Volvo Paint Code: Where to Find It and How to Read It

The exact label to look for on a Volvo, how the code is printed, what people mistake it for, and 12 verified Volvo colour codes.

By VIN Lookup Research DeskPublished 2026-08-27Reviewed 2026-08-27United States

The VIN does not carry itA 17-character VIN does not contain the paint code.

NHTSA vPIC has no colour field, so no VIN decoder returns one. The label on the vehicle is the reliable route.

Direct answer

Volvo prints the exterior colour code on the type-designation decal on the car's right-hand door pillar, visible when you open the right rear door — the passenger side on a US Volvo. The code is three digits with no prefix, such as 717 or 019; on Volvos from the 1990s and earlier it sits in the engine bay instead. A VIN does not contain it.

Where is the paint code on a Volvo?

Right-hand door pillar (passenger side in the US). Volvo's own owner's manual states that the colour code label "is located on the car's right-hand rear door pillar and becomes visible when the right-hand rear door is opened" (S90 MY2019, XC90 Twin Engine MY2018). The S60 MY2020 manual is more precise: the decal sits on the pillar between the front and rear door, i.e. the B-pillar, and is still read with the right rear door open. Volvo calls it the decal for type designation, vehicle identification number, permissible maximum weights, exterior colour code and date of manufacture. Verified in Volvo manuals for S80 and V60 MY2015, V40 and V70 MY2016, XC60 MY2017, XC90 MY2018, S90 MY2019 and S60 MY2020. "Right-hand" means the right side of the car: the passenger side on US left-hand-drive Volvos, the driver's side in the UK.
Engine bay: radiator support or strut tower. On older Volvos the code is under the hood rather than on a door pillar. AutomotiveTouchup places it on either strut tower for the 244, 245, 744, 745, 764, 765, 780 and 850, and on the radiator support for the 940, 960 and S70; PaintScratch independently lists the radiator support, the driver's or passenger's strut tower, and the sheet metal on either side of the engine bay. Applies mainly to 1990s and earlier cars, but check here on any Volvo whose door pillar has no decal.
Firewall or inner fender (some 2000s models). AutomotiveTouchup lists the firewall or engine compartment for the C30, P14 and XC60, and the centre of the firewall for the S40. Sources genuinely disagree for this era: AutomotiveTouchup still puts the S60, S80, S90, V70, XC70 and XC90 code in the engine bay, while Chipex places the C30, S40, V50 and XC70 code on the rear passenger-side door column and Volvo's own manuals for the same period say door pillar. Check the door pillar first, then the engine bay.

How to read the Volvo paint code

Three digits, no letters and no prefix: 019, 614, 707, 717, 723. Volvo's manual labels the field \"Exterior colour code\", but nothing on the decal announces it as a paint code — you identify it by being a three-digit number among the other code blocks. On many decals it prints as three digits, a hyphen, then two more digits, for example 421-22; only the three digits before the hyphen are the paint code, a point Chipex states explicitly and PaintScratch's Volvo tag diagram shows. Do not use the type designation, the weight ratings, or the longer alphanumeric interior/upholstery block on the same label. A second three-digit field, \"Any secondary exterior colour code\", appears when the car has a contrast roof.

Open the right-hand rear door — the passenger side on a US Volvo — and look at the door pillar for a white or silver decal carrying the VIN, type designation and weight ratings.
Find the three-digit number in the code block. It has no "paint" heading. If it prints as digits-hyphen-digits, such as 421-22, take only the three digits before the hyphen.
If the pillar has no decal, which is normal on 1990s and older Volvos, open the hood and check the radiator support, both strut towers, and the firewall or inner fenders.
Check whether a second three-digit code is printed for a contrast roof or other secondary colour, and write down both.
Match the code to a Volvo colour name for your model year — 019 Black Stone, 707 Crystal White Pearl, 717 Onyx Black. A three-digit number that matches no Volvo colour for your year means you read the wrong field.
Spray a test card in the matched colour and hold it against a clean, washed panel in daylight before you put anything on the car.

Common Volvo paint codes

Code	Volvo colour name	Where it appears
019	Black Stone	Volvo's solid, non-metallic black. Listed for model years 2005 through 2026 — the longest-running Volvo code.
614	Ice White	Solid white. Listed roughly 2005 through 2022.
707	Crystal White Pearl	Tricoat: base, pearl mid-coat and clear. Listed 2015 to current.
711	Bright Silver Metallic	Roughly 2015 through 2022.
714	Osmium Grey Metallic	Roughly 2016 through 2021. Sold as "Osmium Grey Effect" by some suppliers.
717	Onyx Black Metallic	2016 to current. Metallic black — not the same paint as solid black 019.
720	Bursting Blue Metallic	Roughly 2016 through 2021.
723	Denim Blue Metallic	2018 to current.
725	Fusion Red Metallic	Roughly 2018 through 2025.
728	Thunder Grey Metallic	Roughly 2020 through 2023.
731	Platinum Grey	2021 to current.
740	Vapour Grey	2024 to current, on the newest Volvo range.

