GMC Paint Code: Where to Find It and How to Read It
The exact label to look for on a GMC, how the code is printed, what people mistake it for, and 11 verified GMC colour codes.
NHTSA vPIC has no colour field, so no VIN decoder returns one. The label on the vehicle is the reliable route.
On a GMC the paint code is on the Service Parts Identification label, a white or silver sticker normally inside the glove box on trucks and SUVs. Look for the heading BC/CC near the bottom; the code sits to its right, either as a three-character RPO such as GAZ or as a WA number such as WA8624. A 17-character VIN does not contain it.
Where is the paint code on a GMC?
- Glove box. The Service Parts Identification label (SPID) is a white or silver sticker on the inside of the glove box door or the rear wall of the box. It carries the VIN, wheelbase and a block of three-character RPO codes, with the paint code on a BC/CC line. This is the first place to look on Sierra, Canyon, Yukon, Acadia, Terrain, Envoy, Jimmy, Sonoma and S15 from roughly the mid-1980s through current trucks. PaintScratch and AutomotiveTouchup both name the glove box first for GMC, and GM's own TechLink describes the pre-2018 SPID label as sitting in the trunk or glove box.
- Driver-side B-pillar certification label. 2018 model year onward. GM added a QR code to the certification label on all Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC models; that label is on the driver-side B-pillar and is visible with the driver's door open. The paint code is printed at the lower left of the QR code, and scanning the code returns VIN, model year, model, build month, order number, RPO codes and then the paint code as the final field. Source: GM TechLink, Mid-May 2018. Many 2018-on trucks still carry a glove-box SPID label as well, so check both.
- Driver-side door pillar or spare tire well. Sources disagree on these. PaintScratch says the GMC label may also sit on the driver-side door pillar or in the spare tire well and does not tie that to specific years; AutomotiveTouchup puts the same trucks and SUVs in the glove box only. Treat the door opening and the spare tire area as the second and third places to look on any model year, and especially on 1990s and 2000s trucks whose glove-box sticker has been peeled, faded or replaced with the glove box itself.
- Vans, Safari and cab-chassis. AutomotiveTouchup lists separate spots for the commercial line, across the model runs of those nameplates rather than one year range: Savana and older full-size vans, on the left side under the driver seat or on the rear face of the right-hand door pillar; Safari, on the rear face of the passenger door; Topkick, on the lower cab side wall behind the passenger seat. On these vehicles the glove box is often empty of any label.
How to read the GMC paint code
The field label is BC/CC, short for base coat / clear coat, printed on the lower part of the Service Parts Identification label with the code to its right. GMC uses two interchangeable forms for the same paint: a three-character RPO code, either a G plus two alphanumerics on newer vehicles (GAZ, GBA, GA0, G1W) or two digits plus a letter on older ones (41U, 17U, 50T); and the manufacturing number, WA plus four characters that may be all digits or three digits and a letter (WA8624, WA636R, WA140X, WA327E). On the label the WA prefix is often replaced by U for upper body or L for lower body, so U8624 and WA8624 are the same paint. What people grab by mistake: the interior trim RPO, which sits in the same alphanumeric block and typically ends in I (for example 83I), and wheel or seat codes. Neither is a paint code.
- Open the glove box and check the inside of the door and the rear wall for a white or silver Service Parts Identification label listing the VIN and a block of three-character codes.
- If nothing is there, open the driver's door and check the pillar and door opening, then the spare tire well; on a Savana look under the driver seat or on the rear face of the right-hand door pillar.
- On a 2018 or newer GMC, read the certification label on the driver-side B-pillar: the paint code is printed at the lower left of the QR code, and scanning the QR code returns it as the last field after the RPO list.
- Find the BC/CC heading and read the characters to its right. On a two-tone truck read both entries, the U code for the upper body and the L code for the lower body.
- Confirm the characters against a manufacturer colour name before you buy paint, for example GAZ or WA8624 for Summit White, using a refinish supplier or an established paint cross-reference.
- If no label survives, give the VIN to a GMC dealer parts counter so they can pull the factory build record, or have a body shop read the panel with a spectrophotometer.
Common GMC paint codes
| Code | GMC colour name | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| GAZ / WA8624 | Summit White | Sierra, Canyon, Yukon, Acadia, Savana and Terrain, in production for decades. Appears as 50, 50U or 50T on older labels, and as Olympic White in some older GM references. |
| GBA / WA8555 | Onyx Black | Sierra, Canyon, Savana and Yukon among others. The same paint shows as 41, 41U or 41C on labels from the 1980s to the early 2010s. |
| GAN / WA636R | Quicksilver Metallic | Sierra 1500/2500/3500, Savana, Terrain and Acadia. Shown as 17 or 17U on older labels, and sold as Silver Ice Metallic on Chevrolet. |
| G9K / WA464C | Satin Steel Metallic | Acadia, Canyon, Sierra and Yukon, roughly 2018 onward. |
| GA0 / WA619D | Pacific Blue Metallic | Sierra 1500/2500/3500 from about 2019. Often written GAO with a letter O by suppliers; the label uses a zero. |
| GLT / WA327E | Dynamic Blue Metallic | Sierra 1500 and Canyon, about 2020 onward. |
| GLU / WA328E | Midnight Blue Metallic | Acadia and Yukon, about 2020 onward. Easy to confuse with the two blues above in photographs. |
| GB8 / WA384A | Ebony Twilight Metallic | Acadia, Terrain and Sierra 1500/2500/3500, about 2016 onward. |
| G7C / WA130X | Cardinal Red | Sierra and Savana, about 2014 onward. A solid red, not one of GMC's tricoat reds. |
| G1W / WA140X | White Frost Tricoat | Sierra, Yukon, Acadia and Terrain. Three-stage pearl: one code on the label, three spray steps in the shop. |
| G6M / WA618G | Titanium Rush Metallic | Sierra 1500 and Yukon, about 2022 onward. |
This list is not every colour GMC has sold. Always confirm against the label on your own vehicle before ordering paint.
