There’s no doubt that a yellow, orange or purple car around town, on the highway or in a crowded parking lot catches the eye. They stand out in a sea of white, gray, silver and black vehicles. These grayscale colors have been the most popular with new car buyers in recent years. But are they the best color choices when it comes to resale value?
According to car research and shopping website iSeeCars, the perspective of used car buyers is different. For them, an “exotic” color is more rare and therefore more valuable, increasing demand for them. iSeeCars performs an annual study of how color affects the resale value of vehicles. Again in 2023, it turns out that yellow, orange and green cars lose less than 20% of their value in the first three years. That makes them up to thousands of dollars more valuable than their black, blue or brown counterparts. (See which cars are the ugliest ever created.)
Here is a look at what iSeeCars discovered about the car colors with the best resale value.
Yellow
Source: David McNew / Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 13.5%
- Difference from MSRP: $6,588
- Compared to average: +$3,086
Besides the top spot overall, yellow also holds the top spot in the SUV category, with a three-year depreciation of 9.1%. Because of the popularity of sport utility vehicles in the United States, rankings in this vehicle category are similar to the overall ranking, points out iSeeCars. Moreover, yellow tops the list for coupes, with a three-year depreciation of 5.6%, and the one for convertibles, with a 15.0% three-year depreciation. Audi, BMW, Cadillac and Lexus offered yellow cars in 2023.
Beige
- 3-year depreciation: 17.8%
- Difference from MSRP: $8,411
- Compared to average: +$1,263
Beige may not be considered an exciting color, but it tops the list with truck buyers. Its three-year depreciation is 7.9%. Note that beige moved up from the ninth spot on iSeeCar’s list last year to displace orange, which had been number two overall. Beige was also in the top five for sedans this year. Chevrolet, Honda, Nissan and Toyota were among the many companies with beige cars this year.
Orange
Source: bruev / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 18.4%
- Difference from MSRP: $7,023
- Compared to average: +$2,651
Orange cars fare well in the used market for the same reason yellow and green cars do. That is, buyers see them as more rare and therefore more desirable. Though orange was knocked from second place by beige, it still ranks well above average. The color was also number two on the convertible, coupe and truck lists, with three-year depreciations of 22.1%, 8.1% and 10.9%, respectively. And on the sedan and SUV lists, it came in at number three, with 18.8% and 21.1% three-year depreciations, respectively. Chevrolet, Nissan, Ram, Volkswagen and others sold orange cars in 2023.
Green
Source: RoschetzkyIstockPhoto / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 19.2%
- Difference from MSRP: $8,719
- Compared to average: +$955
Green ranked second in the SUV category, where the vehicles averaged a 20.4% depreciation. And it was in the top five in the convertible, coupe and truck lists. Minivans was the category where the color really shined, taking the number one spot with a three-year depreciation of 19.8%. Ford, Rivian, Subaru and others offered cars of this color in 2023.
Red
Source: shaunl / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 20.6%
- Difference from MSRP: $8,538
- Compared to average: +$1,136
Red cars are considered somewhat flashy, but not as extreme as colors like yellow and orange. That makes red cars more palatable to the average consumer. In terms of resale value, the color ranks highest in the sedan and coupe categories. In the former category, it took the second spot and had an average depreciation of 17.4%. And for the latter, it came in third with a depreciation of just 8.8% over three years. Ford, Nissan, Honda and many others sell red cars.
White
Source: jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 21.9%
- Difference from MSRP: $9,695
- Compared to average: −$21
This color comes in just above average not only in the overall rankings but also in the minivan, SUV and truck categories. In terms of three-year depreciation, the color is best among these in the truck category, at 15.1%. On the coupe list, it ranked at the bottom, even though its depreciation was 13.8% over three years. The average depreciation for coupes overall was 12.2%. It would be hard to find an automaker that did not have white cars for sale.
Blue
Source: Sjo / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 22.0%
- Difference from MSRP: $9,216
- Compared to average: +$485
Blue may be in the middle of the overall rankings but is still a bit above average. It is also above average in the convertible, coupe, minivan and sedan rankings, but slipped just below average among the SUVs. With trucks, however, blue is near the bottom of the list, despite a three-year depreciation of 16.3%. The only category in which it loses less value is the coupes, where the figure is 10.4%. Hyundai, Nissan, Porsche and Toyota are among the companies that offered blue cars this year.
Gray
Source: jetcityimage / iStock Editorial via Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 22.5%
- Difference from MSRP: $9,425
- Compared to average: +$249
This color is often seen as unexciting and harmless, perhaps even more than beige. In terms of depreciation of vehicles in general, it ties the overall average. In the SUV and truck categories, it ranks a little better than average, with a three-year loss of value of 24.3% and 15.1%, respectively. It is below average in the other categories, but its smallest average depreciation is among the coupes, at 13.2%. Note that Fiat stopped making gray cars in 2023 to make the world more colorful.
Purple
- 3-year depreciation: 22.7%
- Difference from MSRP: $8,840
- Compared to average: +$834
Now here’s one that likely strikes new car buyers as outlandish. But it slips in just below average in the overall rankings for colors with the best resale value. That’s in part due to its surge in popularity among SUV buyers, rising from number nine last year to number four, with a three-year depreciation of 22.5%. It is also in the number five spot on the minivan list, above that category’s average. It is near the bottom of coupe rankings, despite having its smallest value loss there, just 13.5%. Dodge, Jaguar, Jeep and Rolls Royce sold purple cars in 2023.
Silver
Source: mevans / Getty Images
- 3-year depreciation: 23.2%
- Difference from MSRP: $9,218
- Compared to average: +$456
This popular color for new vehicles is in the number 10 spot in the overall ranking for resale value. That’s not much below the category average of 22.5% but still near the bottom of the list. In fact, the color ranks at or near the bottom of the list in all of the iSeeCars categories of vehicles. So, despite its popularity for new cars, this color is probably best avoided if resale value retention is a goal. The same is true for the color black. Again, all or nearly all automakers have silver and black offerings.
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