You must have hit your car umpteenth number of times against an assortment of objects inviting minor to significant damages each time.
And in some cases, even some color must have got removed or scratched out, thus making it look undesirable. If yes, you’ll indeed decide to touch up the paint either through professional aid or by yourself.
If it’s the former case, the professional will have the skills to determine the color code by merely a quick visual inspection of your car.
However, the same won’t work for you. In your case, you will have to determine your car’s paint code.
Without the correct paint code, you will end up applying the wrong color shade on the affected area only to make things appear worse than before.
But how to find this paint code? Does the car’s VIN consist of the paint code? Let’s find out.
What is the VIN [Vehicle Identification Number]?
You must have come across the term vehicle identification number or VIN, in short, an ample number of times whenever you wished to find out some specific information about your car.
Right? So, this VIN is a unique code (a car’s fingerprint) that’s 17 characters long and combines digits and capital letters.
It acts as a unique identifier for the vehicles that come in handy in multiple situations like registration, insurance claims, thefts, and much more. No two vehicles can ever have an identical VIN.
How to find the paint code of my car by VIN?
You will not find the paint code of your car by VIN( Vehicle Identification Number ). To find your paint code, either you look at the vehicle certification label or insurance card.
First and foremost, your car’s VIN doesn’t mention your car’s paint code directly, and you will need to decode it through either a car dealer or the car manufacturer.
Hence, first, you need to figure out the car’s VIN, for which there are multiple ways to do so. You can find some of them below.
Where is VIN located?
So, you have to complete your car’s paint job or give an excellent touch-up of the paint. In either case, you will need your car’s VIN beside the other general details.
While there are multiple ways to figure out the car’s VIN, the following are the quickest ways to do so.
Check the dashboard of your car.
The dashboard is the most common location where you can find your car’s VIN irrespective of its brand or model.
However, most cars feature their unique identification number at the dashboard’s meeting point and windshield at the driver’s end. In most cases, a VIN is on a metal plate. It is displayed so that anyone can figure it out, even from the outside.
Check the driver’s side doorjamb.
If not on the dashboard, you can check the driver’s side doorjamb, where the VIN is more likely to appear inscribed on a metal plate attached to the jamb.
Don’t forget to check your insurance card.
Now, this is the quickest way to locate your car’s VIN. If you have your car’s insurance, you can determine its identification number from the insurance card.
Being an important document, always store the insurance card and the other car documents like repair records, owner’s manual, etc.
Check the spot underneath the spare tire.
Some brands also list the VIN underneath the car’s spare tire in the trunk. So, don’t forget to check that spot.
Owner manual
The car’s owner manual is commonplace to get its complete details and the VIN. So, don’t forget to examine the manual if you have bought a new car.
Rear wheels
You can also locate the car’s unique identification number behind the rear wheels.
Other locations
The VIN is also present in other locations throughout your car, for example, the engine’s firewall, transmission unit, etc. Why? It is because cars, when stolen, are either sold as a whole unit or in the form of different parts.
If the VIN is present in multiple locations, matching the VIN can help the car trackers figure out the car’s separate parts more easily.
Does the VIN tell paint color?
No, your car’s VIN does not tell you directly about the paint color, but yes, you can use the VIN color to find anything about the paint.
You will need to find out the car’s unique identification number and dictate it to the car dealer or manufacturer.
Being professional, they will decode the vehicle identification numbers provided by you with specific tools or their knowledge.
Using this, you will get the exact color shade of your car. Note that constantly repeat the above procedure if your car needs any paint job done.
Does VIN tell you the interior color?
Like I said above, VIN won’t directly tell about anything about your car’s color code; but, if there are a certain number of digits mentioned below the VIN sticker, you can use them to determine the interior color of your car.
Conclusion
No matter if it’s your new car or an old one, one day, its color would either start to fade away or get scratched out accidentally.
In either case, nothing is better than giving the car a fresh touch of paint. However, there are specific color/paint codes for your home’s colors. The same is for vehicles.
That is, there lies a unique color code for every vehicle that is necessary to have in handy while shopping out for that vehicle’s paint job.
And this color code may or may not be directly available. Hence, the best way in this direction is to have the VIN and decode it to determine the color code.
