Most people never give their paint code a second thought. It sits on a sticker you have walked past a thousand times, completely irrelevant, right up until the day a stone chips the bonnet or a trolley leaves a scratch down the door. Suddenly that little string of characters is the first thing you need, because it is what decides whether your touch-up repair vanishes or stands out as a slightly-off patch. This guide is built to help you find the right code with confidence, so you can order the exact colour your car left the factory in and put the damage right properly.
The short version is this. Almost every modern car records its paint code on a factory sticker or plate, and the driver’s side door jamb is the universal first place to check. Open the driver’s door and look at the frame and the edge of the door itself. The code is usually a short string of two to six characters, letters, numbers or both, often sitting next to a label like “paint” or “colour”.
A Quick Word on the V5C and VIN
Two common assumptions send people looking in the wrong place, so it is worth heading them off. Your V5C logbook will not give you the answer. It lists only a broad colour description like “blue” or “silver”, which is far too vague to order paint from, since each of those covers many distinct factory shades.
The VIN will not help either. Those seventeen characters identify the vehicle, its make, model and year, but say nothing about the finish on the panels. The paint code is recorded separately, which is why the door jamb, and the make-specific locations below, are where you actually need to look.
Where to Find Your Paint Code by Make
The driver’s door jamb is the first place to look on every car below, and where a make commonly hides the code elsewhere, that is noted. Each brand links through to its Chipex page. Click through, pick your model and colour, and you will be matched to your exact factory shade and sent a complete kit with everything you need to make the repair, paint, blending solution, polish and applicators included.
Ford
Ford uses two-character codes, like Z3 for Frozen White, J7 for Magnetic Grey, or PN for Panther Black. The driver’s door jamb sticker has a row of seven boxes, and the paint code sits in the sixth. On older Fords, check the slam panel under the bonnet instead.
Match yours on the Ford touch up paint page.
Volkswagen
VW codes are four characters, almost always prefixed with LY, like LY9C for Pure White or LY7W for Reflex Silver. Look in the driver’s door jamb or on the boot floor under the spare wheel. Match yours on the Volkswagen touch up paint page.
BMW
BMW uses three-character codes, like 300 for Alpine White, 475 for Black Sapphire, or B45 for Estoril Blue. The usual spots are the driver’s door jamb, the strut tower under the bonnet, or behind the driver’s headlight on some 5 and 7 Series models. BMW helpfully prints the colour name beside the code. Match yours on the BMW touch up paint page.
Vauxhall
Vauxhall codes are alphanumeric, like GAR for Carbon Flash, GBO for Mineral Black, or Z40R for Power Red. Check the driver’s door jamb sticker, where the paint code is usually labelled “PNT” or shown alongside “Body Colour”. Match yours on the Vauxhall touch up paint page.
Audi
Audi shares the VW Group format, four characters often LZ or LY prefixed, like LY7W for Reflex Silver or LZ9Y for Brilliant Black. Look in the driver’s door jamb, or under the boot floor on some models. One thing to flag: Audi’s Exclusive custom-colour programme produces bespoke finishes, so confirm the match is available before ordering. Match yours on the Audi touch up paint page.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes uses three-digit codes, like 040 for Black, 197 for Obsidian Black, 775 for Iridium Silver, or 149 for Polar White, with the colour name often printed alongside. The code lives in the driver’s door jamb. Mercedes’ designo programme is its equivalent of Audi Exclusive, custom finishes that may not always be matchable through standard touch-up. Match yours on the Mercedes touch up paint page.
Toyota
Toyota codes are three characters, like 070 for Pearl White, 040 for Super White, 1G3 for Magnetic Grey, or 218 for Attitude Black. Found in the driver’s door jamb. Worth knowing that Toyota’s pearl whites, such as 070 and 089, are tri-coat finishes, which are more involved to match than a solid colour. Match yours on the Toyota touch up paint page.
Nissan
Nissan uses three-character codes, like QM1 for Pearl White, KAD for Gun Metallic Grey, or NAH for Solid Red. Check the driver’s door jamb sticker, or the slam panel on some older models. Match yours on the Nissan touch up paint page.
Hyundai
Hyundai codes are three characters, like SAW for Stormy Sea, MZH for Phantom Black, or P2M for Polar White Pearl, found in the driver’s door jamb. Match yours on the Hyundai touch up paint page.
Kia
Kia uses the same three-character format as Hyundai, sat in the driver’s door jamb. Match yours on the Kia touch up paint page.
Skoda
Skoda follows the VW Group LY-prefix format, with the sticker in the driver’s door jamb. Match yours on the Skoda touch up paint page.
SEAT
SEAT also uses the VW Group format and door jamb location. Match yours on the SEAT touch up paint page.
Honda
Honda codes are alphanumeric and usually end in a letter, like NH731P for Crystal Black Pearl, B587P for Aegean Blue, or R81 for Milano Red. The “P” suffix tells you it is a pearl finish. Found in the driver’s door jamb. Match yours on the Honda touch up paint page.
Mazda
Mazda uses alphanumeric codes, like 41V for Soul Red Crystal, 46V for Machine Grey, or 25D for Snowflake White Pearl, in the driver’s door jamb. Soul Red Crystal is a tri-coat finish, so it needs extra care to match. Match yours on the Mazda touch up paint page.
