- The Mitsubishi’s hood should be opened.
- Check the core assumptions.
- Take a look at the firewall.
- Open the door on the driver’s side.
- Examine the doorjamb.
In This Article...
The VIN number can be used to find paint codes.
The VIN on your automobile can tell you a lot about it, but it can’t tell you what color it is. Where can one find car paint color, then?
Most cars include a list of color codes in the driver’s door jamb. There is usually a tag there that contains details about the car, including the color of the paint. These placards list two paint codes: an interior paint code and an external paint code, which are occasionally referred to as “trim” and “paint,” respectively.
The paint codes can occasionally be more challenging to locate. Check your owner’s manual if you can’t find any information on the paint code in the door jamb. The location of the color code signs is typically indicated, eliminating the need for guesswork.
My car’s paint code can I find by registration?
You might need to find the color code of your car if it needs painting repairs. While some people might think of black as an all-purpose color, each manufacturer has unique paint codes. Even though two colors may appear to be the same, automobile manufacturers produce a wide range of paint colors every year, so you must be aware of the precise color code for your vehicle based on the make, model, and year that it was produced.
How to Find the Colour of your Car
It all boils down to the color code when attempting to determine the precise color of your car. This unique code, which could be made up of a number and/or letter combination, corresponds to a name and paint formula for your vehicle’s exact color.
Fortunately, determining the color code of your automobile isn’t the most difficult thing in the world, and there are various ways to find your paint code within the car. These techniques include looking for the illusive number inside the driver’s door frame, underneath the hood, in the glove box, or in the spare wheel well. The illustration below displays the most typical places where the color code for your car could be listed.
With classic cars, it can be more challenging to identify the exact color code, but it’s not impossible. Depending on the year of manufacture, there are many locations where the code can be located. The code will be located in the engine bay of older vehicles.
Registration Number
Unfortunately, there isn’t a tool available online right now that can deduce the color code of an automobile from the registration (REG) number. The color code for your vehicle should be available from your registration and other information if you get in touch with your neighborhood dealership, though.
Owner’s Manual
The owner’s manual and service history booklet for your automobile should also contain the paint color code. Simply navigate to the index or contents page, and it should send you in the proper route.
What Type of Paint is Used on Cars?
Vehicles are initially sprayed with a primer to assist the paint cling to the metal. To achieve the optimum finish, paint is then applied, followed by lacquer.
Our Favourite Car Colour Names
While conducting our research for this article, we came across a number of creative color names, but the following ones stood out:
- Black panther (Ford)
- Willow berries (Hyundai)
- supple beige (Hyundai)
- twilight blue (Lotus)
- red strawberry (Nissan)
- fragrant aqua (Suzuki)
- Prosecco (Porsche)
Without a code, how can I match the paint on my car?
Here are a few techniques for locating vehicle paint without a code:
Check the vehicle’s service record.
Checking the vehicle’s service history is the first possible approach to locate a code; it should be listed there.
Research your vehicle’s exact model on Google
If the vehicle’s service history and owner’s manual aren’t able to help you locate the code, you can possibly be successful by typing the precise make and model of your car into a search engine. There will be a backlog of vehicle manufacturer paint colors and codes on several websites, making them more accessible than ever.
Spectrophotometer machines
A spectrophotometer is a piece of equipment used to analyze color measurement that you have probably never heard of. It offers spectrum analysis and delivers information with such accuracy that the exact color cannot be distinguished by the human eye. These devices, which are often available at specialized suppliers and paint shops, are ideal if you can’t find a valid automotive paint code anyplace at all.
How can I match paint to a VIN number?
How can I locate my Smart Paint Code? On the same sticker that contains your VIN number, you may find the smart paint color codes. The paint code, which consists of both letters and digits, is located just after the VIN number.
Is there an app that can identify the hue of paint?
Discover the ideal paint color for any interior or exterior painting project with the help of Project Color TM by The Home Depot, an app. From your phone, browse colors.
The Mitsubishi Outlander from 2021 lacks the paint code.
The tag is also visible on the radiator support bar and the door jamb on the driver’s side. The paint color code for your vehicle may occasionally be hidden under the passenger seat’s carpet. Three letters and digits make up the three characters that make up the Mitsubishi paint color code.
