10:24 am, November 9, 2012
YOUNG buyers prioritise the colour of their new cars above everything else, research says.
Casting price, engine size and fuel consumption aside, the research from breakeryard.com reckons that under 25s are most concerned with what hue their vehicle turns up painted in.
Surprisingly, the most popular choices aren’t technically colours at all – with black and white heading up the list. Red and blue followed with silver coming fifth – showing that although colour might be priority, buyers don’t necessarily have the largest imaginations when it comes to picking them.
Those that prioritised the choice were asked why they’d done so, to which 68 per cent responded that they wanted the car to ‘look cool’. Perhaps that’s why beige doesn’t make an appearance in the top five.
When it came down to cold, hard cash though, buyers weren’t quite so sure. The majority – 64 per cent – would spend up to £200 more to have their car in a colour they wanted, while only 29 per cent would pay up to £500. Only 7 per cent would spend up to £1,000 extra.
Matt Bott, founder of Breakeryard.com, was surprised by the results results. ‘I was astonished to see that some people would spend up to £1000 more to get a car in the colour that they liked! It was also quite surprising to find out that the majority of young people prioritise colour over everything else when buying a new car,’ he said.
‘Whilst liking the look of your car is obviously important to many, it’s nothing compared to things like value for money and fuel consumption. With the cost of things like insurance, it’s a wonder anyone can choose to be so fussy about things such as the colour of their car!’
Full results of the survey weren’t published, but we’ll bet quite a few respondents placed in car entertainment as a top priority, too. The moral of the story? Don’t be surprised to find a buyer turned off by a car’s colour and, if all else fails, follow the Rolling Stones’ advice: paint it black.
