2013 CHEVROLET CRUZE LT VIN 1G1PC5SB3D7317732

This Chevrolet Cruze LT was built in 2013. The fuel is petrol. The gearbox is automatic.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 167,055 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. 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.

This Chevrolet Cruze LT is recorded with minor dents and scratches. Two cars with the same damage label can be very different: one needs a few new parts, the other major work. With minor dents and scratches on file, the inspection should start with the paintwork and whether any dent has reached the metal underneath.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

A cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. On a petrol engine, a rough idle, misfires or a warning light on the dashboard need looking into. The automatic gearbox should respond smoothly and without delay; jerks, slipping or hesitation on a test drive need investigating.

Stamped into the body and printed on a plate, the VIN is the one identifier that stays with a car through every owner, registration and repair. For this car, the VIN is 1G1PC5SB3D7317732. The VIN usually appears at the base of the windscreen, on a door pillar and stamped into the body, and all of them should match the documents.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. 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. Look up the history of VIN 1G1PC5SB3D7317732 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.