How Color Can Affect Resale Value

People often ask me, “How important is color when it comes to resale value?” It’s really one of the toughest questions I’m asked, especially depending on the kind of car the customer is looking at, and what the market is telling us. When you’re dealing with exotics, especially Ferraris, there is definitely a vast majority of people that favor one particular color. Whether it’s a later model 458 Italia or a classic Ferrari 348, color is hugely important to the customer. In our case, since most of our inventory is pre-owned Ferraris, most people, in our experience, only want the color red. For first-time Ferrari buyers in particular, they say their first Ferrari has to be Rosso Corsa (Ferrari Red). There is something about a red Ferrari that everybody always dreamed of and when it finally comes time to pull the trigger, that’s what they want.

Now, coming from experience, what I will tell you is there are a lot of people that specifically do not want red. They do not want the popular color, they want to buy the navy blue (Bleu de France or Blu Pozzi), they want to buy the dark green or the burgundy red. There are a lot of people who either want something different, want something a little less noticeable, don’t really care about resale–they just want what they want. In those situations, especially in the pre-owned market, if you’re looking for a dark blue Ferrari, and 90% of the cars are red, and you finally find a blue one, some could argue that that car is worth even more than the classic red Ferraris.

When it comes to color and how it affects the car’s resale value, as a general rule of thumb, you want to pick something that is tasteful. Until you get into the crazier colors (the lime greens, the yellows, etc), which are typically harder to sell because they appeal to a narrower group of people, you could argue that staying in the realm of more classic colors all essentially has the same value. Whether you want to go for the classic Ferrari red over tan, or you want to go for something a little more understated like grey over tan (dark blue and black are also good choices), choose something that you love and are going to be excited about driving around in.