Even Thieves Don't Want Yellow Cars

If you're really worried about somebody stealing your car, try painting it yellow.

That could cut the risk of theft roughly in half, according to an analysis by economist Ben Vollaard.

It's not only that thieves want a car that blends in, Vollaard argues: They're also looking for a car with a high resale value.

And a used car in a popular color like black or silver goes for about $1,000 more than a car in a less popular color, according to data from Holland, where Vollaard's based.

 

In the past few years, red cars have become significantly less popular in Holland, and silver cars have become more popular. During the same time period, the percent of red cars that get stolen has fallen, and the theft risk for silver cars has risen.

What's more, he says, the color of a car has become a far more important predictor of theft risk over the past 15 years. He has a few theories about why this happened.

For one thing, Dutch buyers became more picky about color, and the resale difference between popular colors and unpopular colors became more pronounced.

For another, more cars now come with anti-theft devices built in. That means fewer amateur joyriders are stealing cars these days — and the theives still in the game are the ones who are in it for the money.

Here's Vollaard's chart showing risk of theft by color.

Note that for each color, the bar on the left includes the 15 most popular auto brands in Holland; the bar on the right excludes Audi, BMW and Mercedes, to account for the fact that those cars are both desirable to thieves and are particularly popular in black.