How to Colour Match Your Car

How to Find Your Car Colour Code

Difficulty: Easy

If your vehicle gets a scratch or chip and you want to cover it seamlessly, you will need to buy paint that matches the exact colour of your vehicle. To start matching a colour you will need to find your car colour code, which you will find in one of a number of places depending on the make and model of your car.

You will need to find you’re your cars 'information sticker', which usually has a barcode and contains important details such as the model of your car, identification numbers, etc. It will also display the paint colour code. You can find the location of the information sticker in your car manual. However, if you don’t have your manual to hand, the common places to find the sticker are:

• Inside the driver’s door frame
• In the glove box
• Under the bonnet
• In the spare wheel well

On the sticker, if you won’t see the words ‘colour’ or ‘paint’, it is likely to be labelled as ‘C’ or ‘EXT PNT’ (standing for exterior paint). You may also see a code under ‘TR’, which stands for the colour of your trim. That's right, sometimes a car will have two colour codes, one for the bodywork and one for the trim.

When ordering ready-mixed paint to match your vehicle, you will also need to specify the vehicle make and colour (red, green, yellow, etc.). This is because the same colour code is often used by multiple manufacturers for multiple colours.

If you can’t find your information sticker, you may need to call the manufacturer or dealership and have them find your colour code using your VIN. You can find your VIN on your vehicle title, registration certificate or insurance papers.

Special note for owners of Ford vehicles

Ford have an online tool for determining your paint code, it will be necessary to use this in order to provide the necessary information when ordering ready-mixed paint for all newer Ford vehicles. Please click here to access the Ford Etis tool.