There are a lot of things to consider when buying a new vehicle especially if you're concerned about resale value. Car color is one of the important decisions you'll make and some colors cause a bigger drop in value than others. A vehicle’s color can impact its value by up to $5,000, according to new research by iSeeCars.com.
This year’s iSeeCars study compared pricing data for over 1.3 million 3-year-old used cars to determine the impact of color on resale value.
2023 Jeep Wrangler High Tide and 2023 Jeep Wrangler ‘Jeep Beach’ special-edition models Credit: Stellantis.
Yellow and beige both have great resale on the secondary market. So, too, do orange and green. The colors to steer clear from in terms of resale value are gold, brown and black.
| Vehicle Depreciation by Color - iSeeCars Study | ||||
| Rank | Color | 3-Year % Depreciation | $ Difference from MSRP | Compared to Overall Avg. |
| 1 | Yellow | 13.5% | $6,588 | 0.6x |
| 2 | Beige | 17.8% | $8,411 | 0.8x |
| 3 | Orange | 18.4% | $7,023 | 0.8x |
| 4 | Green | 19.2% | $8,719 | 0.9x |
| 5 | Red | 20.6% | $8,538 | 0.9x |
| 6 | White | 21.9% | $9,695 | 1.0x |
| 7 | Blue | 22.0% | $9,216 | 1.0x |
| 8 | Gray | 22.5% | $9,425 | 1.0x |
| Overall Average | 22.5% | $9,674 | – | |
| 9 | Purple | 22.7% | $8,840 | 1.0x |
| 10 | Silver | 23.2% | $9,218 | 1.0x |
| 11 | Black | 23.9% | $10,867 | 1.1x |
| 12 | Brown | 24.0% | $10,305 | 1.1x |
| 13 | Gold | 25.9% | $11,546 | 1.2x |
Car color depreciation varies by vehicle type. iSeeCars analyzed the depreciation of each car color within the major vehicle segments.
The colors that retain the BEST value by segment are:
For the complete data breakdown by segment visit iSeeCars.com.