Whether you’re looking to touch up paint scratches, repaint a body panel¹, or customize your vehicle, finding the correct paint code is essential for achieving a seamless and professional finish. But how do you locate the paint code based on the VIN of your car? In this post, we’ll guide you through the process of finding the paint code by VIN.

1. Find the paint code with lookup tools

The paint code itself is not directly embedded within a single VIN character, but it’s possible to retrieve this information from the VIN using specific lookup tools.

BeenVerified

BeenVerified is one of the most efficient tools to help you search for the paint code by VIN. It is a strong vehicle search engine with access to a wide range of data sources including government agencies and auto industry partners. And it’s also an NMVTIS-approved data provider. You may find in its reports vehicle specs (paint code), theft & accident records, recalls, maintenance history, and more.

1. Go to BeenVerified.
2. Enter the VIN and click SEARCH.
   
3. Wait as BeenVerified searches through its data sources and compiles a report that contains all the available information it can find.
4. On the report page, you’ll see a navigation bar on the left to help you easily access the section that you’re interested in. For example, the Recalls section.
   
5. To find out if there’s a paint code available, you can go to the Vehicle Specs section. Note that BeenVerified is a subscription-based service and you’ll need to purchase a membership plan to view the report.
   

Bumper

Bumper is an excellent alternative to BeenVerified. As a professional vehicle search tool, it gathers vehicle information from multiple resources including NMVTIS, NHTSA, government agencies, and insurance providers. With a VIN number, you can get the vehicle specs, maintenance, accident & theft records, and more.

1. Go to Bumper.
2. Enter the VIN and click SEARCH.
   
3. Wait for Bumper to check through its data sources. When finished, it’ll generate a report that includes all the information it can find that is linked to the VIN. Note that Bumper is also a paid service.
   

Which one do we prefer?
We’ve tested the two products using several VINs and discovered no significant difference in the quality of the reports they return.

But in comparison, Bumper focuses primarily on automotive services, while BeenVerified is a comprehensive public record search platform that offers a wide range of search features, including name, phone number, and email address lookups, which are accessible throughout your subscription. You may choose the service as per your specific needs.

2. Search by the year and make

If you don’t have access to your VIN but know exactly what your car model is, you can use a third-party tool like Paintscratch.com and Automotivetouchup.com. Visit the websites and select the year, make, and model of your car, it will give you all the possible colors under the model, from which you can find the one that your car is painted.

Note that there might be multiple similar colors linked to one car model. Double-check before making any purchases. If you’d prefer a fast and accurate paint code lookup, you can give the VIN lookup services that we mentioned above a try.

3. Go to a dealership or an auto shop

Another way to get the exact paint code is to contact local dealers that sell cars of the same brand. Simply contact them and ask for the paint code of your car via phone call or email, or just by stepping into the store in person. You might need to provide details like the year, make, and the VIN of the car. With that, the car dealer can run a check and give you the paint code.

Or you can drive to a local auto shop and ask the staff there to help you match the color. Auto shops often have the necessary tools, like color chips and color reading machines, to identify and match the right paint code for your vehicle.

But you should be aware that if your car is several years old, the paint may have changed color, making it difficult to find an exact match². For that reason, you may try searching by its VIN to get its original color code.

You may also want to know…

1. Can you read the paint code directly out of a VIN？

A VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is a unique code used to identify vehicles, containing information about their manufacturer, model, year of production, and other details, but it does not directly provide the paint code information. But you may get the information by decoding the VIN using a lookup service.

2. Paint code vs. color name, what’s the difference？

In short, one paint color may have two or more names, but it will only have one paint code.

The paint code is a code assigned by the vehicle manufacturer to identify the exact color. They are typically unique to each specific color and variant, allowing for precise identification. On the other hand, the color name refers to a more descriptive and catchy term to represent the overall appearance or theme of the color.

For example, a paint code may be “AB123,” while its corresponding color name could be “Midnight Blue”.

3. Is there any free VIN lookup platform to identify the paint code?

Some free VIN lookup tools can retrieve vehicle specifications based on a VIN. For example, Decodethis.com, Vincheck.info, and Vehiclehistory.com. However, after trying the three, we couldn’t find the paint code information in the reports, only the basic specs.

4. Where can you locate the paint code on the car?

If you have physical access to your car, you can look for the paint code from the following locations:

• On the door jamb or door frame
• Inside the trunk lid or under the hood
• Underneath the engine block

Alternatively, you may refer to vehicle documents like the owner’s manual, maintenance records, or information stickers. Note that the paint code may marked as “EXT PNT”, “Color Code”, or “PNT”.

5. Same paint code, different colors?

There are multiple scenarios where you may end up with different colors even though you’ve correctly matched the paint code. For example, the same paint color may vary on different materials³ (metal hoods vs. plastic bumpers). Besides, the painter’s technique, equipment, and environmental conditions may also affect the finish. Achieving an exact match for colors like pearl are more challenging.

These are some convenient ways to help you find the paint code by VIN. We hope you find the post helpful!

References

1. Boxster & Boxster S (986) Forum [austin9111]. (2022, Sep). Finding Paint Code from VIN? [Online forum post]. Rennlist. https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-and-boxster-s-986-forum/1318153-finding-paint-code-from-vin.html ↩︎
2. Maintenance/Repair [MrPhil]. (2009, Jan). Where can I find paint color cards for cars? [Online forum post]. Cartalk. https://community.cartalk.com/t/where-can-i-find-paint-color-cards-for-cars/25106 ↩︎
3. r/AskMechanics [SupremeDr3amTeam]. (2022, Dec). Color code doesn’t match the vehicle. [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/comments/zxh895/color_code_doesnt_match_the_vehicle/ ↩︎