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Buying a pickup truck is exciting. Whether it’s a brand new model or a new to you used pickup truck, there’s usually time, research, effort, and (of course) hard-earned money that goes into the purchase. But according to a recent study, the exterior color of a new pickup can either benefit a truck’s resale value–-or hurt it.

A 2011 Ford F250 diesel pickup truck being driven by a mountain range.
A brown/beige used Ford F250 Super Duty | Mark Elias/Bloomberg

Naturally, buyers tend to choose a color depending on personal preference. However, there are other factors involved if consumers want to ensure that their purchase is a wise investment. Though all pickup trucks depreciate, iSeeCars data shows that truck resale value hinges on the color of a vehicle more than some might expect.

Many variables can affect truck resale value

a red Chevy Silverado short bed, single cab pickup kicking up sand on the dunes
A red Chevy Silverado |GM

Because of their popularity and undeniable utility, pickup trucks tend to hold value relatively well. However, when buying a new or used pickup truck it could pay to purchase some colors over others. Whether buyers end up with a beige, black, red, blue, or orange paint job could greatly affect future truck resale value.

The color of a new truck is very important for certain buyers. Still, this data could serve as a great tiebreaker for someone on the fence between two top pickup truck contenders. There are plenty of colors to choose from. Building a truck straight from the factory leaves the color choice up to you. Buying a used truck or one that’s already on the lot can make it more difficult to be particular about finding the best pickup truck color.

What is the best pickup truck color?

The best pickup truck color isn’t the same for everyone. However, according to the iSeeCars data, it can affect truck resale value in a major way. The worst pickup truck has a 33.4 percent depreciation rate over three years of ownership.

The best pickup truck color on the other hand depreciates by 18.1 percent over three years of ownership. The chart below shows the depreciation data for 11 different truck colors. It also shows how much each color affects truck resale value by displaying the three-year depreciation percentage for all 11 paint jobs.

best pickup truck color for truck resale value iSeeCars chart
iSeeCars pickup truck color release value data | iSeeCars

The best pickup truck color in terms of depreciation is beige (18%). Next is white (28.7%), gray (29.7%), and green (30.0%). Gold, silver, red, and black all float around near the middle of the pack. The most rapidly depreciating pickup truck colors are orange (32.1%), blue (32.2%), and brown (33.4%) according to the iSeeCars data.

Does paint color matter?

No matter how in love a buyer is with their freshly purchased new or used pickup truck, it’s very likely that there will come a time in the future that they want to sell it on the used market or trade it in toward a new model. When that time comes, pickup owners will benefit from a good truck resale value. Although there are several other factors that go into a truck’s resale value, having a white or beige truck could prove more valuable than a blue or brown model.

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