Paint codes, is water based Metallic the same thing as “Pearl + Varnish”?

Question

In a guide to parsing Volvo paint codes, it says the following:

The fifth digit stands for:
1 = solvent based
2 = water based Metallic/Pearl + Varnish
3 = water based Solid + Varnish
4 = solvent based Solid + Varnish
5 = solvent based Pearl shine + Varnish*
6 = water based Solid/Metallic/Pearl + 2 component Varnish
7 = water based Solid/Metallic/Pearl + powder Varnish
8, 9 = not used

I can't figure out whether the slashes mean that these things are the same, or whether it means that the code means different things depending on the year/model of the car. For example, does "water based Metallic/Pearl + Varnish" mean that water based Metallic is the same thing as Pearl + Varnish, or does it mean that code 2 is water-based metallic for Volvo 850s, but Pearl + Varnish for later models (V70 or later)?

Answer 1

It means metallic or pearl, they are different kinds of paint. Varnish probably means clearcoat. So it means

• water based (as opposed to solvent based) and
• metallic or pearl (as opposed to solid color) and
• varnish aka clearcoat which adds lustre (as opposed to no varnish)

If you paint some lawn furniture with Rustoleum paint, that is solvent based, solid color, no clearcoat.

Answer 2

It means that the paint applied on your car is based on 3 layers:

Taking example 6: First layer is water based Solid

Second layer is Metallic/Pearl

and final / top layer is 2 component Varnish