Toyota RAV4

Stand in any new car dealership and do a slow scan of the lot. Then do the same thing at the dealership next door. The silhouettes blur together. The crossover proportions are interchangeable. The front ends all have versions of the same aggressive grille flanked by the same split headlight treatment. The colors are white, gray, silver, black, and maybe one brave soul in red. You couldn't tell a Nissan Rogue from a Hyundai Tucson from a Chevrolet Equinox at fifty yards and that's not an accident. It's the output of a specific set of industry forces that have been running in the same direction for twenty years...

The relationship between color and resale value is real, measurable, and counterintuitive enough that it's worth understanding before you make a decision you'll live with for several years.

It's not the badge. It's not the wheel size. It's not even the color, though color contributes. The single feature that makes any car look cheaper than it is, regardless of what it cost, regardless of how good the rest of the design is, is unpainted plastic cladding on the lower body panels...

White is the best-selling car color in the world. Has been for over a decade. Buyers choose it because it's safe, resells well, hides dust reasonably, and looks clean on a configurator screen. None of those are design reasons. And design is exactly what white tests, mercilessly, every time a car wears it...