CHOICE of colour is having a bigger impact on the residual values of cars than ever before, with some unpopular shades knocking £2,500 off the value of defleeted models.

According to research by Glass’s Information Services, the two most unpopular colours are white and flat blue – often dubbed ‘doom blue’ by the industry.

At the other end of the chart, silver has been knocked off its number one position by metallic black, which is worth more at disposal time, due to the huge number of silver cars on the road making the colour less exclusive.

The choice of a popular colour is even more important when purchasing upper-medium premium brand cars, because used buyers of prestige cars are more discerning than those of volume brands.

This effect is exacerbated further up the executive ladder. Glass’s reckons that for larger cars such as the BMW 5-series, Mercedes-Benz E-class and Audi A6, the falls in value for an unpopular colour are 20% bigger than those in the upper-medium sector.

Richard Crosthwaite, prestige car editor at Glass’s Information Services said: ‘The average year-old metallic black upper-medium prestige car is now worth about £200 more than silver.’

However, there are some exceptions to the rule, Crosthwaite added.

‘The values of flat red on certain sports cars may perform better than on conventional saloons, because buyers feel the colour is more suited to the character of the car,’ he said.