Left in the red by colour

Choosing the wrong colour when you order your shiny new 53 registered car could end up costing you dear.
And according to motor trade experts,if you opt for a trendy,bright colour, you could end up seeing red when you eventually come to trade it in a few years down the line.
Experts at Parker’s Car Price reckon you can save money in the long term by choosing the right colour for your car now.

Parker’s editor, Steve Rose, says: “The British are still a conservative bunch when it comes to car colour and, despite manufacturers spicing up their colour range with hot reds, vivid yellows and lively greens, most buyers prefer their cars in a safer shade.”
Silver is the current in-colour and, although it’s not long since experts were predicting that a glut of silver cars on the market would bring values down,Parkers experts now reckon that they could fetch hundreds of pounds more than cars painted in trendy or dull colours.

“Even the police are at it, “adds Rose, “the traditional jam-sandwich look has been replaced by silver with day-glo transfers.”
And he explains: “The motor industry loves safe colours. They’re easier to resell and therefore worth more than in your – facehues. Everyone wants an Audi in silver: it says I’m businesslike, self confident and a success. But an A4 in yellow or light blue is too look-at- me for the traditional Audi buyer and fetches less than the same car in silver.”

Silver isn’t just the smart choice for Audi,BMW, Mercedes and newer Jaguars like the S-Type; it also lends prestige to mundane mid- market motors such as Astra/Vectra and Focus/ Mondeo; it’s cool on sportsters, too, from MGF and MX-5 right up to the Porsche 911. And the curvaceous lines of mini models such as the Toyota Yaris and Deawoo Matiz seem to wear silver better than solid colours.

Traders will bid up to pounds 400 more for a silver car in the pounds 7000-pounds 10,000 bracket, and sticker prices increase accordingly.
It’s not just that silver looks classy; it doesn’t show the dirt as much as other colours. Sober dark metallic shades of red, grey, green and blue are close behind,but tend to fetch around pounds 150250 less than silver.
Monochrome cars look tired without a weekly car wash and a good polish.

Black and white cars do have a following among buyers of sportier hatch backs and coupes,but they are not liked on medium or executive cars.
White knocks pounds 200 or so off the value of a Mondeo or Vectra. On a prestige car, it’s very bad news, no-one wants a expensive white saloon. The few that are around tend to fetch far less than dark blues and silvers.

The trade’s current ‘doom’ colours are solid dark blue and brown – worth up to pounds 500 less than acceptable solid colours such as red. Buy them only if you’re hard-up, colour-blind or just want to fade into the scenery.

And be careful about ‘lifestyle’ colours. Buyers are happy enough with Kiwi or Mango or Citrine Yellow on cheeky superminis – for the moment, at least. But try to sell a family car in a fruity flavour,and you’ll have to drop the price to shift it. And remember that ‘lifestyle’ changes as fast as haircuts or hemlines.

Steve Rose adds: “When the police force and ambulance service start to buy cars in more expensive metallic colours, you’ve got to believe it’s important. But for the canny second hand buyer not interested in colour, there’s big savings to be had on solid and less fashionable shades”.