Infiniti Paint Code: Where to Find It and How to Read It
The exact label to look for on a Infiniti, how the code is printed, what people mistake it for, and 12 verified Infiniti colour codes.
NHTSA vPIC has no colour field, so no VIN decoder returns one. The label on the vehicle is the reliable route.
Infiniti prints the paint code on the manufacturer's information label, usually on the driver's-side door jamb, door edge or hinge area; on 1990s and early-2000s models it is a plate on the engine-bay firewall instead. The code follows the heading COLOR and is three characters mixing letters and digits — KH3, K23, QAA. A 17-character VIN does not contain it.
Where is the paint code on a Infiniti?
- Driver-side door jamb. The manufacturer's information label on the B-pillar or door-shut face, and sometimes on the door edge or tucked near the upper hinge. TouchUpDirect and ERA Paints both send every Infiniti owner here first, and AutomotiveTouchup's model chart names the driver-side B-pillar or door jamb as the location for the EX35, G37, M35, M45, QX56 and N40 — broadly the models from the mid-2000s onward.
- Engine-bay firewall. A plate on the firewall, on the passenger side, in the centre, or on the driver side depending on model. AutomotiveTouchup lists the firewall as the primary location for the G20, I30, I35, J30, M30, Q45, QX4, G35 and FX35/FX45 — roughly 1990 through 2007. Sources disagree about which side: AutomotiveTouchup places the G35 and FX on the passenger side or centre and the J30 and M30 on the driver side, while TouchUpDirect and ERA Paints treat the whole firewall as one area to scan, so check all three positions.
- Passenger strut tower or radiator support. Some cars carry a small metal tag rather than a paper sticker. AutomotiveTouchup's own photo set includes an Infiniti tag found on the passenger-side strut tower, and ERA Paints adds the core support to the list for Nissan-built vehicles. Check these when the door jamb and firewall come up empty, particularly on older cars and on vehicles that have had front-end repairs.
How to read the Infiniti paint code
Three characters, printed after the field heading COLOR near the bottom of the label, on the side opposite the barcode. Letters and digits mix freely and position is not fixed: KH3, K23, QAA, GAC, BW5, QAW. AutomotiveTouchup notes that some labels show a fourth character set slightly apart from the first three — the three that sit close together are the code, and the spaced character is ignored. The label prints the code only, never the colour name. Ignore the other fields on the same plate (model, engine, transmission, axle and the interior trim code); the trim code is what people copy by mistake.
- Open the driver's door and look at the manufacturer's information label on the B-pillar or door-shut face. Also check the door edge itself and the area around the upper hinge, where the label is sometimes tucked.
- Find the field headed COLOR, usually along the bottom of the label and on the opposite side from the barcode. The three characters printed after it are the paint code — not the codes for model, engine, transmission, axle or interior trim.
- If the door label has no COLOR field, open the hood. Check the firewall on the passenger side, the centre and the driver side, then the passenger strut tower and the radiator support, where 1990s to mid-2000s Infinitis carry a plate or a small metal tag.
- Copy all three characters exactly and keep zeros and letters straight: K23, KY0, QX1 and KH3 are all real Infiniti codes, and one wrong character produces a different colour.
- Check whether the colour is a tri-coat (QAA, QAB, QAC, NBA and other pearls are) and order base, midcoat and clear accordingly rather than a single-stage mix.
- Verify before you paint: give the code with the year and model to a paint supplier or an Infiniti parts counter, spray a test card, and hold it against a sheltered area of the car in daylight. If the label is gone, INFINITI Consumer Affairs on 800-662-6200 can read the colour from the build record using your VIN.
Common Infiniti paint codes
| Code | Infiniti colour name | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| KH3 | Black Obsidian | Infiniti's standard black, listed on everything from the 2005 G35 to current Q50 and QX60. Nissan catalogues call the same code Super Black. |
| K23 | Liquid Platinum | Silver metallic. Listed for the 2005 G35 through 2022 Q50, Q60, QX55 and QX60; refinish catalogues also call it Brilliant Silver Metallic. |
| KAD | Graphite Shadow | Dark grey metallic on G37, M37, Q50, Q60, QX50, QX55, QX60 and QX80. ERA Paints and AutomotiveTouchup list the same code under the Nissan name, Gun Metallic. |
| QAA | Moonlight White Pearl | Tri-coat white on FX35/FX37, G-series and QX60. Distinct from QAB despite both being pearl whites. |
| QAB | Majestic White | Tri-coat white on Q50, Q60, QX55, QX60 and QX80. AutomotiveTouchup lists the same code plainly as White Pearl, so expect either name on an invoice. |
| QAW | Pure White | Solid non-pearl white; listed for 2019 and 2022 Q50. |
| GAC | Malbec Black | Very dark red-black on Q50 and Q70; AutomotiveTouchup lists it as Malbec Black Metallic. |
| GAT | Mineral Black | Black with fine metallic, listed for Q50, Q60, QX55 and QX60 from about 2014 on. |
| NBA | Dynamic Sunstone Red | Tri-coat red on Q50 and Q60; needs base, midcoat and clear rather than a single-stage mix. |
| CAS | Mocha Almond | Brown metallic listed for Q50, QX55 and QX60 across 2019-2022. |
| BW5 | Twilight Blue | Blue used from the 2005 G35 through 2022 Q50; also catalogued as Twilight Blue Pearl and Hermosa Blue. |
| KX6 | Desert Platinum | Champagne-toned metallic from the G35 era, listed on the 2005 G35 colour chart. |
This list is not every colour Infiniti 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 the paint code. We ran two Infiniti VINs (a 2011 G37 and a 2020 Q50) through NHTSA's public vPIC DecodeVinValues API: it returns 154 fields each — make, model, plant, engine, restraint systems — and not one is colour or paint. Any service promising a paint code from a VIN alone is either querying a manufacturer build record or inferring from the model, and this site does not return paint codes from a VIN.
