Finding the right car paint code is the difference between a repair that disappears and one that stands out. At Pinelaki Car Body Shop, we have been matching factory colours in Cyprus since 1991 - over 35 years of computerized colour matching and hand-brush touch-ups for every major car brand on the island. This guide shows you where to find the paint code on the most common models we service, so you can order an exact-match touch-up kit with confidence.

What Is a Car Paint Code?

A car paint code is a short alphanumeric identifier assigned by the manufacturer to uniquely describe the exact factory colour of your vehicle. Most codes are three to six characters long (for example, NH-731P on Honda, 040 on Toyota, or 197 on Mercedes-Benz). Two cars of the same make and model can leave the factory with different codes, which is why guessing the colour by eye almost always produces a visible mismatch. The paint code is the single piece of information a professional colour mixer needs to reproduce your original finish.

Where to Find Your Paint Code?

Every manufacturer hides the code in a slightly different spot, but there are four common locations worth checking first:

Driver's door jamb - a paper or metal sticker on the door frame or the inside edge of the door itself. This is the most common location on European and Japanese cars.
Glove box or passenger compartment - inside the glove compartment lid or on the firewall behind it, common on older American models.
Under the hood - on the radiator support, strut tower, or firewall, often on BMW and some Audi models.
Boot / trunk area - under the boot lid or on the spare wheel well on certain Ford, Renault, and Peugeot vehicles.

The sticker usually lists several codes. Look specifically for a line labelled Color, Colour, Paint, C/Trim, or an icon of a paintbrush.

Which Brand Do You Drive?

Pick your car below for a step-by-step guide with photos showing exactly where the code is on your specific model:

Can I Order Touch-Up Paint Without the Code?

No. The paint code is essential. Ordering by car model alone is a lottery - manufacturers release multiple colours per model each year, and even small shade differences are obvious on metallic and pearl finishes. Once you have the code, you can order touch-up paint matched to your car's exact factory colour. We mix every bottle on demand at our Nicosia workshop, so the paint you receive is calibrated to the real colour of your vehicle, not a generic approximation.

What If I Cannot Find My Paint Code?

If the sticker is faded, missing, or painted over, we can still help. Bring the car to our workshop at Mesokeleos 15, Pallouriotissa, Nicosia and we will read the colour with a spectrophotometer directly off a clean panel - the same device manufacturers use to calibrate their own paint lines. For a faster first step, use our free AI damage estimate tool or call us on +357 99228438 with your VIN and we will look up the factory colour record before you drive over.

How Do I Find My Car Paint Code on My Own Brand?

Use the table below as a shortcut. Every row is a model we have photographed in the workshop: the exact spot the label sits on that car, what it looks like when you are staring at it, and the shape of the code you should end up holding. Cyprus is right-hand drive, so where the location depends on the side of the car, the side we give is the side as it is here - not as it was in the country the car was built for.

Car	Where the label sits	What you are looking for	Code format
BMW X6 (E71, F16, G06)	Driver's-side front door jamb; on the older E71, the driver's-side strut tower under the bonnet	Black panel carrying the BMW logo	3 digits, e.g. 475 - occasionally a letter first, e.g. A96
Mercedes-Benz C-Class (W204, 2007-2014)	Driver's-side front door pillar	Small black Mercedes-Benz panel	3 digits, e.g. 197 - sometimes with a 9 in front (9197)
Mercedes-Benz E-Class (2003-2009)	Passenger-side front door pillar	Sticker or metal plate, line labelled Paint or Color	3 digits, e.g. 040 or 744 - sometimes C-prefixed (C744)
Mercedes GLK (X204, 2008-2015)	Driver's-side door jamb, low on the B-pillar just above the sill	Black rectangular VIN plate with white text - the colour code sits on the same plate	3 digits
Toyota Yaris (XP210, 2020)	Driver's-side door jamb	Sticker with the code printed after the letters C/TR	3 characters, e.g. 070 or 1G3
Mazda 3 / Axela (2014-2018)	Driver's-side front door jamb	Line labelled COLOR	2-3 characters, e.g. 42A
Mazda CX-5 (2012-UP)	Passenger-side front door jamb	Line labelled COLOR or PAINT	3 characters, e.g. 45P or 38P
Honda Civic, 10th generation (2016-2021)	Left-hand front door jamb (passenger side in Cyprus)	Black Honda panel, section labelled COLOR or PAINT	Letters and numbers, e.g. NH-737M
Honda HR-V (2013-2022)	Driver's-side front door jamb	Black Honda label	6 characters, e.g. NH788P
Honda Accord, 7th generation (2002-2007)	Not the door jamb - under the bonnet, on the left-hand suspension strut tower	Small rectangular sticker on the strut itself	Letters and numbers, e.g. NH623M
Kia Sportage (SL, 2011-2016)	Left-hand front door jamb (passenger side in Cyprus)	Black panel with the Kia name and logo	2-3 characters, e.g. D5 or GYB
Mini Cooper (2002-present)	Under the bonnet, on the inner fender wall above the tyre, driver's side	Sticker labelled Colour or Paint	Code with a slash, e.g. 668/9
Renault Megane II (X84, 2002-2012)	Driver's-side front door jamb	Sticker or metal plate, section labelled Paint or Color	Letters and numbers, e.g. TE266
Peugeot 307 (2005)	Driver's-side front door jamb	Sticker, section labelled Paint or Color	Short letter code, e.g. EZQC
Smart fortwo 451 / Brabus (2012-2015)	Driver's-side front door jamb	Sticker or metal plate labelled Paint or Color	Usually 3 characters
Chevrolet / Isuzu pickup (1972-2002)	Under the bonnet, at the back of the engine bay on the firewall or inner fender	Line labelled B. Color/Trim	First 3 digits, e.g. 718 out of 718-12U

Two things are worth knowing before you order. First, the VIN plate and the paint-code label are not always separate stickers - on the Mercedes GLK the colour code is printed on the same black VIN panel, while on BMW and Mini it can sit on its own label in the engine bay. Second, the door jamb is the most likely place, not the only one: if the label there is faded or painted over, the engine-bay location we list for another car from the same maker is usually the factory backup. If no code turns up anywhere, we read the colour off the panel itself - see how we match a colour without a code.

How Do I Order Car Touch-Up Paint by Colour Code?

Once you have the code, ordering touch-up paint by colour code takes a minute. Enter it in our paint shop and we mix that exact formula on demand at the Nicosia workshop, with free delivery across Cyprus. If your code is a pearl or tri-coat colour, one bottle will not reproduce the finish - it needs a base coat plus a separate pearl mid-coat, which we supply as a kit and explain in tri-coat pearl paint explained. And if the damage is wider than a few stone chips, a touch-up bottle is the wrong tool: compare the options in touch-up paint versus a professional repair. For reference, a single-panel respray here starts at EUR 100-200 for the paint itself, with dent repair, dismantling and colour blending priced on the condition of the panel; a full-car respray runs EUR 1,500-4,000 depending on colour and preparation. Current figures are on our pricing page, or send photos through the free AI damage estimate and we will come back with a number.

Find Your Car Paint Code -- Guides by Brand and Model (Cyprus)