Does the Color of Your Car Actually Affect Its Resale Value?

We all know that the value of your car starts depreciating as soon as you drive off the lot, but what you may not realize is that the color of your car can affect how quickly its value drops. In fact, a vehicle’s color can impact its value by up to $5,000, according to new research by iSeeCars.com. Typically, rare colors — like yellow — hold onto their value better than other colors.

“Yellow cars continue to represent the greatest disparity between how many are produced and how many people want one,” Karl Brauer, executive analyst with iSeeCars.com said on the site. “While not many people want a yellow car, there are clearly more people who want one than exist, which is why yellow performs so well on the secondary market. The same can be said of orange and green, colors you don’t see often but are obviously in higher demand than supply.”

Here’s a look at the average resale value for popular car colors, ranked from best to worst.

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 13.5%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $6,588
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 0.6x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 17.8%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $8,411
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 0.8x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 18.4%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $7,023
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 0.8x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 19.2%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $8,719
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 0.9x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 2.6%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $8,538
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 0.9x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 21.9%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $9,695
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.0x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 22%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $9,216
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.0x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 22.5%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $9,425
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.0x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 22.7%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $8,840
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.0x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 23.2%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $9,218
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.0x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 23.9%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $10,867
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.1x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 24%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $10,305
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.1x

• Average 3-year depreciation in value: 25.9%
• Average 3-year $ drop in value: $11,546
• Depreciation compared to overall average: 1.2x

All data is sourced from iSeeCars.com and is accurate as of June 10, 2023.