Buying bland beige works best for pickup truck resale value

If you want the best resale value after owning your pickup truck for three years, buy beige. And don’t buy brown.

According to the analysis of iseecars.com the online automotive search engine and research website, beige pickup trucks have the lowest average depreciation of any color. A beige truck with a new price of $45,272, has an average resale price after three years of $37,097, or an 18.1 percent depreciation.

Beige pickup trucks have the best pickup truck resale after three years of ownership.

After comparing the prices of more than six million new and used cars between 2017 to 2020, iSeeCars.com has determined which colors help, hurt, or have minimal impact on a vehicle’s resale value. “A vehicle’s color is among the primary considerations after shoppers have decided on a make and model,” said iSeeCars Executive Analyst Karl Brauer. “With resale value being the single biggest factor in how much a new vehicle ‘costs’ over the course of ownership, consumers should carefully consider their color choice.”

Pickup truck honors: Beige rules

All pickup truck colors depreciate less than the average vehicle given the popularity of the used pickup truck segment.

Mainstream colors, including white, black, and silver, are popular because they are seen as the safest colors with the widest appeal. But are those the best colors for helping a vehicle maintain its value? “There’s a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy going on here, with many consumers picking these mainstream colors not because they like them, but because they assume everyone else does,” said Brauer. “This makes white, black, and silver appear to be in high demand, yet our analysis confirms that more obscure colors tend to hold their value better than common and popular colors.”

Brown is the worst color for used color for used pickup truck values after three years of ownership. — Brown is the worst color for used pickup truck values after three years of ownership.

“Toyota introduced a ‘quicksand’ beige hue which was exclusive to its TRD Pro off-road editions in 2016 before becoming available on all of its pickups in 2017,” said Brauer. “Because Toyota holds its value so well, and because this beige hue is a novelty, it helped beige pickups maintain their value.”

The next lowest-depreciating pickup truck colors are white and gray. “The low depreciation of muted colors for trucks could be partly attributed to the use of these trucks for work/fleet purposes, with neutral colors hiding wear and being easier to display company signage,” said Brauer.

Here’s the list of the truck depreciation, list by color, average new and used price after three years of ownership and the depreciation percentage

1. Beige, $45,272, $37,097, 18.1 percent;
2. White, $45,425, $32,369, 28.7 percent;
3. Gray, $44,056, $30,973, 29.7 percent;
4. Green, $44,971, $31,474, 30.0 percent;
5. Gold, $58,355, $40,203; 31.1 percent;
6. Silver, $44,413, $30,539, 31.2 percent;
7. Red, $46,939, $32,036; 31.8 percent;
8. Black, $48,585, $33,088, 31.9 percent;
9. Orange, $44,995, $30,572, 32.1 percent;
10. Blue, $46,161, $31,319, 32.2 percent;
11. Brown, $52,268, $34,785, 33.4 percent;