Zimbabwean are very keen when it comes to the color of their cars and white it basically the most dominant then silver then grey and finally black. Question arises when it comes to resell the cars and which of the colors offers cars the greatest resale values.

We usually think that most the choice of cars by many people is a matter of heart. People want specific brands, engines, gearbox sets, body variants accessories and ultimately color. Silver and white cars are the easiest to resell in Zimbabwe unlike darker colors like navy blue and navy black. Europe on the other hand is the opposite, darker colors go faster than lighter ones.

Types of silver include colors like grey, while other trends are very much in tandem with that in other countries which have hot climates. However, it is evident that buyers prefer white, grey/silver, black/navy blue, red or shades of brown, green and yellow.

Cars.co.za states that cars depreciate at 15-20% pa with the first year having the highest depreciation of up to 50%. White, black and silver cars might still be popular a few years to come so buy such neutral colors according to the car advertising site.

iSeeCars.com revealed retained value in cars is variant across colors following their analysis of sales of more than 2.1 million “hand-me-down” cars. Yellow cars hold value longest depreciating at 27% then orange cars while depreciation of average cars is at 33.1%. Gold cars depreciate fastest at 37.1% rate.

A combination of these colors constitutes a small proportion of annual auto-sales in the local and global markets.

Global data from DuPont’s indicated similar trends in the local market in relation to preference of colors;

  • White/White Silver and Pearl – stalemate, 22% each
  • Black/Black Effect – 20%
  • Gray – 13%
  • Red – 7%
  • Blue – 6%
  • Brown/Beige – 5%
  • Green – 2%
  • Yellow/Gold – 1%
  • Others – 2%

The CEO to iSeeCars.com, Phong Ly, feels that the low frequency of yellow cars could be an initiator of demand sustaining their value. Our analysis also indicates consistence in the depreciation of yellow cars especially lower-volume cars such as convertibles. However, it also depreciates least in other popular styles of bodies like SUVs or Pick-Up trucks.

Phong Ly also noted that Green and orange cars are also less common and also retains value longer. Green, yellow and orange cars constitute only 1.2% of the 3-year-old cars.

Rarity does not dictate a vehicle’s depreciation on its own, however. Purple, beige and gold are the three worst colors constituting a 0.7% share but depreciate faster than 10%. Ly also notes that this is not only dependent on the kind of car with the color. Black white and grey constitute the most common car colors and they depreciate at a rate almost similar.

Here is a tab that sums everything up !

Average three-year depreciation rate by color: