What Difference Does A Color Make?

The Short Answer: A Surprising Amount

Here’s an in-depth article from Kelley Blue Book pertaining to the most popular colors statistically in the United States. It turns out the color of the vehicle you buy will make a big difference in a lot of areas of vehicle ownership. We’ll explore a few different colors and their associated unique qualities here:​

• White Isn’t A Wise Color

• Green Cars Go The Distance

• Ruby Red Citations

• Gray And Silver Are A Wise Used Buy

• Black Cars Are Dent City

• A Camouflaged Beige / Tan Grandmother

• Sell Makeup With A Pink Car

White Isn’t A Wise Color

Fleets choose white owing to the ease of repairing body damage, dents, color matching, and the ability for such fleets to hide casual neglect. A lot of cop cars are white, and they’ll be continuously driven by police officers until they’re as damaged as they can be.
Since cops don’t ride around in the same model of vehicle unilaterally, it’s hard to tell if a white vehicle was once a cop car. Generally, in terms of used vehicles, white is a bad buy.

Green Cars Go The Distance

For some reason, green vehicles are usually survivors. This may have to do with the personality of someone driving a vehicle that color. That said, cars that are fully functional, relatively useful, and have survived over two decades, are more often green than any other color.

Ruby Red Citations

Red cars are flashy. Men going through a mid-life crisis are apt to buy red sports cars. Red is more likely to be involved in a traffic ticket, possibly owing to male menopause often manifesting in speed, possibly because cops see red more quickly, possibly out of jealousy from the police. If you want to be noticed and pay more speeding tickets, buy red.

Gray And Silver Are A Wise Used Buy

Gray or silver vehicles are driven by a lot of timid people, a lot of government people, accountants, drug smugglers, female executives, and people who want to remain unnoticed. This may be a big reason why such vehicles tend to be the most popular in the United States, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Black Cars Are Dent City

When it comes to black cars, people who enjoy cleaning or polishing their vehicles will want to go this route. Black is the hardest color when it comes to hiding dents or scratches. Body work is hard with black vehicles, because every flaw is shown in stark contrast.

A Camouflaged Beige / Tan Grandmother

Beige or tan vehicles are a great color for a minivan or for someone looking to remain unnoticed running through the desert. You might call a beige vehicle that’s a minivan, “gramma-flage”; which is to say: you won’t be suspected by authorities, because this color is so milquetoast, it’s more likely to be driven by an elderly woman than a young man. So if you’re living on the road and want to keep a low profile, like with silver, beige/tan is a good color.

Sell Makeup With A Pink Car

If you’re selling Mary Kay cosmetics, buy a pink car. If you’re not, why are you thinking about a pink car at all? Pink makes a loud statement, and if that’s not your intention, you might not want to buy pink. If it is, buy away!

Using Color To Help Inform Your Buy

White cars are often damaged, red cars get tickets, green cars last forever, gray and silver are the most popular, black cars need lots of maintenance, beige cars are unremarkable, and pink cars are best used in niche situations.

If you keep these things in mind when you buy, you’ll do better when you have to sell the vehicle later. To learn more about hidden trends like this in the automotive industry, be sure to check out our blog at Anybody’s Autos.