Honda Paint Code: Where to Find It and How to Read It
The exact label to look for on a Honda, how the code is printed, what people mistake it for, and 12 verified Honda 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 Honda, the paint code is on the barcoded label in the driver's door jamb, by the latch — refinishers call it the color tag or service tag. The exterior code reads as one or two letters, two to four digits, and usually an M (metallic) or P (pearl) suffix, like NH-731P. A 17-character VIN does not encode it; the label does.
Where is the paint code on a Honda?
- Driver-side door jamb. The primary location on effectively every Honda from the mid-1990s onward. The exterior color code prints on the barcoded service tag on the latch side of the door opening. Sources disagree on the exact spot on the tag: PaintScratch says directly beneath the barcode near the center, Youcanic says along the bottom of the sticker — read the whole label rather than one line. Honda does not caption it "PAINT", so identify it by its shape (letters, digits, then M or P).
- Passenger-side door jamb. The fallback on a minority of cars and on any Honda whose driver-side pillar has been repaired or repainted. PaintScratch advises checking the passenger jamb when the driver's side has no color tag. The layout of the tag is identical.
- Firewall or engine bay. Common on older Hondas, roughly pre-2000, and on a handful of specific models. AutomotiveTouchup notes that some Hondas carry the code on the firewall; ScratchesHappen tells owners to check the passenger, middle and driver sections of the firewall. Sources do not agree on which model years and models moved it, so check both the jamb and the engine bay before concluding the label is gone.
How to read the Honda paint code
Honda codes are a color-family prefix, digits, then a finish letter: NH covers whites, silvers, grays and blacks; B blue; R red; G green; Y yellow; YR brown, beige and orange; with BG, RP and PB used occasionally. M means metallic, P means pearl, and solid colors carry no suffix at all (NH-578 Taffeta White, R-513 Rallye Red, NH-0 Championship White). The hyphen is cosmetic — NH731P and NH-731P are the same paint. Unlike Toyota, which boxes the code after "C/" on its C/TR plate, Honda usually prints the code on its own line under the barcode with no spelled-out "PAINT" field, so identify it by shape rather than by a caption. A trailing factory code (NH-603P-1, NH578-4, NH-623M-A) marks the plant-specific variant and belongs with the code when you order. Two things on the same label get mistaken for it: the interior trim code, which also starts with NH but ends in L (NH-167L Graphite Black), and the 17-character VIN.
- Open the driver's door and look at the jamb on the latch side, at roughly seat-back height, for a barcoded white or silver tag printed with the VIN and a block of short codes.
- Find the entry that matches Honda's pattern: one or two letters, two to four digits, then M, P or nothing — for example NH-731P. On most Hondas it prints under the barcode or on the bottom line of the tag.
- Ignore the two lookalikes on the same label: the 17-character VIN, and any code ending in L (NH-167L and similar), which is the interior trim color.
- Copy the code exactly, including any trailing factory code such as -1, -4 or -A, since that identifies the plant-specific mix of the same color.
- If the tag is missing or unreadable, check the passenger-side door jamb, then the firewall and slam panel in the engine bay, which is where older Hondas often carry it.
- Verify the code against Honda's own name for that color on your model year before ordering — NH-883P should come back as Platinum White Pearl — and confirm whether it is a tri-coat, which needs basecoat, midcoat and clear.
Common Honda paint codes
| Code | Honda colour name | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| NH-731P | Crystal Black Pearl | Honda's long-running black; sold by Honda as touch-up part 08703-NH731P-ES and used across most models from the late 2000s onward |
| NH-883P | Platinum White Pearl | Three-stage tri-coat. Honda parts catalogs list the touch-up part 08703-NH883P-ES for 2018-2025 models |
| NH-788P | White Orchid Pearl | Three-stage tri-coat, common on Accord, CR-V and Odyssey through the 2010s |
| NH-603P | White Diamond Pearl | Three-stage tri-coat; often printed with a variant suffix such as NH-603P-1 |
| NH-877P | Sonic Gray Pearl | Honda touch-up part 08703-NH877PAH-A1 is catalogued for 2020-2025 models (Civic, Accord, CR-V) |
| NH-797M | Modern Steel Metallic | Honda touch-up part 08703-NH797M-ES is catalogued for 2016-2025 models |
| NH-830M | Lunar Silver Metallic | Honda touch-up part 08703-NH830M-ES is catalogued for 2016-2025 models |
| NH-700M | Alabaster Silver Metallic | Widely used silver on 2000s and early 2010s Civic, Accord and CR-V |
| NH-578 | Taffeta White | Solid white with no finish suffix; paint databases list it on Honda and Acura models from the mid-1990s to about 2018, often as NH578-4 |
| R-513 | Rallye Red | Solid red, no suffix; Civic and Fit. Sold by Honda as a genuine touch-up pen |
| R-81 | Milano Red | Solid red of the Civic Si and S2000 era; still listed in Honda's touch-up paint catalog |
| B-593M | Aegean Blue Metallic | Listed by touch-up suppliers for 2016-2022 Civic and 2020-2022 CR-V |
This list is not every colour Honda 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 contain the paint code. We decoded Honda VINs through NHTSA's free vPIC service (vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov) and the response carries 154 fields — make, model, body class, engine, plant city — with no color or paint field of any kind. Sites advertising "paint code by VIN" are either querying a manufacturer build record behind the scenes, the way a Honda dealer parts counter does, or inferring from which colors that model year offered. Free VIN Lookup does not return a paint code from a VIN.
