How to Choose the Best Color for Your Pickup Truck

Purchasing a new pickup truck is an exciting endeavor, and it requires a lot of important decisions, not the least of which is what color to choose. This may leave you wondering what the best color is for a truck. This is a very important decision, as it can affect everything from resale value, safety, and even fuel efficiency. We spent some time looking into this topic and our efforts were rewarded with a lot of information that can help you make the right choice for you and your family.

By an overwhelming majority, the most common colors for pickup trucks are White, Black, and Silver. These colors are followed by Red and Blue, then Gold, Brown, and Beige. The least common colors for trucks are Orange, Yellow, and Green.

There are a lot of beautiful color options for 2019 and 2020, which we have detailed below for each of the most popular pickup truck makes and models, so you can get an idea of what there is to choose from. With all of these amazing choices, it will be one of the toughest decisions to make! We have also detailed my findings on the effect of color on resale value, safety, and fuel efficiency, so keep reading for more information!

2019 Pickup Truck Color Options by Make and Model

Ford Pickup Trucks

Ford has four full-size pickup trucks in its F series. Let's take a look at the colors they're available in.

Ford F-150

Ford's most popular pickup truck is the "light-duty" F-150. A favorite of families as well as professionals, it comes in a huge variety of colors, with the more expensive models giving you a few extra color choices.

• XL Trim color options are Agate Black, Abyss Gray, Velocity Blue, Oxford White, Ingot Silver, Rave Red, Blue Jeans, Magnetic, Magma Red, Stone Gray, Green, Orange, and School Bus Yellow
• XLT Trim is available in Agate Black, Ingot Silver, velocity Blue, Oxford White, Silver Spruce, Race Re, Blue Jeans, Magnetic, Ruby Red Metallic, Magma Red, and Stone Gray
• King Ranch, Raptor, Lariat, and Platinum Trims also offer White Platinum Metallic Tri-Coat as an option.

Ford F-250

Ford's heavy-duty F-250 is available in the following colors: Agate Black, Green Gem, Blue Jeans Metallic, Green, Ingot Silver, Magnetic, Orange, Oxford White, Race Red, School Bus Yellow, Stone Gray Metallic, Vermillion Red, and Yellow.

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Ford F-350

The workhorse that is the Ford F-350 pickup truck can be as beautiful as it is strong. Color availability widely depends on the exact style of truck you want. The list of possibilities includes Agate Black, Green Gem, Blue Jeans Metallic, Green, Ingot Silver, Magnetic, Orange, Oxford White, Race Red, School Bus Yellow, Stone Gray Metallic, Vermillion Red, Yellow, Magma Red Metallic, Ruby Red Metallic Clearcoat, Silver Spruce, and White Platinum Metallic.

Ford F-450

Ford's largest and strongest, the F-450 also offers colors varying by trim.

• For the XL Trim you can get Agate Black, Metallic Ingot Silver, Magnetic, Oxford White, Race Red, or Stone Gray.
• In the XLT Trim Ford offers the F-450 in these colors: Agate Black, Metallic Ingot Silver, Magnetic, Oxford White, Race Red, Stone Gray, Silver Spruce, Ruby Red Metallic, and Magma Red Metallic are available options.

Chevrolet Silverado

Chevy's full-size pickup truck is the Silverado. You can get the light-duty Silverado LD (formerly the Silverado 1500), the Silverado 2500HD or the largest Silverado, the 3500HD.

While there are several trim levels to the Silverado, the same colors are available in all models. Some of them come at an additional cost though. Check out our post about the cost of a Chevy Silverado in 2019 to learn more about these payment levels.

All Trims are available with the same options of Iridescent Pearl Tri-Coat, Havana Brown Metallic, Red Hot, Satin Steel Metallic, North Sky Blue Metallic, Silver Ice Metallic, Summit White, Black, Oakwood Metallic, Shadow Gray Metallic, and Cajun Red Tint Coat.

Ram 1500

• The new Ram 1500 is available in Diamond Black Pearl, Maximum Steel Metallic, Granite Crystal Metallic, Billet Silver Metallic, Patriot Blue Pearl, Delmonico Red Pearl, and Ivory Tri-Coat
• The Ram 1500 Classic is available in Diamond Black Pearl, Maximum Steel Metallic, Granite Crystal Metallic, Billet Silver Metallic, Patriot Blue Pearl, Delmonico Red Pearl, Ivory Tri-Coat, Black Forest Green Pearl, Blue Streak, Flame Red, Rugged Brown Pearl, and Bright White.

