GM paint code used twice

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I am fixing a small dent at the rear of the fender on a friends 2013 Cruze and the paint code in the glove box is 04Y. Plenty of room for blending any variant, so I went with prime code as this is not a critical job. The car is a dark blue, and 04Y came up as Luxor Blue and was clearly dark blue and looked correct after mixing so I went with it (I didn't have a chip of this one) . As I sprayed the first coat it seemed to spray much brighter then the blue it should have been. When I hit it with my Sun Light, it was clearly the wrong color.
I looked into it more and found the GM has 2013 code 04Y used on 2 different dark blues, Luxor blue (04Y / 933L) and Carbon flash (04Y / 501Q) but 04Y was the only code on the glove box tag. I have never run into this before on the newer WA*** type numbers, I've seen it where the old codes like "23" would be used for 5 years in the 70's as maybe a blue and then reused 15 years later on a different color.
This will be an easy fix, but has anyone run into this before, and I'm more curious as to what possible reason GM would do this, especially on very similar colors.
 
So what did the color end up being? I'm confused as carbon flash is a dark grey metallic not a dark blue. If it's blue it's not carbon flash. Be willing to bet it's a variant of luxor blue. I would say luxor blue is more a mid range blue than a dark blue.
 
Sometimes the quality of the paint will cause the shade to be different. Lower lines are sometimes off. Then again maybe that car had a different formula only accessed by looking up the serial number.
 
On some 2011-2013, GM didn't put the actual paint color on the label. I printed out all of the color code cross references and that helped find the right code. I have begun calling the dealer parts dept and run the VIN. They've always been willing to help.
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Carbon Flash does have a lot of blue in it, it might be taken for a dark, dull blue I guess.

I always go by the WA number, never the code in the service ID tag. Calling the dealer is a good bet, although I found out that newer GM cars have the info in a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone.
 
So what did the color end up being? I'm confused as carbon flash is a dark grey metallic not a dark blue. If it's blue it's not carbon flash. Be willing to bet it's a variant of luxor blue. I would say luxor blue is more a mid range blue than a dark blue.
It is carbon flash which is blue shade black, the Luxo blue I thought it was defiantly more of a medium blue. Since it had never been repainted and the 04Y code was a blue, I trusted it. I thought it might just be one of those colors that sprays different then is looks in the cup.
 
Carbon Flash does have a lot of blue in it, it might be taken for a dark, dull blue I guess.

I always go by the WA number, never the code in the service ID tag. Calling the dealer is a good bet, although I found out that newer GM cars have the info in a QR code that can be scanned with a smartphone.
04Y was the WA number, or so I thought. "BC/CC 04Y" on the tag that I always use to get the code. Painting on Sunday morning, so dealer help was not an option.
 
On some 2011-2013, GM didn't put the actual paint color on the label. I printed out all of the color code cross references and that helped find the right code. I have begun calling the dealer parts dept and run the VIN. They've always been willing to help.
View attachment 23265
I did cross check "Automotive Touch Up" first as there are 4 blues used on Cruze that year, I just failed to notice that 04Y is on several different chips, my question, is why.
 
Sometimes the quality of the paint will cause the shade to be different. Lower lines are sometimes off. Then again maybe that car had a different formula only accessed by looking up the serial number.
Used Standox, as good as it gets, that wasn't the issue, I just didn't notice the 04Y is on several colors.
 
So what code/color is it actually? Just an FYI, the WA codes always start with WA. Then preceded usually with 4 characters. Late model stuff usually 3 digits then a letter.
As for why? Who knows why GM does what they do. Late model stuff you can't trust that code on the service tag 100%. If you can identify the color then you can sometimes use it, but not always. The WA number is the one to use. That or scan the QR code on the car. Or call a Dealer. The two colors though you stated are way different IMO. Strange.
 
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Out of curiosity I looked at my Cromax chip book. Code 04Y is not used on any of the colors in question. Not saying that's not what the service tag said its not used in reference to the actual code. Confusing that GM does it that way. Interesting though that the two that had the 04Y prefix are side by side in the numerical order. Stealth grey and luxor blue. Carbon flash is not a 04Y prefix AFAIK.
Couple of pics from my book. Couldn't find my 2013 book but the codes in this book are the same. Also a pic of how to find a GM paint code correctly.
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What isn't mentioned in the first pic I posted is that the code that starts with G directly to the right of the paint code is also the paint code and will be listed in the various paint manufacturers books/software.
Luxor blue is GTS, stealth grey is G56, Carbon flash is GAR. Find the g code that should help to clarify things.
 
So what code/color is it actually? Just an FYI, the WA codes always start with WA. Then preceded usually with 4 characters. Late model stuff usually 3 digits then a letter.
As for why? Who knows why GM does what they do. Late model stuff you can't trust that code on the service tag 100%. If you can identify the color then you can sometimes use it, but not always. The WA number is the one to use. That or scan the QR code on the car. Or call a Dealer. The two colors though you stated are way different IMO. Strange.
501Q, and many of the GM paint codes I have found on the ID tag don't have WA, they do all have "BC/CC" then 501Q or WA501Q, so when I saw BC/CC 04Y and it pulled up as a blue, I incorrectly went with it having never seen more the 1 color using the same code. Or what I thought was the code. If this was a job that I was worried about the color variant, then a spray out would have let me know right away.
I have mixed a lot of paint over the last 40 years for myself and my customers, and this is the first I ever ran across this.

In the end this was a minor problem, I just wish there was no number on the tag, then I would have questioned the color before I sprayed any.
 
Out of curiosity I looked at my Cromax chip book. Code 04Y is not used on any of the colors in question. Not saying that's not what the service tag said its not used in reference to the actual code. Confusing that GM does it that way. Interesting though that the two that had the 04Y prefix are side by side in the numerical order. Stealth grey and luxor blue. Carbon flash is not a 04Y prefix AFAIK.
Couple of pics from my book. Couldn't find my 2013 book but the codes in this book are the same. Also a pic of how to find a GM paint code correctly. View attachment 23268
View attachment 23266
View attachment 23267
Sorry, you are correct, I was looking at the wrong scratch pad note I made. The correct color code is WA928L not 501Q. 40 years of paint fumes have taken their toll.
 
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