You may be under the impression that this article has something to do with choosing a car colour that won’t affect your insurance premiums. But, it’s not. There are a variety of things that insurance companies assess and take into consideration before quoting you on an insurance premium. But not one of those things involves the colour of the car you drive. They’re more concerned about how you drive your car.
Nonetheless, there are other reasons why you should think carefully about the colour of your car. Reasons that still affect financing in some way and some personal considerations you should take.
Think about visibility on the road
The argument that led to speculation on insurance companies charging more based on the colour of your car, branches from the risk involved with visibility. Darker coloured cars are not as visible as lighter ones at night. If you are already only a semi-confident driver who has eye problems and hates driving at night, you aren’t going to want to buy a black car where you run the risk of not being seen on the road in the dark.
If you’re not that kind of driver, it shouldn’t really matter what colour your car is in terms of visibility. But, in general, it is a personal safety concern to think about before buying your car. On the topic of safety, the colour of your car may even affect the chances of it being hijacked. Because white, black and silver (let’s call them the “primary colours” of car colour choices) are so popular to buy, they’re also the most popular to be stolen. And then resold or scavenged for parts.
Think about the resale value
In the event you ever want to sell your car one day, you’ll want to be aware of the colour you choose when you buy it. Most people are attracted to the “safe” colours of white, black and silver. If colours could be described as reliable, that’s what those three colours would be. Paint jobs are easy and affordable, white is great for summer and black is just attractive to the eye.
When it comes to placing an advertisement online with your car’s details, you’ll likely get responses a lot faster if your car were white, silver or black. The responsibility and finance that comes with buying a car can be nerve-wracking. And while a red car may catch a buyer’s eye, with everything else looming in the back of their minds, they’re more likely to go with the generic, comforting colours of white, silver or black.
Think about colour paint availability
We spoke, just now, about paint jobs and affordability. Sun damage, fender-benders and “hugs” from parking lot dividers and pillars generally result in us needing to get a quote from a body shop.
Now, because white, black, silver and even red are relatively popular colours for cars, you won’t have too much of a problem with the price. If your car is green, blue, yellow or any other colour, body shops may not have that colour paint available or they’ll charge you more for the job to compensate ordering the colour.
And with a respraying job, you don’t want to go with the “closest thing to” because it will be noticeable and you will regret it.
Think about colour popularity
The world is obsessed with whatever is currently trending and most car buyer’s decisions will be influenced by these popularity results. If it’s something that’s important to you, here are the most popular car colours as it stands:
- Black, Silver and White: Top of the popularity list, for reasons you can most likely guess by now, are the “primary colours” of car colours. Symbolising power, simplicity, modernity and organisation in some cases.
- Blue: Blue resembles the ocean or the sky and, in general, is a colour associated with anti-anxiety capabilities. Blue is calm, cool and collected – everything you should be as a driver on the road. Especially South Africa’s roads.
- Red: There’s no doubt that when a red car drives past, you look. You know it’s not a Ferrari, but you look anyway because it must be some kind of cool car. Then you realise it’s not, but you can trust the driver of the red car is confident that it is. Red is fiery and exciting and people enjoy having that feeling. Even when they’re just driving a Kia Picanto.
- Yellow: The colour yellow is growing in popularity in many circles of life at the moment. Even in the car industry. It’s happy, stands out and reflects positive vibes which would, supposedly, help with road rage.
Think about what colour you like
Finally, you need to think carefully about the colour you want for your car. Forget about the trending colours, resale value, paint availability and visibility. What is your favourite colour and which vehicle out of the cars for sale in front of you, grabs your attention the most?
You are the one who will be driving this car every day and you should be happy with your final choice.
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