- The 11th VIN character is the assembly plant, not the color. Decoding Honda VINs through NHTSA vPIC returns A = Marysville, Ohio; H = Alliston, Ontario; B = Lincoln, Alabama. PaintScratch and Express Paint both use that same character as Honda's "factory code" — the suffix in NH-623M-A or NH-603P-1 — because a color can be mixed slightly differently by plant. It narrows the variant; it never produces the color on its own.
- Pearl and tri-coat colors carry one code on the label but need three products. PaintScratch and Express Paint both sell NH-883P Platinum White Pearl, NH-788P White Orchid Pearl and NH-603P White Diamond Pearl as tri-coats: basecoat, translucent pearl midcoat, then clear. Honda does not print a second code for the midcoat, so a shop reading only the code has to know the color is three-stage.
- Honda interior trim codes share the NH prefix and are the most common misread. Honda's own parts catalogs list NH-167L as Graphite Black interior trim on armrests and seat covers — an interior code ends in L, an exterior code ends in M, P, or nothing.
- The Honda Prologue (2024 on), built with General Motors, breaks the pattern: Honda dealer touch-up paint catalogs list its colors under GM-style codes — WA-140X Snowfall Pearl, WA-139P North Shore Pearl, WA-8555 Raven Black — rather than Honda's NH, B and R codes.
Honda and refinish sources
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- Honda Paint Code Location and How to Read ItPaintScratch
- How to Find Honda Paint Codes for Precision-Matched Touch-Up PaintAutomotiveTouchup
- vPIC VIN Decoder API (DecodeVinValues)NHTSA
- Genuine Honda Touch Up Paint - part 08703 (code and color-name catalog)College Hills Honda
- Honda Touch Up Paint *NH883P* (Platinum White Pearl) 08703-NH883P-ESHonda Factory Parts
Honda paint code questions
Can I get my Honda paint code from the VIN?
No. A 17-character VIN encodes the manufacturer, body, engine, model year, assembly plant and serial number — not the paint. Decoding a Honda VIN through NHTSA's free vPIC service returns 154 fields and none of them is color. A Honda dealer parts counter can look up the color because they query Honda's build record for that VIN, which is a different database. The label in your door jamb is the reliable route.
Where is the paint code on a Honda Civic, Accord or CR-V?
Same place on all three: open the driver's door and read the barcoded tag on the jamb where the door latches. The exterior color code sits near the bottom of that tag, usually under the barcode. Older Hondas, roughly pre-2000, sometimes carry it on a plate or sticker on the firewall in the engine bay instead, so check there if the jamb tag has nothing that matches the pattern.
What does NH mean in a Honda paint code?
NH is Honda's prefix for neutral colors — whites, silvers, grays and blacks. B is blue, R is red, G is green, Y is yellow and YR covers browns, beiges and oranges. The letter after the digits describes the finish: M for metallic, P for pearl, nothing for a solid color. So NH-830M is a neutral metallic (Lunar Silver Metallic) and R-513 is a solid red (Rallye Red).
Is the paint code the same as the interior trim code?
No, and they look alike, which is why people order the wrong paint. Honda interior trim codes also start with NH but end in L — NH-167L is Graphite Black interior plastic, not a body color. The exterior code ends in M, P or nothing at all. If the code on your label ends in L, keep reading the label; the paint code is a separate entry.
Do Honda and Acura use the same paint code system?
Yes. Acura uses the same prefixes, digits and M/P suffixes, and the code sits on the same driver-side door jamb tag. Some codes appear on both brands: NH-578 Taffeta White is listed for Honda models and for the Acura Vigor. The exception in Honda's lineup is the Prologue, built with General Motors, which carries GM-format codes such as WA-140X Snowfall Pearl.
What if the door jamb label is missing, painted over or unreadable?
Check the passenger-side door jamb first, then the firewall and slam panel in the engine bay. A missing driver-side label usually means the car has had collision repair on that pillar. If nothing turns up, a Honda dealer parts department can read the factory color from your VIN out of Honda's build record. Do not guess from the color name — Honda has used several similar whites and grays at once.
Why doesn't my touch-up paint match even with the right code?
Two usual causes. First, tri-coats: NH-883P Platinum White Pearl, NH-788P White Orchid Pearl and NH-603P White Diamond Pearl are three-stage colors needing basecoat, a translucent pearl midcoat and clear, and the shade shifts with how many midcoat passes you lay down. Second, plant variants: the same code can be mixed slightly differently, which is what the trailing factory code (NH-603P-1, NH-623M-A) identifies.