GMC Sierra

All trims come in Cardinal Red, Dark Sky Metallic, Deep Mahogany Metallic, Onyx Black, Pacific Blue Metallic, Quicksilver Metallic, Red Quartz Metallic, Satin Steel Metallic, Smokey Quartz Metallic, Summit White, Tangier Orange, Wheatland Yellow, White Frost Tri-coat, and Woodland Green.

Toyota Tundra

The Toyota Tundra is available in Calvary Blue, Voodoo Blue, Midnight Black Metallic, Smoked Mesquite, Magnetic Gray Metallic, Cement, Silver Sky Metallic, Super White, Barcelona Red Metallic, and Quicksand.

Nissan Titan

The color options for the Nissan Titan are Pearl White, Glacier White, Brilliant Silver Metallic, Java Metallic, Cayenne Red, Deep Blue Pearl, Magnetic Black, Gun Metallic, Solar Flare Yellow, Forger Copper, Moab Sunset and Midnight Pine.

How A Vehicle’s Color Impacts Safety

There have been a lot of studies to determine if there is a correlation between vehicle color and safety. The results that we found make perfect sense.

The safest colors are light, such as white, cream, yellow and beige. This is because they have a higher visibility rating.

Darker colors, such as black, gray, dark blue or red are considered to be more dangerous because they are not as easy to see, especially at night or in inclement weather.

Red is also associated with more reckless driving habits since it is commonly purchased on sportier vehicles.

Most Commonly Stolen Color Vehicles

Insurance companies report that some color vehicles are more likely to be stolen than others. This is something that you might want to consider if you live in an area where theft is more likely to occur.

Regardless of color, it's a good idea to research other security measures to keep your pickup truck safe. A GPS tracker and other security systems come to mind. Even if you're fully insured against theft, losing your truck to a thief is never fun.

Back to the effect of color on the odds of being stolen.

Most likely colors to be stolen:

• Silver
• White
• Black
• Green
• Gold

Least likely colors to be stolen:

• Light green
• Orange
• Pale Yellow

Vehicle Color and Fuel Efficiency

The color of your vehicle can also affect its fuel efficiency! At least to a degree. The more that you have to run your heater or air conditioner, the more fuel you burn.

In colder climates, it might make more sense to have a darker colored vehicle. Dark colors retain heat, so your heater may not have to run as much to keep you warm on chilly days.

In hot climates, white, or light-colored vehicles might make more sense for the opposite reason. Light colors reflect light and heat, making it easier to use one’s air conditioner less frequently.

How Color Can Impact Your Resale Value

The color of one’s vehicle can have a surprising effect on its potential resale or trade-in value. Counter to what might be commonly believed, it is not the most popular colors of white, silver and black that retain the highest value, but unusual or high impact colors, such as orange, yellow or green that hold their value more when it comes time to trade-in or sell.

The main reason is basic supply and demand. When most people purchase a new truck, they tend to get one in a safer, more neutral color, believing that it will be easier to sell. They may have been attracted to one that is in one of the brighter or unique colors, but unwilling to spend the cost of a new vehicle on something that seems like a less valuable investment. This floods the used car market with vehicles in these colors, making it harder to find used vehicles in high profile colors.

The worst color for trade-in or resale is gold, which is sometimes associated with vehicles that are more old-fashioned, or family-oriented.

What Does Your Vehicle’s Color Say About You?

The color of the vehicle that you drive can be a reflection of your personality. Different colors are often associated with different personality types.

If you have a black pickup truck

This color denotes classic elegance and empowerment.

If you have a white pickup truck

The owner of a white vehicle might be considered to be very pristine and direct.

If you have a silver pickup truck

Silver is futuristic and elegant and can be perceived as technologically savvy.

If you have a red pickup truck

Red has long been associated with fast cars and a love of excitement and freedom. It sometimes gets a bad rap by being labeled as the go-to color for the midlife crisis car.

If you have an orange pickup truck

Adventurous and thrill-seeking is the vibe that an orange vehicle emits. Its unique color is loved by artists and creative types as well because of its unusualness.

If you have a blue pickup truck

People who drive a blue vehicle are commonly seen as being very dependable and confident. They are usually very calm and reliable.

Making Your Final Selection

As you can see there are a lot of factors to consider when purchasing a new truck. It is important to take your time, consider all the variables, and above all have fun!

At the end of the day, the most important thing is to make sure that you are getting safe, reliable transportation that you love to drive!