Fancy paint, color won't help car's resale value

Dear Terry,
On a recent new-car shopping expedition I noticed some cars carry an extra charge for the paint job, sometimes as much as $1,000. Can it really cost that much for bright yellow paint, and when it comes time to sell, will I get much of that added money back?
-- Colorblind

Dear Colorblind,
Paint on a new car stopped being just a matter of spraying on a color long ago. Clearcoat and metallic finishes are multistage operations that sometimes require greater expense on the assembly line.

But even given that, manufacturers have found a new way to eke out some additional profit by jacking up the price of some of the more distinctive colors.

In the end, these colors add only a small fraction of added value when it comes time to sell, and some of the more oddball colors can even detract from a car's value. Remember: The most popular colors today are shades of gray.