When buying a car, many choose the colours they like — but that could have financial implications beyond a dealership’s paint job surcharge.
Some dealers use duotone or metallic finishes to add a few thousand rand to the price, even if it doesn’t technically cost them much more. But a car’s colour may also affect insurance premiums, theft risk and resale value. The differences aren’t huge, but they’re not imaginary.
According to Codera Analytics, which scraped data from two of South Africa’s largest car listings platforms for the FM, white is the most common colour. Of nearly 100,000 cars analysed, about 29,000 were white — roughly triple the next most popular hue: silver, followed by grey and blue.
This aligns with information from vehicle tracking company Tracker, which notes that about 53% of vehicles in its database are white. But there’s a catch: nearly 64% of vehicle crimes in its data set also involve white cars. Silver vehicles make up 15% of the base but just 13% of crime.
Some suggest that certain colours improve visibility and reduce accident risk. But we haven’t seen conclusive data to back this up
— Ernest North
“White does appear to be a preferred colour when it comes to vehicle ownership,” Tracker tells the FM. “But more so when it comes to vehicle crime.”
It’s not that white cars are more appealing to thieves — it’s likely a numbers game. They’re simply the most common, easiest to blend in with and perhaps the easiest to resell. But this raises questions for consumers: could choosing a more niche colour protect your car? And will your insurer reward you for it?
That depends.
Some insurers still ask for a vehicle’s colour when quoting premiums. Ernest North, co-founder of Naked Insurance, says there’s a logic to it, but perhaps not enough to make a real difference.
“Car colour affects risks and costs in a few ways,” he says. “Speciality colours, like pearl finishes, are harder and more expensive to match after an accident, so repairs cost more. And neutral colours on commonly stolen models may raise theft risk, since they’re easier to resell without drawing attention.”
There’s also the theory that visibility plays a role. Brighter cars, like white or yellow, are easier to spot on the road and are less likely to be involved in accidents.
“Some suggest that certain colours improve visibility and reduce accident risk,” North says. “But we haven’t seen conclusive data to back this up.”
For Naked, the link between colour and cost is negligible. The company doesn’t even ask for it on the application form.
“The impact on premiums is usually less than 1%,” says North. “Given our focus on simplicity, we only ask for information that makes a meaningful difference. Things like your age, driving history, type of car and claims history have a far bigger impact.”
Others do factor it in. Tumisang Tshikare, a data scientist at Pineapple, says their research found a “statistically significant relationship between vehicle colour and crash risk” — particularly when stratified by vehicle type, light conditions and location.
Pineapple says, in its case, this accounts for about 2%-5.2% of the premium, which is low compared with other factors. Still, with its data, a white car might have a premium that is 1%-3% less than a dark-coloured one.
That’s partly because dark colours, especially black and navy, tend to be harder to see at night. A 2007 Monash University study supports this, noting that black, grey, blue and green cars have higher crash risks than white ones, primarily because of visibility. Environment plays a role, and the study stresses that more research is needed.
While the effects on premiums are minor, as tech advances, some insurance companies say they can use colour in conjunction with telematics to assess risk more precisely. For example, a driver who regularly travels at night in a dark-coloured car might see a small premium bump, whereas one who seldom drives after dark may see no difference at all.
In other words, colour may be a small piece of the puzzle — but it’s a piece nonetheless.
It’s also worth noting that bolder colours tend to fare worse in resale. Lighter shades like white and silver have long been considered safer bets for retaining value, partly because they appeal to a broader market and are easier to maintain.
Some finishes cost more to repair; finding an exact match for a custom paint job is likely to be more complex and costly.
To save a few rand over the life of a car, colour is worth keeping in mind — not just for how others see you, but how they don’t. And it may not make or break a premium, but when picking between “Truffle Mica” and plain old white, the splash of colour may carry a slightly higher price — and a slightly higher risk.
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