The colour of your motor can affect its resale value - something to bear in mind before you buy a yellow one.
If you're buying a new or newish car in the knowledge that you'll probably sell it on in the future, it's worth thinking carefully about what colour to go for.
You might fancy an offbeat colour like purple or orange but will potential buyers be queuing up to take it off your hands in a few years time?
Lewis Kingston, spokesman for used car website Parkers, doesn’t think so. He says a poor colour choice can knock as much as 5 per cent off the value of a vehicle.
“That might not sound like very much but on a used car worth £20,000, an undesirable shade would cut £1,000 off the value.
“It also makes the car harder to sell as you could have to wait some time for the right buyer, during which you'll lose money through depreciation and additional advertising costs.”
Colours that are easier to sell on
Colours which are seen as easy to sell on include blue and silver, while cars in offbeat shades such as pink, lilac or orange might wait longer for a buyer who sees their appeal.
But there are differences between different styles of car as well.
Kingston adds: “If you're buying something like a Beetle or a Mini then vivid colours won't affect the resale value as much as it would on a straightforward hatchback or saloon.
“More conservative makes, such as Mercedes-Benz or Jaguar, will see a reduction in resale values if they are in garish colours.”
Colours go in and out of fashion
It's not just on the catwalks that fashions change. Car colour trends do too.
”White is currently a very fashionable colour,” says Ashley Winston, owner of car-finding website Palmdale. “But five years ago it certainly wasn't, so it's worth bearing in mind that car fashions change.”
But there are some colours which are good to steer clear of: green can be quite a difficult colour to sell on for example.
“When it comes to other colours, silver is seen as a safe choice for inexpensive cars and it tends not to show the dirt and blue is another safe colour in the sense that it tends not to excite people, but it doesn't offend them either.
“Black divides people as it can look very smart but there's also a problem in that it shows the dirt or any scratches very easily.”
Use colour to your advantage
If you're buying a second-hand car that you plan on keeping for some time, one way to get a bargain could be to go after a car in an unpopular colour. It may have been on sale for some time so consider offering to take it off the owner's hands at a reduced price.
Pink and Proud
Despite all of this, you may make a conscious decision not to care about the resale value.
Sali Gray is owner of a Pink Nissan Micra which she plans on giving to her two daughters rather than sell on.
Gray says: “'I love having a pink car and so do other pink car owners I know.
“I started the Pink Car Rally because I wanted to raise money for a children's cancer charity and getting pink car owners together to drive in convoy seemed a fun way to do it.”
Please watch our 30-second guide for more information.
