It’s so easy to get carried away with aesthetics when choosing a new car, but buying your next vehicle in your favourite colour could leave you with buyer’s remorse.
Colin Morgan, director at used car retailer getWorth explains in the below editorial the practicality in choosing a colour for a new car purchase.
Maintenance and appearance:
White and silver are more forgiving. They don’t show dust and micro-scratches to the same extent darker tones do. Less washing, less polishing, less fading. In wet weather, though, road dirt and mud show up more against the lighter colours, so there is some balance.
Lighter colours are statistically safer because they stand out better against the road, scenery and other traffic.
Metallic paint on new cars is often charged extra. If you’re very particular about colour when buying, you limit your options and might end up paying more than a comparable neutral colour.
Matching and blending of colours by a panel beater takes a higher level of care and skill than a uniform white or silver. There is a higher risk of a repair not being up to scratch.
The pool of buyers for more popular colours is larger, which normally means a stronger resale value. (According to data company Lightstone, white and silver are the most popular colours making up almost two thirds of new cars bought in 2017). We have seen definite trends in the data where certain colours are penalised in their resale price – this is particularly true of more unusual colours, such as bronze or bottle green.
