2012 BUICK VERANO LEATHER GROUP VIN 1G4PS5SK0C4137713

The Buick Verano Leather Group described here left the factory in 2012. The gearbox is automatic. Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre petrol engine producing 180 hp. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The source data puts the mileage at 181,893 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The source data names no primary damage. That shows only that none was entered, so the body still deserves a close look. Paint depth, panel gaps and the underbody show whether the body has been repaired.

A key is on file for the car.

According to the source data, the car has a clean title. With a clean title the car can be registered and insured in the usual way.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. 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.

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. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

A vehicle identification number has 17 characters: the first three name the manufacturer, the next six describe the model and its specification, and the last eight identify the individual car. This car’s identification number is 1G4PS5SK0C4137713. 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.

Where entries exist, a VIN check can show changes of owner, past mileage readings, reported damage and whether the car is listed as stolen. 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 1G4PS5SK0C4137713 is the place to start.