2010 Lincoln Touch Up Paint (24 OEM Colors)

The 2010 Lincoln Vibe

Welcome to 2010, the year Lincoln was caught between two worlds. On one side of the lot, you had the Town Car-the last of the Mohicans, still smelling like old leather and airport arrivals. On the other, the "MK" alphabet soup was in full swing with the MKS and MKZ trying to convince the kids that Lincoln was actually "cool." With 24 colors in our database for this year, Lincoln wasn't exactly shy. They were leaning hard into the "premium" aesthetic with complex finishes like Tuxedo Black-which used actual glass flakes to sparkle-and the multi-stage depth of White Platinum Tricoat. It was a sophisticated palette for a brand trying to find its second wind.

Paint Health Check

If you're looking at a 2010 Lincoln today, you're staring at the peak of the Thin Paint Era. By this point, the factory robots had become masters of "efficiency," which is a polite way of saying they sprayed just enough paint to make the car look pretty on the showroom floor and not a micron more. The clear coat chemistry was solid, but it was laid on thin. On a heavy hitter like the Navigator, you'll likely see a constellation of stone chips on the leading edge of the hood. On the MKS and MKZ, keep an eye out for bubbling on the aluminum panels-once that factory seal is broken by a chip, the air gets under there and starts a slow-motion divorce between the paint and the metal.

Restoration Tip

Because this era of paint is so thin, the biggest mistake you can make is trying to fix a chip with one giant, heavy glob of paint. These factory finishes were applied in precise, lean layers, and your repair should mimic that. Build your layers slowly. Apply a thin coat, let it flash off, and repeat until you've built it up to the surface level. If you blob it, you'll end up with a high spot that's a nightmare to level out without burning through the surrounding (and very thin) factory clear coat. Patience is the only way to make that Red Candy Tricoat look right again.