2016 BUICK LACROSSE LEATHER VIN 1G4GB5G37GF233611

The Buick Lacrosse Leather described here left the factory in 2016. Under the bonnet is a 3.6-litre petrol engine producing 304 hp. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox.

The car was recorded with 94,652 miles on the clock. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Figures carry most weight when they come from independent sources: workshops, inspection stations and past title paperwork.

When the car was recorded, it showed damage to the right side. 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.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key was noted with the car. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

The car carries a salvage title. At some point in its life, the car was declared a total loss.

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. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

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 needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. This car’s identification number is 1G4GB5G37GF233611. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. 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. A history check on VIN 1G4GB5G37GF233611 is the place to start.