When looking to buy, would you discount the value of a car because of its colour? You probably would if it was a bit wacky and not quite to your taste.
So my question is, how much should I discount the value of a white Volvo V70?? (Not Ex-Police FYI) I would prefer blue or silver but like anything if it's at the right price then I'm not really that fussy.
Do Glass's valuations account for non-mainstream colours??
Thanks.
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My neighbour buys only white merc estates. He reckons to get spectatular deals and is happy to run them til they die. I would expect few buyers for a white volvo and you should push for a good deal.
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the "black book" guides traders to the best colours, so the discount will already be there, worth a try but the trader will probably answer "thats why its only................"
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Is white starting to make a comeback? I ask only because a couple of car magazines have run Golf GTIs in white as long-termers and said that the colour suits the GTI.
Personally I quite like it, and a light colour 'feels' cooler in summer. Although mud shows up, you can have a layer of grime on white and it dosn't show it as much as black.
Certainly salesmen, the last few times I've bought new cars, imply that white is a complete clunker - but has anyone noticed the pendulum swinging back? No doubt we'll soon have some journalist claiming that white is the new black....
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White is far too utilitarian to make a comeback - its the colour associated with vans and suchlike. If I see a white Astra estate, for example, you just know its a computer fix it guy on call..
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As the Police are now buying silver vehicles do you think white will make a comeback? My dad had a Carina E in white, and it was easily the best looking Carina around, it just seemed to suit white.
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White does look good on the new Golf GTI.
Also imo the best colour for the old 106 Rallye and 306 Rallye.
Personally I'm getting sick of silver Astra's !
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As the Police are now buying silver vehicles do you think white will make a comeback?
the reason the police vehicles have changed to silver is it is such a popular colour that the eventual re-sale value is more.........particularlly relevant to the costs if leased apparently.........
is it easier for a manufacturer to paint a car in a popular colour, than an unpopular one, i've often wondered about that, maybe that helps with price for the police to buy them as well.
personally i can't see it, for re-sale, because a totally knackered car is a totally knackered car whatever colour it is, but if people will buy them, no doubt the economics work
if white comes back in, expect the police cars to be white again
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Another weeze is to claim that a colour is not your particular cup of tea.
An ex colleague did this with a brand new stock gold Escort some years ago. It was one the dealer had in stock and he managed to drive the price down by implying that he was not keen on the colour. He knew the salesman was keen to make a sale.
The truth is he loved the colour!
This works for new or high value cars.
As for white vans - mine is white. I bought it new but it was one they had in stock. A good deal on a van that was 'Physical' as they say in the trade ie actually in existance - not due to be manufactured to a pre order etc. Plus it would be ready for me in days. I didn't care what colour it was but white is the most versatile colour you could hope for for resale I suppose.
Let face it. Any business will be able to see its signwriting on it. We all usually write on white paper don't we?
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white looks good if its sunny.
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white looks good if its sunny.
What about the other 362 days then?? ;)
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White's probably not too bad for the future on something genuinely sporty (i.e,. 335 cd Sport, not a 318i base).
As for the original question, the difference will range between £3k for a one-year-old to next to nothing for a 97P reg car with 150k miles that is otherwise clean.
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White is a funny colour. When I was getting my first car, I went looking at a P reg (Mark 4) Fiesta. Nothing special - an LX I think. Black plastic bumpers, black plastic grille - it looked ordinary and a bit boring in white. But it was a first car so who cared?
The next day, I looked at an N reg Mark 4 Fiesta Ghia - also in white. Now I know we're only talking Fiestas here but the difference was enormous. The bumpers were body coloured and so looked sporty, the side door protectors were body coloured, it had some mulitispoke Ford alloys on, the grille was the see through glass type one and it looked ten times better.
I got that one - and I wasn't disappointed. Compared to all my mates at the time bar one (it was hardly going to compete with a Saxo VTR), it looked really nice. I don't know why - maybe I always looked at it through rose tinted specs because it was mine - but I always kept it immaculate and it always looked very clean.
I think for a white car to work, as trim (outside of course!) as possible needs to be white too. Any black plastic destroys the look.
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Not sure white is considered that undesirable any more, even in the UK. To be honest if you go anywhere else whether in mainland Europe, Asia or the USA you see a lot of white cars. BMW is even doing a special white edition of the M6 convertible.
No, if you want really undesirable colours, you need to be thinking yellow, purple, doom blue or any dark nonmetallic colour. Or my favourite, flat red on a car that's stood in the sun for 7 or 8 years and been bleached pink.
I think if you buy a car from a dealer any colour penalty will probably be priced in already. Any further discount will, as ever, be based on how urgently he wants to make the deal.
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Smokey - please explain doom blue - am thinking of a bright metallic blue for a car! Don't want to devalue my purchase.
Thanks.
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In the middle east its white or white.
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Doom blue = flat dark blue, esp on BMWs, Audis and Mercs. The value is a good 10% lower than for more popular colours - I know I bought a doom blue Merc and lived to regret it.
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Some import cars are available in a pearl white (I think its metallic) - usuallyt from the USA. This does not seem to be available in the uk, looks alot better then normal white - and other colours - shame, I think.
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My Xantia was white. Like Adam says white works well if there are other aspects, like colour coded wing mirror front panels etc, which mine had.
As for the colour in general. When it was clean and scratch free it looked very good. When it was dirty it looked a mess.
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Think the 407 SW looks rathr smart in white - better than most other colour optins.
& if any Broomers can recall the Chrysler Sunbeam TV ad, back in 1975ish, with Petula Clarke singing 'put a ..... in your life', they featured the motor in white & created a HUGE demand & had difficulty selling any other colours!!
As for vans, where we used to stock 40 or so Royal Mail vans, for sale at any one time, these were always needing refurbishment, so customers were offered the choice of a colour change, on their new purchase.
Favourite was British Racing Green & Kings Blue (Vauxhall Doom blue). It wasn't too clever to put a red van into white - always showed through & looked pink! But the number of customers who appreciated choosing, rather than having standard white, their livery, made a considerable number of sales scored from any competitor!!
VB
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I remember a Pearl White Metallic Audi Quattro, that was owned by a chap near us, in my "yoof" - now that was nice.
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