The forensic comparison of automotive paints is an area of forensic science that has struggled in assessing the significance of its findings. The current study compared 260 automobile paint samples collected at an auction yard for damaged vehicles. Comparison methods included visual observation, optical microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy. When compared with one another, the 260 paint samples represented 33,670 sample pair comparisons. Only 2 of these 33,670 sample pairs could not be distinguished from one another by comparing only the color and chemical composition of the topcoat. Only one pair remained indistinguishable following an analysis of the full layer sequence; the paint samples of this pair were found to have come from vehicles manufactured at the same assembly plant during the same year. The findings support previous research that demonstrates the usefulness of automotive paint comparisons as evidence. Tables, references