Peugeot
Peugeot codes are alphanumeric, like KTV for Banquise White, EPY for Pearl Black, or M0YG for Cumulus Grey, and are often shared with Citroen. Check the driver’s door jamb or the door hinge area. Match yours on the Peugeot touch up paint page.
Citroen
Citroen shares its code format and many colours with Peugeot, in the same door jamb or hinge location. Match yours on the Citroen touch up paint page.
Renault
Renault uses five-character codes, often prefixed with TE or NV, like TENV for Pearl White or TEKNK for Cosmos Blue. Look in the driver’s door jamb or on the boot lid. Match yours on the Renault touch up paint page.
Dacia
Dacia shares Renault’s code format and locations. Match yours on the Dacia touch up paint page.
Volvo
Volvo uses three-digit codes, like 614 for Crystal White Pearl, 717 for Onyx Black, or 711 for Bright Silver, on the driver’s door jamb sticker. Crystal White Pearl is a tri-coat finish. Match yours on the Volvo touch up paint page.
Land Rover and Range Rover
Land Rover codes are alphanumeric and often longer, like NER for Santorini Black, 2174 for Fuji White, or 1AQ for Indus Silver. Check the driver’s door jamb, and sometimes a plate under the bonnet. Match yours on the Land Rover touch up paint page.
Jaguar
Jaguar uses a similar format to Land Rover, four-character alphanumeric codes, like PEC for Polaris White or PAJ for Loire Blue, found in the driver’s door jamb. Match yours on the Jaguar touch up paint page.
MINI
Despite being BMW-owned, MINI uses a slightly different convention, often three-character codes like A26 for Hot Orange or B70 for Volcanic Orange. The code sits near the front wing area and is usually only visible with the bonnet up. Match yours on the MINI touch up paint page.
Tesla
Tesla uses alphanumeric codes, like PPSW for Pearl White Multi-Coat, PMNG for Midnight Silver Metallic, or PBSB for Solid Black, in the driver’s door jamb. Two Tesla colours are multi-coat finishes, so confirm the match before ordering. Match yours on the Tesla touch up paint page.
Can’t See Your Make Here? We Cover Plenty More
This guide covers the twenty makes you are most likely to be driving, but it is only part of the picture. Chipex matches paint for more than eighty manufacturers, far more than fit sensibly into one article. If your make is not listed above, from Fiat and Alfa Romeo to Suzuki, Subaru, Porsche and well beyond, you will almost certainly find it on the full Chipex All Brands page. Pick your make, then your model and colour, and the code and matched paint are sorted for you. It is the quickest way to see every brand and colour we cover in one place.
When You Can’t Find the Code: Fallback Methods
If the sticker is missing, faded or simply will not turn up, you have several reliable fallbacks.
The easiest by far is a registration lookup. Our colour-match tool identifies your exact UK paint code straight from your number plate in seconds, with no hunting through door frames at all. It is the option most people reach for once they realise it exists.
Failing that, contact your dealer. A franchised dealer’s parts department can confirm your paint code from your vehicle details, and it is the most dependable manual route when a sticker has gone. Your service history can help too, as some manufacturers print the paint code on the first page of the service book. Online VIN decoders are worth a careful mention rather than a recommendation: free ones rarely include paint at all, and paid ones vary in accuracy, so treat anything they return as a starting point to confirm, not a final answer.
How to Read the Sticker Once You Find It
One thing worth knowing, because it trips people up. Most paint code stickers carry several codes at once, for interior trim, factory options and the build sequence, and it is easy to grab the wrong one. A few pointers:
The paint code is usually labelled “PNT”, “EXT PNT”, “Paint No.”, “Colour”, or sits in its own dedicated box. Some makes, BMW and Mercedes among them, print the colour name alongside the code, which makes it easy to confirm. If you see two codes separated by a slash, like 475/0, the paint code is usually the part before the slash. And on VW Group stickers you may see a German colour name next to the code. That is the same paint, just named in the manufacturer’s language, not a different colour.
Special Cases Worth Knowing
A few situations need a little extra thought.
Repainted used cars are the big one. If a car has had a respray at some point, the original code on the door sticker may no longer match what is actually on the panels. Touch-up paint matches what the sticker says, not what the bodywork currently shows, so on a resprayed car it pays to confirm the colour before ordering.
Classic cars, broadly pre-1990, often have no paint code sticker at all. The code may instead live in the owner’s manual, the original sales paperwork, or the manufacturer’s archive.
Custom and factory-bespoke finishes are the last case. Programmes like BMW Individual, Audi Exclusive, Mercedes designo, Range Rover SVO and Porsche Paint to Sample produce one-off or limited colours, so always confirm match availability before ordering rather than assuming. The same caution applies to some newer EV brands, where colour documentation can be thinner than for long-established makes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is my car paint code located?
Can I find my paint code by registration?
Does the V5C logbook show my paint code?
Is the paint code part of the VIN?
What if my car has been resprayed?
My make isn’t in your list. Can you still match it?
Johnny Graham – Founder of Chipex
Johnny founded Chipex in 2009 and developed its patented paint repair system, now trusted by over 1.5 million customers worldwide. With nearly four decades at the premium end of the automotive industry, he remains closely involved in refining Chipex’s paint formulations and colour-matching technology.
