2018 NISSAN ALTIMA 2.5 S VIN 1N4AL3AP6JC239602

This record covers a 2018 Nissan Altima 2.5 S, finished in silver. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. The car runs on petrol.

The source data puts the mileage at 39,753 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. For a car of this age the mileage is low, which is exactly the kind of figure that deserves confirming from older entries. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

Primary damage in the record: front end. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since.

No key was present. A condition note describes the car at one moment; months of standing or later work on the car can change the picture in either direction.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

Regular oil changes and timely work on the timing belt or chain decide how well an engine copes with age. Many modern petrol engines are turbocharged and direct-injected; where they are, the turbocharger and injectors belong on a specialist’s checklist. 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.

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 1N4AL3AP6JC239602. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. With this 2018 Nissan Altima 2.5 S, the first step is a look at the history behind VIN 1N4AL3AP6JC239602.