Is the logbook painted?
The majority of Mini color codes are located above the wheel arch, under the bonnet. Check the vehicle log book if you can’t find the code here.
Which paint kind is on my car?
To prevent damaging your paint work, it is imperative to ascertain what kind of paint is being applied to the surface of your car.
Learn a fantastic, straightforward method that you can easily complete at home to identify the type of paint on your car using the VIN.
Prior to the development of high-tech polyurethane paint products, cars were painted with either acrylic lacquer or acrylic enamel paint. Each had special qualities on its own.
Because they dried quickly and were simple to use, acrylic enamel paints could usually be coated in one or two layers without the need for a clear coat or rubbing away.
Although acrylic lacquer auto paint needed several coats, it could be swiftly redone and flaws were easily removed. The painter was able to almost quickly correct surface flaws thanks to the quick drying time.
Despite the fact that acrylic enamel paint and acrylic lacquer vehicle paint products each have unique advantages, they cannot be used in conjunction on automobile bodies due to their incompatibility.
Spraying acrylic enamel paint over acrylic lacquer vehicle paint wouldn’t be a problem if the surfaces were ready and the environment was suitable.
On the other hand, putting acrylic lacquer auto paint over acrylic enamel paint will nearly always cause wrinkling or other serious surface flaws.
- Spraying enamel over lacquer
- Spraying lacquer over enamel
This is because the solvent foundation in acrylic lacquer vehicle paint (lacquer thinner), which is used to create acrylic enamel paint products, is too strong for the soft materials they are made of.
Compatibility across products is still crucial today. Additionally, this isn’t limited to just enamel, lacquer, or urethane paints.
Every component of a complete paint system must work well with both the surface material to which it will be applied and with every other component.
For instance, using a BASF hardener and a PPG reducer in a DuPont paint solution is a recipe for disaster.
The color, adhesion, and surface flow of that combination may possibly suffer as a result because the various products were not created as components of a single, compatible paint system.
How to tell what kind of paint your car has right now:
Find out what kind of paint is currently applied to the surface of your car, whether it be enamel, lacquer, or urethane paints, before you buy paint for it.
As enamels and lacquers are fast being phased out, all factory paint jobs on more recent automobiles will be urethane-based.
It can be worthwhile to inquire about the type of paint used when your car was manufactured at your neighborhood auto paint supply business.
There should be a precise colour code stated on the vehicle ID tag so that you can determine this for yourself.
The vehicle identification number (VIN) on older vehicles or a separate paint and options tag on newer vehicles can also be used to identify the precise type of paint and color.
All of this makes it easier to identify materials when you want to match the paint already on them.
You must have the paint code numbers from the paint can that was used during the repaint if your car has been painted since it left the factory.
If this is not possible, speak with the person who painted the building to ask them for the necessary details.
You will need to test a hidden section of the automobile with lacquer thinner if you are unable to identify the specific paint codes or information about the type of paint used on your car. You may even want to test an area that has been designated for a repaint.
Use a patch of paint to test the reaction by rubbing it on a clean, white cloth that has been dampened with lacquer thinner.
Enamel paint is evident if the color rubs off right away or the patch begins to wrinkle.
However, lacquer paint can be identified if the color only comes off onto the white linen after thorough rubbing.
How to tell whether your car has a clear coat:
Sand a hidden area of your car with 600-grit or finer sandpaper to see if the finish has layers of transparent paint over the underlying color.
A clear coat finish is evident by a white sanding residue. Only a color material was employed to paint the body, as evidenced by a color residue.
It is crucial to identify the exact type of paint that is existing on the surface of the car before applying new paint.
The only real exception to this rule is when, after stripping the car body to its bare metal, a whole new paint scheme must be taken into account.
Our recommendation would be to speak with a knowledgeable employee of an auto paint supply store if you are at all uncertain about the sort of paint on your automobile following this test or if you have any other queries or issues relating to it.
Always keep in mind that adding the wrong coatings to an existing finish runs the risk of ruining your entire paint work.
Have you liked the blog? Visit the LABAP VIP course to learn how to become a master in auto body and paint from the comfort of your own home!
Other Beneficial Links
How to Check a Car’s Bodywork | Clues That a Car Was Painted or in an Accident