This list is not every colour Volvo has sold. Always confirm against the label on your own vehicle before ordering paint.

What to know before you order paint

A decoded VIN carries no paint field. NHTSA's free vPIC decoder returned 140 populated fields for a 2019 Volvo XC90 VIN, and not one of them is colour or paint; the same is true of all 144 variables vPIC defines. Any service that returns a Volvo paint code from a VIN alone is reading a manufacturer build record behind the scenes or inferring the colour from the model.
Volvo Car Corporation's own owner's manual is the authority on where the label is: the S90 (MY2019) and XC90 Twin Engine (MY2018) manuals both state the colour code label "is located on the car's right-hand rear door pillar and becomes visible when the right-hand rear door is opened". This contradicts the widely repeated advice to check the driver's door jamb.
Sources disagree by era and model. AutomotiveTouchup lists the engine bay — strut tower, firewall or radiator support — even for the S60, S80, S90, V70 and XC90, while Chipex puts the C30, S40, V50 and XC70 code on the rear passenger-side door column. For any Volvo of roughly 2011 onward, Volvo's own manual wins: check the right-hand door pillar first.
Every Volvo manual checked from MY2015 to MY2020 lists two fields on the colour label, "Exterior colour code" and "Any secondary exterior colour code". The second is where a contrast-roof colour appears on cars like the XC40, C40 and EX30.
Colour names drift between suppliers for the same code. PaintScratch lists 717 as "Onyx Black Effect" and 714 as "Osmium Grey Effect"; TouchUpDirect calls the same codes "Onyx Black Metallic" and "Osmium Gray Metallic". Order by the three-digit code, not the name.

Evidence

Volvo and refinish sources

Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.

Quick answers

Volvo paint code questions

Where is the paint code located on a Volvo?

On the door pillar on the right-hand side of the car. Volvo's owner's manual says the colour code label "becomes visible when the right-hand rear door is opened" — on a US left-hand-drive Volvo that is the passenger side, not the driver's door. On Volvos from the 1990s and earlier, look under the hood instead: the radiator support, either strut tower, or the firewall.

Can I get my Volvo's paint code from the VIN?

No. A 17-character VIN encodes the plant, model, restraint system, engine and check digit, but not the paint. NHTSA's free vPIC decoder returns about 140 fields for a Volvo VIN and none of them is colour. Sites advertising "paint code by VIN" are either querying a manufacturer build record or guessing from the model. A Volvo dealer can look your code up from the VIN in Volvo's own system.

What does a Volvo paint code look like?

Three digits, no letters and no prefix — 019, 614, 707, 717, 723. Nothing on the decal announces it as a colour code, so you identify it as the three-digit number sitting among the other code blocks. On many labels it prints as three digits, a hyphen, then two more digits, such as 421-22. Only the 421 is the paint code.

My Volvo has a black contrast roof. Which code do I use?

Both, and the label carries both. Volvo's manual lists two fields: "Exterior colour code" and "Any secondary exterior colour code". The first is the body colour; the second, when printed, is the contrast roof or other secondary colour used on cars like the XC40, C40 and EX30. Order paint for the panel you are actually repairing rather than for the car as a whole.

How do I match Volvo Crystal White Pearl (707)?

Use the code, then expect three layers. 707 is a tricoat: a base coat, a translucent pearl mid-coat, and clear. The single code covers the whole system, but a one-step touch-up bottle will read wrong against the panel, which is why suppliers sell 707 as a multi-part kit. Spray a test card and compare it against a washed panel in daylight before touching the car.

The label on my Volvo is missing or unreadable. What now?

Take the VIN to a Volvo dealer. The parts counter can pull the original build record and read the exterior colour code from it — the same route that "paint code by VIN" websites use behind the scenes. A body shop can also read the panel with a spectrophotometer, which produces a mixing formula rather than a Volvo code, and accounts for fade on an older car.

Do Volvo colour codes stay the same across models and years?

The codes are stable; the names are not. 019 has been Volvo's solid black across the range from 2005 to the current cars, and 717 Onyx Black runs from about 2016 to today. Supplier names for one code vary, though: 717 is sold as both "Onyx Black Effect" and "Onyx Black Metallic". Order by the three-digit code, never by the colour name.

Can an online tool match my Volvo's colour without the code?

Not reliably. Photo and name matching cannot separate colours that look alike on a screen, and Volvo sold several greys and silvers in overlapping years — 711, 714, 728, 731 and 735 among them. A model-year colour list narrows the field, but the three-digit code on the door pillar is the only input that identifies one specific paint. Confirm it on the car.