2022 HYUNDAI SONATA SE VIN 5NPEG4JA8NH143997

This Hyundai Sonata SE is a 2022 model. The fuel is petrol. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox.

A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

When the car was recorded, it showed front-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. With front-end damage on file, the inspection should start with the radiator support, the headlamp mountings and the front crash structure.

When it was checked, the car could not be driven. The engine could not be started. A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A salvage title is on file for this car. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage.

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 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. On a car that does not run, the automatic gearbox cannot be judged on the road; the colour and smell of its fluid and a diagnostic scan give the first clues.

The VIN is a 17-character code assigned at the factory: it identifies the manufacturer, the model and its variant, and ends with a serial number unique to the car. The VIN of this Hyundai Sonata SE is 5NPEG4JA8NH143997.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. Look up the history of VIN 5NPEG4JA8NH143997 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.