2014 FORD FIESTA S VIN 3FADP4TJ2EM241304

The Ford Fiesta S described here left the factory in 2014. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. Under the bonnet is a 1.6-litre petrol engine producing 120 hp. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The car was recorded with 42,187 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. Low mileage for the car’s age is good news only if older readings confirm it. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display.

In the source data, the main issue is minor dents and scratches. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. A lift and a diagnostic check show what photos cannot: bent brackets behind a panel, chafed wiring or deployed airbags.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was noted with the car. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

Title status in the record: clean. A clean title is a good sign, though it says nothing about wear, maintenance or how the car was driven.

Behind every used car lies a string of events: who owned it and for how long, what the inspections found and which repairs and claims were made. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

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. 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.

The tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. The VIN on file for this car is 3FADP4TJ2EM241304. The VIN usually appears at the base of the windscreen, on a door pillar and stamped into the body, and all of them should match the documents.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. 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 next step is to look up the history behind VIN 3FADP4TJ2EM241304.