Finding The automobile paint codes...

...And Then Finding Your Vehicles Date Of Birth Is The First Step In Getting That Perfect Paint Match

vehicle paint code and where they hide them...

The automobile paint codes placard on your vehicle gives the information required to remanufacture the exact shade of color that was originally sprayed on your vehicle.

automobile paint codes

The automobile paint codes placard...

...is placed on various internal areas of your car depending on the manufacturers preference.

For instance

VW Audi paint codes

Saab paint codes on the nearside door usually under the locking mechanism

Alpha Romeo vehicle paint code , there is a foil sticker on the rear boot lid

BMW paint codes in the engine compartment some newer medals in the door piller

Honda paint codes in the engine bay

Actually most Japanese vehicles have the paint code in the engine bay

Ford paint codes in the door pillar or engine bay usually it is the second alpha numeric figure up on the left hand column of the placard

Vauxhall Opel Paint Codes Photo

Renault vehicle paint code is in the door pillar on the hinge side

Volvo automobile paint codes are in the engine bay

Citroen paint codes can be under the bonnet or door pillar

Seat as VW

Skoda as VW

Nissan under the hood

Mercedes paint codes door pillar

Just to keep us on our toes they all like to make life easy for us.

This code is not based on what the dealer calls the colour. For instance not- Irish racing green:-).This automotive paint code is based on an alpha numeric code that can be looked up to find the precise mix to use.

Unfortunately because the pigment that go to make up the paint alter over time the same code that is found on two different vehicles that have a different Date of birth, will be slightly different colors.

Imagine a car manufactured say five years ago. Maybe six tints went into tints went into the mix to make up the original color.

Now imagine after a few months one of the tints ordered in bulk into the factory has changed very slightly. (The result of naturally formed pigments).

The change to this one tint will now alter the resulting paint very slightly.

We now need to know the date this change took place in the factory to make a good guess as to which alternate color to mix for a repair.

BMW are the only manufacturer to placard this date beside the paint code (thanks BMW).

vehicle paint code

The process involves a bit of detective work helped along by us having an original color chip of the first paint to be mixed in the factory, followed by a code showing the history of the shade changes.

The code can also be found by phoning your local franchised car dealer for the code and then giving them your registration number or vehicle identification number,.

This is very useful for imported cars or when a particularly cleanliness focused Volkswagen owner has peeled off the paint code!

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