Released on: July 30, 2009, 8:08 am
Author: Max Peile
Industry: Automotive

Autoquake.com has revealed that black is currently the most popular colour for used cars among shoppers with the online used car retailer. Following usability improvements to the site, visitors have been able to search for used cars by colour for almost a month and of those who used this facility the majority looked for black.

With an average of 1000 cars for sale and 10,000 visitors per day, only slightly less than two thirds (65.9%) of searches were for a black vehicle. That’s nearly six times as many who searched for silver (11.5%), usually reckoned to be the most popular colour among second-hand car buyers.

Superstition seems to have played a part in many shoppers’ preferences. Green is often said to be an unlucky colour for a car. Just 0.09% of Autoquake.com’s used car buyers looked for a green machine.

Other colours were way down Autoquake.com buyers’ wish list. Red polled just 6.6%, only just ahead of grey on 5.7%. Blue was preferred by just 5.3% of shoppers.

One colour that used car buyers usually avoid is white, but with iPods and other upmarket consumer goods making white more fashionable nearly one in 20 shoppers searched for a white car.

It might seem like a matter of personal taste, but there’s more to choosing the colour of a car than just picking a favourite shade. It pays for buyers to choose wisely if they want to maximise the value of their car. Although second in the eyes of Autoquake.com’s website users, silver is usually reckoned to be the safest colour for solid resale values. Perhaps it’s not everyone’s favourite, but it’s smart, understated and won’t frighten many buyers off. Just as importantly, it’s not a fashionable, up-to-the-minute colour, which might look great on the driveway today but seem naff in three or four years.

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