2012 CHEVROLET TRAVERSE LS VIN 1GNKREED5CJ404196

The Chevrolet Traverse LS described here left the factory in 2012. The fuel is petrol. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with front-wheel drive. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The car was recorded with 152,667 miles on the clock. 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. Title paperwork often notes the mileage at each change of owner, which makes it a useful cross-check.

When the car was recorded, it showed front-end damage. 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.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. A key is on file for the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The car carries a clean title. A clean title is a good sign, though it says nothing about wear, maintenance or how the car was driven.

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. A car’s past rarely shows on the paintwork: a well-repaired accident or water damage that was dried out is easy to miss.

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.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. The VIN on file for this car is 1GNKREED5CJ404196. Scratches, fresh paint or a replaced plate around the VIN markings are warning signs in their own right.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. Before any decision, check what is known about VIN 1GNKREED5CJ404196.