Shades of ‘Green’

We’ve all heard that red cars are most prone to being ticketed, but some exterior colors might actually boost a vehicle’s resale value, with yellow leading all hues in that regard. On average a yellow car that originally cost $20,000 can be expected to retain about $1,500 more of its value after five years than the same exact car painted black. That’s according to an analysis of more than 20 million used car listings from the 1981 through 2010 model years conducted by the used-vehicle website iSeeCars.com in Boston, Mass. Other colors the study found that help contribute to above-average rates of return include shades of orange, teal and green. “While a popular car color like black or silver may get more interest and sell faster, our analysis indicates it may not get as high a value as a car, say, in yellow,” says Phong Ly, CEO and co-founder of iSeeCars.com. “Scarcity may account for the difference - only 1.1 percent of all cars are yellow and orange; the dearth of supply of such colors may drive prices up.”