2018 SUBARU WRX VIN JF1VA1A61J9815712

This entry is for a 2018 Subaru WRX, finished in red. The petrol engine has four cylinders and produces 268 hp. Power reaches the wheels through a manual gearbox. The specification is taken from the source data.

The car was recorded with 82,713 miles on the clock. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The main issue noted for this car is damage to both front and rear. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. Some damage shows its consequences only later: corroded connectors and electrical faults can surface months afterwards.

When it was checked, the car could not be driven. The engine would not start, which can mean anything from a flat battery to serious mechanical damage. A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The record shows a salvage title. A title like this is issued when repair was judged uneconomical or unsafe.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

An engine that has had its oil changed on time is far less likely to cause trouble later, and workshop invoices are the proof. On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. On a non-runner the clutch and gearbox cannot be tried on the road, so a mechanic has to check the linkage, the clutch hydraulics and the gearbox oil instead. A car with all-wheel drive has extra differentials and often a transfer case, which an inspection should cover alongside the engine and gearbox.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. This car’s identification number is JF1VA1A61J9815712. 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.

Where entries exist, a VIN check can show changes of owner, past mileage readings, reported damage and whether the car is listed as stolen. 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 JF1VA1A61J9815712.