2016 JEEP CHEROKEE LATITUDE VIN 1C4PJMCS3GW148795

This Jeep Cherokee Latitude is a 2016 model. The petrol engine has six cylinders. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with four-wheel drive.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 166,122 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. The mileage is high for the car’s age, so the suspension, brakes, seats and steering wheel deserve a close look. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Title paperwork often notes the mileage at each change of owner, which makes it a useful cross-check.

In the source data, the main issue is damage to the left rear. The damage type is a short label: the extent of the damage and the quality of any repair still have to be judged on the car. With damage to the left rear on file, the inspection should start with the left rear quarter panel, the suspension on that corner and the boot floor.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. A key was present.

The car carries a salvage title. A title like this is issued when repair was judged uneconomical or unsafe. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

Many modern petrol engines are turbocharged and direct-injected; where they are, the turbocharger and injectors belong on a specialist’s checklist. The automatic gearbox should respond smoothly and without delay; jerks, slipping or hesitation on a test drive need investigating.

The VIN is a 17-character code assigned at the factory: it identifies the manufacturer, the model and its variant, and ends with a serial number unique to the car. The record gives the VIN as 1C4PJMCS3GW148795.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. A VIN check and a physical inspection answer different questions: the first says what happened to the car, the second what condition it is in now. The next step is to look up the history behind VIN 1C4PJMCS3GW148795.