black overall.

And the “lime” “purple” “orange” colors that I’ve seen some Holdens recently on the road… well… to each his own I suppose, freedom of speech too.. but damn, risky is all I’m going to say.

Champaign on a luxury is a puzzle to me too, its very “bland” I think, I’ve seen Accords, Berlinas, Fairmonts, etc with Champaign as colors and I always ask myself… why not black, silver, white, or even dark blue (metallic)… heck even maroon (metallic).

Champaign is a difficult color….