2014 FORD FIESTA SE VIN 3FADP4BJ6EM233644

The Ford Fiesta SE described here left the factory in 2014. Power comes from a 1.6-litre petrol engine with four cylinders. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The car was recorded with 274,008 miles on the clock. Averaged over the car’s age, the mileage works out well above the usual annual distance, and wear on the suspension, brakes and interior should be judged with that in mind. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display.

This Ford Fiesta SE is recorded with damage to both front and rear. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show. With damage to both front and rear on file, the inspection should start with the crash structures at both ends and the alignment of the body between them.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

Title status in the record: salvage. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage.

Every car builds up a history from the day it is first registered: owners come and go, inspections are passed or failed, and repairs are paid for. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. 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. 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.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. The VIN of this Ford Fiesta SE is 3FADP4BJ6EM233644.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. A history report says nothing about the car’s present condition: the frame, corrosion, electrics and the quality of any repair are judged on a lift by a mechanic. The history behind VIN 3FADP4BJ6EM233644 is the natural starting point before any decision about this Ford Fiesta SE.