2018 Subaru Forester
9 factory colors were offered on the Fourth generation (SJ) Forester. Your code is on the driver's door jamb sticker on the line marked C/TR — the characters before the slash.
This is the earliest model year currently in our database for the Forester, so there is no prior year to compare against.
Verified against 3 independent sources: Subaru of America 2018 Forester retail brochure, 'Color Combinations' matrix p.12 and Black Edition copy - https://cdn.dealereprocess.org/cdn/brochures/subaru/2018-forester.pdf; PaintRef Subaru 2018 colour cross-reference, Forester rows - https://paintref.com/cgi-bin/colorcodedisplay.cgi?manuf=Subaru&year=2018&rows=100; Subaru U.S. Media Center, 'Subaru of America Debuts Limited Edition Models to Commemorate 50th Anniversary' (Heritage Blue, 1,050 units) - https://media.subaru.com/pressrelease/1246/1/subaru-america-debuts-limited-edition-models-commemorate-50th.
Final year of the SJ generation. Eight catalogue colours plus one limited-edition colour. Sepia Bronze Metallic (M4Y) was Touring-only; Jasmine Green Metallic (H5Q) was not offered on the 2.0XT turbo trims. The Black Edition package was limited to four colours - the brochure states it is available in Crystal Black Silica, Crystal White Pearl, Ice Silver Metallic and Dark Gray Metallic. Heritage Blue (P9Y) was exclusive to the 50th Anniversary Edition - 800 units of 2.5i Touring and 250 of 2.0XT Touring, 1,050 total. Final year for Jasmine Green, Quartz Blue and Venetian Red on the Forester.
Where to find your paint code
Under the hood, on the strut tower or firewall plate — Subaru does not put the paint code on the door jamb.
Driver's door jamb
- Open the hood and look at the driver's side strut tower and the firewall.
- Find the small metal or foil plate carrying the model and colour codes.
- The paint code is the three-character entry, often labelled COLOR CODE or COLOR NO.
- On some model years the plate is on the passenger side instead — check both.
If the sticker is missing or faded
- Genuine Subaru touch-up part numbers embed the code — part J361SAJ090A1 is Carbide Gray, code K6U.
- Any Subaru dealer parts desk can look the code up from your VIN.
Other Forester years
Color availability changed year to year. Codes often carried over; names sometimes did not.