Color Matters in Used Cars!

Here's a question for all you apprentice used car gurus: how do you pick your car color? If you said you choose your favorite color, you get a lashing with a wet noodle. There have been several studies that associate car color with accident rates. Studies in New Zealand and in Spain have both confirmed that silver cars are less likely to be involved in passive accidents (i.e., someone smashing into you) than other colors. White cars were next in line in terms of avoiding passive accidents. Blue, red, dark grey, green, black were all significantly more likely to be involved in passive accidents.

Why is this? Hard to say for sure, but darker colors are harder to see at night, and often blend into the background (trees, buildings, etc).

There's another reason to choose a used silver car (or especially a used white car) over darker ones: depending on where you live, insurance companies will discount rates for white or light colored cars based on the studies above.

The final knockout? White cars are often significantly cheaper on the used market. You can often buy the equivalent car in white for hundreds less than red, black or blue.

What color car do I drive? White of course!

So skip your favorite color (unless silver or white are your favorites) and buy the smart money colors when shopping for your next used car.