2016 RAM 1500 SLT VIN 1C6RR7GT1GS199653

This record covers a 2016 RAM 1500 SLT, finished in black. Power comes from a 5.7-litre petrol engine with eight cylinders. The gearbox is automatic, with four-wheel drive. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The recorded mileage is 214,223 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. A car that has covered this much distance for its age has worked hard, and a mechanic should judge the wear accordingly. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

The record lists damage to the right front as the main problem on this car. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key was present. Condition notes are a snapshot: the car may have been worked on, stripped of parts or left standing since.

The car carries a salvage title. At some point in its life, the car was declared a total loss. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

A car’s history is the sum of what has happened to it since it was new, and most of it has left a trace on paper somewhere. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. Automatic transmissions, CVTs included, are expensive to repair, so the test drive should include pulling away from a standstill and a stretch at motorway speed.

The ninth character of the VIN is a check digit calculated from the other sixteen, so a mistyped or invented number does not add up. This RAM 1500 SLT has the VIN 1C6RR7GT1GS199653. The number in the car’s documents should match the one stamped into the body and the one on the plate at the base of the windscreen.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. A history check on VIN 1C6RR7GT1GS199653 is the place to start.