I spent a fair amount of time trying to decide what color Jeep that I should get last month. I looked online, posted a question in a couple Jeep forums, and talked to friends & family about what they liked best.
I couldn’t initially decide between ‘Granite Grey’, ‘Sarge Green’, or ‘Snazzberry Red’ – the latter of which I finally went for. In the end, grey seemed a little boring and matte Army green seemed too- military for a guy who didn’t serve in the military.
Recently, I ran across another way to think about vehicle color. This surprising analysis of which colors depreciate the least. I was a bit shocked to see yellow, beige, and orange lead the pack …
Overall, the ‘value spread’ between colors is pretty significant. Vehicles in these ‘best’ colors have an over $5K better resale value than average ones and almost $10K higher than the ‘worst’ colors.
The data is from a study done by ISeeCars.com. They include on their web page the same data split out on different types of vehicles (sedan, coupe, minivan, sports car, pick-up, etc), in case you think the results are skewed by body style. Yellow is pretty popular on all types of cars (although not widely available on pick-ups).
Though unique, Jeeps aren’t split out as a separate body style segment, but red is reasonably popular (#4 out of 13 colors) for ‘Sport Utility Vehicles’. Our other ‘fun car’ is a bright red roadster – which is the best choice for ‘Convertibles’. Our everyday sedan & SUV are both staid black, which fall below average among colors for resale.
How Desirable Are Your Cars’ Colors? Have You Ever Factored Resale Into A Vehicle Color Choice?
Image Credit: (c) MrFireStation.com
MrFireStation 
Except for my most recent purchase, color was immaterial to me (unless it was obnoxious). Resale mattered little — I buy for cash and drive for a decade. I avoided reds so as not to catch the cops eyes. I avoided white to avoid immediately obvious dirt and pollen. Reliability and Value were my only key drivers. For my most recent purchase (my only fun-car ever), I got a retractable hard-top convertible two-seat roadster (more like an adult go-cart than a car; torque, responsive, swift joy). I bought 2020, with 3K miles, saved bucks, gained pleasure — and love it’s sky blue body with black accent sport trim. Vroom Vroom.
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I generally find cars online now – new or slightly (<15K miles) used. You can find deals all over the country and just have them ship the vehicle. As long as the price is right, CarFax is clean, and there is a year or two left on factory warranty, I don’t feel I need to see it first-hand.
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We have always bought with the intent to drive them for as many miles as possible. With that in mind, color seems a lot less of a concern on everyday vehicles with 250k-300k miles on them at trade-in. So we normally just buy the color we like best on those cars and/or go for the best deal. We did buy an older BMW Z4 a while back as a fun roadster-like toy for pretty days. I searched for nearly two years for the perfect exterior color (Toledo Blue Metallic) and the right interior leather and convertible top (light beige leather and top). I’ve never seen a prettier color combination on a Z4, so it was a must-have decision. I’m confident it will never be worth less than I paid because of the color combination and continued great condition of the vehicle. Our current car colors: wife’s everyday SUV: Pearl Silver; my F150 Super-cab: Guard Red; Z4: Toledo Blue Metallic. Love your Jeep color btw. Great choice IMO.
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I’ve found that shopping online through cars.com or other sites like that and shipping the car makes it pretty easy to pick color and trim features. Our Z4 is the M-Sport Melbourne Red Metallic. I definitely did not want a bright red sports car (our old one was dark ‘Monaco Blue’), but decided to ‘go for it’. After 5+ years I’ve really found that I enjoy it. In fact, I’d provocatively say “everyone should try a red sports car once in their life”. That statement would have made me cringe before we got it, but I guess I now view it as a quintessential car experience!
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The Monaco Red is very pretty on the Z4. I like it! I went Guard Red on my F150 Super-Cab and love it. Never thought I’d go bright red either, but it’s definitely an eye catcher, and I’ve been very happy with it too.
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Definitely depends on the vehicle whether colour is a choice. We also bought a Jeep (waiting impatiently last year for dealerships to open post first wave), and we knew we wanted a bright colour. Either the Hella Yellow, or our first choice Bikini Blue. We got the blue, and love it. We get a ton of interest when we’re out in it.
I’ve also got a 2001 Miata, and that little lady is red. Showy and fun. Had it from the beginning.
But our Ford Escape is just grey. Solid, reliable, vanilla.
Enjoy your Jeep!
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Those sound like the right colors on the right vehicles. I saw a bright blue Jeep this weekend at a Wrangler event I went to. Looked great!
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Interesting post.
In my life I have bought only 5 vehicles 3 of them new. Never really thought of the colour too much. 3 of my vehicles have been blue so that would be the colour I would choose if I had a choice. The other colours one grey and one black. Not sure of the resale as I am like bowmanifesto and buy for cash and drive them for a decade. Up here is the north with the salt on the roads I find my use of yearly rustproofing helps my resale value more than a colour.
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Yearly rustproofing? Is that something you are spraying on yourself? I’m in cold, snowy Minnesota, but haven’t heard of rustproofing every year.
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I have been using Krown rust proofing since I had my first new vehicle. (www.krown.com) Doesn’t look like there is a Krown location in Minnesota.
It’s a yearly cost, but it’s kept rust off all my vehicles for 25 plus years. I still remember the first time bringing in my brand new truck and watching a guy drill holes into it… I just about jumped over the counter. They have to drill some hole in the vehicle to get the stuff in the places where the rust can start inside the frame(rocker panels, door frames etc.). Don’t worry they know what they are doing. They place little removable plastic plugs in the holes and never have to drill again. The spray itself is not toxic (some kind of mineral oil I think) which is another plus. The dealership (stealerships) are always trying to sell some kind of electronic rust proofing, rubberized coating or super oil spray that will last years at a crazy price. Nothing I have seen lasts and protects everywhere like yearly application of Krown. One could argue you don’t need to get it sprayed every year, I also found that the amount of steel on newer cars seems to be less and less these days. So maybe not from everyone. The only down sides I find are the time/money spent getting it done every year, and greasy film which collects dirt that will leak out of the seams door locks etc. normally in the hot weather in the summer. That’s not a big deal and just washes off. The protection and results for me have been not a spot of rust in owning any of my vehicles.
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Krown … I’m going to look that up. Thanks!
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I live in the Pacific Northwest (wet side) and would never buy a silver, gray, or light blue car. Those colors are just invisible on the road for most of the year here. I look for red or orange usually, and always drive with the headlights on.
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I have to say, I’ve never thought about car color and safety! There is a difference according to this article, but they say white is the best. Black is the worst. Red a little below average: https://www.rd.com/article/car-color-accidents-risk/
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FireMaster – Just FYI, the September cover article for MplsStPaul magazine is “In Search ofvWaterfalls”
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Ooh … I’ll have to check that out! I can’t imagine I’ve missed any big ones in MN, but you never know.
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