Chevrolet
Where is the paint code on a Chevrolet?
Driver's-door B-pillar Certification label - scan the 2D QR/data-matrix code (all 2018-and-later Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac and GMC vehicles) to list every RPO code fitted, paint included.
Step by step
- Open the driver's door and find the Certification label on the B-pillar or door jamb.
- Scan the square 2D QR/data-matrix code on that label with a phone. It returns the VIN plus the full RPO list.
- In the returned list, the paint RPO is the three-character code starting with G (e.g. GAZ, G6M, GXD).
- If the vehicle predates the QR label, open the glove box and read the 'Service Parts Identification' (SPID) placard instead - it prints the same RPO list as plain text.
- Cross-check against the WA number if you are buying touch-up paint: retailers index by WA, not RPO.
If the sticker is missing or faded
- Service Parts Identification (SPID) placard - glove box on Silverado/Sierra; trunk floor or driver's door panel on cars
- Original window sticker (Monroney), which names the exterior colour in plain language
- Dealer parts department VIN lookup, which returns the build's full RPO list
- GM Vehicle Diagnostics / MyChevrolet app build data for later vehicles
Is the paint code in the VIN?
No. A VIN does not encode paint color. We checked this directly against the US government's vehicle database (NHTSA vPIC): a VIN decode returns 140 fields, and none of them is exterior color or paint code.
A dealer can look your color up from your VIN because it is recorded on the build sheet held by the manufacturer — but it cannot be read out of the seventeen characters themselves. Any site claiming to decode paint color from a VIN alone is either querying a build-record database or guessing.