What to know before you order paint
- A 17-character VIN does not encode paint colour. We queried NHTSA's free vPIC decoder directly: its full variable list runs to 144 variables with no colour or paint field, and a live decode of a GM VIN returns 154 output fields, none of which is colour. Any service advertising a paint code from a VIN alone is either querying a manufacturer build record behind the scenes or inferring from the model. This site does not return paint codes from a VIN.
- GM's own service publication TechLink (Mid-May 2018) states that from the 2018 model year a QR code was added to the certification label on all Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC models, that the label sits on the driver-side B-pillar, and that "the paint code also appears in the lower left of the QR code". It also confirms the earlier SPID label lived in the trunk or glove box.
- Sources disagree on secondary label locations. PaintScratch lists the glove box, the driver-side door pillar and the spare tire well for GMC without tying them to model years; AutomotiveTouchup lists the glove box for Sierra, Canyon, Yukon, Acadia and Terrain, with different spots for Savana, Safari and Topkick. Check the glove box first, then the door opening.
- The same GM code carries different marketing names by brand, so match on the code rather than the name. PaintRef's cross-reference shows GAN / WA636R as Quicksilver Metallic on a GMC and Silver Ice Metallic on a Chevrolet, and lists the corresponding PPG, DuPont, BASF and Sherwin-Williams numbers for each.
- GMC prints one code per painted area. AutomotiveTouchup and PaintScratch both describe two-tone vehicles as carrying a U code for the upper body and an L code for the lower body and cladding, for example BC/CC U8624 alongside BC/CC L8555. Tricoat and pearl finishes such as White Frost Tricoat still show a single code even though the refinish is three stages.
GMC and refinish sources
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- QR Code on Certification Label Offers More RPO Codes, TechLink Mid-May 2018General Motors (GM TechLink)
- GMC Paint Code Location and How to Read ItPaintScratch
- How to Find GMC Paint Codes for Precision-Matched Touch-Up PaintAutomotiveTouchup
- GMC paint colour code cross-reference (RPO, WA, PPG, DuPont, BASF, Sherwin-Williams)PaintRef.com
- vPIC VIN decoding API and vehicle variable listNHTSA
GMC paint code questions
Can I find my GMC paint code from the VIN?
No. The 17-character VIN encodes plant, body style, engine, model year and a check digit, but not paint. NHTSA's free vPIC decoder returns over 150 fields for a GM VIN and none of them is colour. Sites advertising a paint code from a VIN are either reading a manufacturer build record or guessing from the model. Read the label on the vehicle instead.
Where is the paint code on a GMC Sierra?
Inside the glove box, on the Service Parts Identification label. It is a white or silver sticker printed with the VIN, the wheelbase and a block of three-character RPO codes. Near the bottom there is a heading reading BC/CC, and the paint code sits immediately to its right. If the glove box is bare, check the driver-side door opening and the spare tire well next.
Can I find the exact blue metallic paint code for my GMC?
Yes, but only from the label, because GMC has sold several blue metallics at the same time. Recent examples are Pacific Blue Metallic GA0 / WA619D, Dynamic Blue Metallic GLT / WA327E and Midnight Blue Metallic GLU / WA328E. They look alike in photographs and will not blend if you pick the wrong one. Read the BC/CC code, then order paint by that code.
What does BC/CC mean on the GMC label?
Base coat / clear coat. It is the field label GM prints next to the exterior paint code on the Service Parts Identification sticker, telling a refinisher the factory finish is a colour coat under a separate clear. The characters to the right of BC/CC are what you order paint by. A line reading BC/CC U 8624, for example, means Summit White.
My GMC is two-tone. Which code do I use?
Both codes. GMC prints one per painted area, with U for the upper body and L for the lower body and cladding, for example BC/CC U8624 with BC/CC L8555. Use the upper code for doors, roof and hood, and the lower code for rockers, bumpers and lower cladding. Note that a single-colour truck often still shows the U prefix on its one code.
The label in my glove box is missing. What are my options?
Take the VIN to a GMC dealer parts counter. Dealers can pull the factory build record, which does hold the colour, and that is the only accurate route once the label is gone. A body shop can also read the panel with a spectrophotometer and mix to that reading, which accounts for fade. Do not order paint from a colour name alone.
Is the three-letter code the same as the WA number?
Yes, they are two names for one paint. GAZ and WA8624 are both Summit White; GBA and WA8555 are both Onyx Black. The G-code is the RPO that GM uses on the order sheet and the label, while the WA number is the manufacturing code paint suppliers cross-reference. Older GMCs use a short numeric form instead, such as 41U or 17U.
Where is the paint code on a 2018 or newer GMC?
On the certification label on the driver-side B-pillar, visible with the driver's door open. GM added a QR code to that label from the 2018 model year, and the paint code is printed at the lower left of the QR code. Scanning the QR code returns the VIN, build details and RPO codes, with the paint code last. Many trucks still carry a glove-box label too.