- The code is three characters of mixed letters and digits. AutomotiveTouchup, TouchUpDirect and ERA Paints state this independently; AutomotiveTouchup adds that where a fourth character appears slightly spaced from the first three, only the three close-together characters are the paint code.
- The location moves by model rather than on a clean model-year cut. AutomotiveTouchup's Infiniti chart puts the label on the engine-bay firewall for the G20, G35, I30, I35, J30, M30, Q45, QX4 and FX35/FX45, and on the driver-side B-pillar or door jamb for the EX35, G37, M35 and QX56, while TouchUpDirect and ERA Paints tell owners of any Infiniti to try the door jamb, edge and hinge first and the firewall second.
- Catalogues give the same code different trade names, so match on the code. TouchUpDirect lists KAD as Graphite Shadow while ERA Paints and AutomotiveTouchup list it as Gun Metallic, and Color N Drive's Australian catalogue calls KH3 Madrid Ebony instead of Black Obsidian.
- No Infiniti-published location diagram was found in this research; the location facts here are corroborated by three independent refinish suppliers. Infiniti's own route to the code is INFINITI Consumer Affairs on 800-662-6200 (number taken from infinitiusa.com's Contact Us page) or a retailer's parts department, both of which read the build record from the VIN.
Infiniti and refinish sources
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- vPIC DecodeVinValues API (returns 154 fields, none for colour)NHTSA
- Infiniti Paint Codes — location chart by modelAutomotiveTouchup
- Infiniti Touch Up Paint — Color Codes & Paint Code LocationTouchUpDirect
- How to Find Your Infiniti Paint CodeERA Paints
- Contact Us — INFINITI Consumer Affairs, 800-662-6200INFINITI USA
Infiniti paint code questions
Can I look up my Infiniti paint code from the VIN?
No. A 17-character VIN does not encode paint colour. NHTSA's free vPIC decoder returns 154 fields for an Infiniti VIN — make, model, plant, engine, restraint systems — and not one of them is colour or paint. Sites advertising a paint code by VIN are either reading a manufacturer build record behind the scenes or guessing from the model. Read the label on the car instead.
How do I find the exact paint code for my blue Infiniti G35?
Read the plate, because blue is not specific enough. AutomotiveTouchup lists five blues for the 2005 G35 alone: B21 Athens Blue Metallic, BW5 Twilight Blue, B16 Crystal Blue Metallic, B30 blue metallic and BW9 dark blue. On the G35 the plate normally sits on the engine-bay firewall, passenger side or centre, rather than the door jamb. The three characters after COLOR are your code.
How accurate are Infiniti paint codes for matching my car's colour?
The code names the factory formula exactly, but it does not account for what a decade of sun did to your paint. Ten-year-old Black Obsidian is not new Black Obsidian, and different suppliers mix the same code slightly differently. Spray a test card, compare it in daylight against a sheltered area such as the inside of the fuel-filler door, and blend into adjacent panels instead of leaving a hard edge.
Does Infiniti print a second code for pearl and tri-coat colours?
No, one three-character code covers the whole finish. Majestic White QAB, Moonlight White Pearl QAA, Moonstone White QAC and Dynamic Sunstone Red NBA are all sold as tri-coats: a base colour, a pearl midcoat and clear, all mixed from that single code. Order the tri-coat kit and apply all three layers, because a single-stage mix of the same code reads too flat and too dark.
What about a two-tone Infiniti with a contrasting roof?
The label still gives one body code. Refinish catalogues handle two-tone builds as separate database entries — on the Nissan side AutomotiveTouchup lists both QAB and BQAB for two-tone Kicks — so tell your supplier the car is two-tone and say which panel you are painting. The contrasting roof is its own formula and does not appear as a second field on the plate.
What if the label is missing, painted over or unreadable?
Check the other spots first: door edge, upper hinge area, B-pillar, the firewall in all three positions, the passenger strut tower and the radiator support. Some Infinitis carry a small metal tag rather than a sticker. If it is genuinely gone, INFINITI Consumer Affairs on 800-662-6200, or any Infiniti retailer's parts counter, can read the colour off your vehicle's build record using the VIN.
Which code on the plate is actually the paint code?
Only the one under the heading COLOR. The same plate carries codes for the model, engine, transmission, axle and interior trim, and the trim code is the one people copy by mistake. ERA Paints notes that the COLOR field usually sits along the bottom of the label, opposite the barcode, and that the label prints the code alone with no colour name next to it.
Do Infiniti and Nissan use the same paint codes?
Yes. Infiniti is Nissan's luxury division and uses the same three-character system, so one code appears under different trade names: KAD is Graphite Shadow on an Infiniti and Gun Metallic on a Nissan, and KH3 is Black Obsidian or Super Black. Color N Drive's Australian catalogue even lists KH3 as Madrid Ebony. Match on the code, never on the colour name.