Which Car Colour Is Best?

Generally, the colour of the car a motorist chooses to buy is either down to personal preference, or has had no bearing on the purchase at all.

Many people are prepared to sacrifice their favourite colour for a cheaper and more economical vehicle, or one for which they can get a lower cost car insurance quote.

However, various studies, such as one undertaken by a research team from the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands in 2010, show that some colour vehicles are stolen less often (brighter colours like pink and orange), so this might be something which drivers take into account when browsing used car websites or showroom forecourts.

Another colour-related study of vehicles by researchers from Monash University in Australia in 2007 showed that some drivers apparently put themselves at greater risk of suffering an accident due to the colour of their car's paintwork.

Police data collected on 850,000 traffic accidents showed that black, grey, silver, red and blue vehicles were involved in a greater number of crashes on average than white or orange cars. This was possibly due to how much, or how little, the colour of the car stood out from the surrounding road.

Furthermore, one car insurance website states that because many individuals are conservative when it comes to their car colour choices, manufacturers are too. Whereas a motorist may only have to wait a week for their brand new silver or black vehicle, the waiting period for something more unusual such as yellow or turquoise may be significantly longer.

Many people don't want to wait too long for their car to be delivered, so they'll choose one of the more popular colours to speed up the process.

Resale value might also influence a driver's automobile colour choice. When it comes to selling a vehicle on, some colours might be snapped up at a better price than others. For instance, one company noted that upon the release of its Colour Popularity Report for 2011, white or 'pearl' coloured vehicles had topped the resell price charts in North America for four years running national insurance two wheeler.

In August 2011, a car insurance price comparison site stated, "You might fancy an offbeat colour like purple or orange but will potential buyers be queuing up to take it off your hands in a few years time?"

And a used car website spokesperson added, "[5% off a vehicle's value] might not sound like very much but on a used car worth £20,000, an undesirable shade would cut £1,000 off the value.

"It also makes the car harder to sell as you could have to wait some time for the right buyer, during which you'll lose money through depreciation and additional advertising costs."

Whether people are influenced by this data or not, some motorists take car colour very seriously because they believe that it may influence their life in a negative or positive way.

In India, many drivers choose the colour of their vehicle using astrology. Similarly to how some people in Britain look at their star sign to find a compatible partner, depending on when they were born and the position of the planets at the time, some Indians feel that certain car colours will be more suitable for them than others.

Individuals who have the zodiac sign Aries will find a good vehicle match with a red, yellow or orange car. Those under the sign of Taurus should purchase a vehicle which is white, green or black. Geminis are most suited to red, green or grey. Cancerians should buy white, red or yellow cars. Leos would do well to purchase a car with red, yellow, orange or white paintwork, while Virgos should buy red, green or grey vehicles.

A Libra may enhance their life with a white, green or black vehicle. Scorpio, Sagittarius and Pisces should purchase a car in red, yellow or orange. Bronze is another option for Sagittarius and Pisces. And lastly Capricorn and Aquarius may want to buy vehicles which are blue, green or yellow to match their birth dates.

By choosing a car in a colour which matches their zodiac sign, these drivers believe that they can bring good luck upon themselves.

Which ever way a person chooses their vehicle's colour, it is important for them to check that they can afford the insurance and fuel costs which come hand in hand with car types. Moreover, they should perform an HPI check if they are buying second-hand.

It's important for people to remember not to get too caught up in the colour of their vehicle. It's the vehicle type they should choose the most carefully, and, when the time comes, the tyres and any other replacement parts. These could help reduce the driver's risk of suffering an accident or increase them if they are of poor quality or meant for a different vehicle.