Best car colours: which one should you choose?

Is there a best colour to choose when buying a new car? There is clearly no definitive answer to this, as it’ll be different for every individual. There’s a variety of factors to consider, such as how much metallic paint costs, which shades are available and, of course, which colour you personally like the most.

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However, there’s still an element of forward planning required when you pick a new car colour. If you love hot pink more than anything else and it’s available on a new car you’re considering, you might want to think twice before shelling out, as it could prove difficult to sell later, meaning the vehicle’s value is significantly reduced. Not only will you pay extra to order an outlandish colour at the outset, you’ll pay more in depreciation as well.

There is evidence to back this up, and it’s logical that not everyone loves bright colours. This means darker, more subtle shades including black, white and grey (or silver) are the most popular car colours in Britain and have been for some time.

Of course, most cars aren’t even available in outlandish colours as the car makers know hardly anyone wants them. Often you’ll find that basic white or black is offered as standard, and metallic colours are optional extras. That’s not always the case, though, as – for example – Skoda offers many of its models in bright blue at no cost, and the Peugeot 308 is a deep, metallic green as standard with more subtle colours costing extra.

The best-selling cars in the UK 2024

There are other considerations too: if you use your car for business it can send the wrong message to show up in a garish vehicle, so many people opt for sombre shades. White cars tend to look dirty more often, so if you hate washing your car, that’s a colour worth avoiding. Strangely, black is also hard to keep looking its best as road grime tends to make it look dull and grey. The best colour for keeping cars looking smart for longer is somewhere in between; grey or silver.

Read on to find out the colours that most people pick for their new and used cars. Clearly, decisions about which colour you like best and what you can afford are individual choices, but if you’re on the fence you can see what most people prefer below.

Most popular new car colours

There’s some hope for buyers who like their cars in hues other than those represented in early motion pictures, as the SMMT has released its data on the most popular car colours in 2024, and blue has found its way onto the podium – the first non-monochromatic shade to do so for seven years.

It does of course lag grey on that ranking, with Brits’ taste in colours reflecting the weather, while black came in third. The top three represented 27.8%, 21.7%, and 14.9% of new car registrations respectively. Blue beat white to the punch by the narrowest of margins, as white also took a 14.9% share, but actual blue car registrations were a fraction higher – 291,928 versus 291,629.

With silver in fifth place (after red), it’s still a strong showing for non-colours: together, grey, black, white and silver account for 70.7% of all new cars, or seven in ten on the roads. There’s not a single vibrant hue in the top ten car rankings either, with grey being most popular on the best-selling Ford Puma, plus the Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai, Nissan Juke, VW Golf, Hyundai Tucson, and VW Polo in Britain’s top ten.

However, the Puma also made up the biggest proportion of blue cars in 2024, as well as the biggest-selling car in silver. Kia Sportage buyers opted for red and green after grey, but small-car buyers clearly like a bit of colour still: the Peugeot 208 was 2024’s most popular yellow car (Agueda Yellow, an eye-searing greeny-yellow colour, which doesn’t cost a penny extra), Renault’s Clio the leader in orange (another great hue, the £750 extra Valencia Orange), and the Toyota Yaris as the year’s top bronze car (with the moody Titan Bronze, for £640).

And the rarest colours overall? Pink, maroon, and turquoise, which together represented only 747 registrations in 2024, 362 of which were turquoise alone. In contrast, the winning grey was specified on well over half a million cars. If you’ve recently bought a grey car, we hope you don’t mind a bit of competition when you come to sell it…

Most popular used car colours

The SMMT’s latest figures for used car colours tell a similar story to new cars. In the most recent data, the third quarter of 2024, black was the most popular shade, accounting for 21.2% of all transactions. Grey was next up, just as it had been the previous year, and its larger share of 17.6% (a growth of 7.9%) reflects its increasing popularity on new cars.

Interestingly, there were signs in the used car market that blue might become popular with new cars too, since it was the third most popular used car colour in the third quarter of 2024, taking 16.1% of the market. And again reflecting new car trends, silver has started slipping down the rankings, falling from fourth to fifth.

Looking to buy a new car? See the best options on the market in our Carbuyer New Car Awards page