2011 NISSAN JUKE S VIN JN8AF5MRXBT002479

The Nissan Juke S described here left the factory in 2011. Power comes from a 1.6-litre petrol engine with four cylinders. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The recorded mileage is 152,349 miles. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

This Nissan Juke S is recorded with rear-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. Damage rarely stays where it is first seen: an impact can reach the mountings and airbags behind a panel, and water or fire the wiring and electronics.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. 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 like this is issued when repair was judged uneconomical or unsafe. Once issued, a branded title stays with the VIN for good, and it affects registration and insurance for every later owner.

A car’s history is the sum of what has happened to it since it was new, and most of it has left a trace on paper somewhere. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. The VIN on file for this car is JN8AF5MRXBT002479.

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. The past is on file; the car’s condition today is a job for a mechanic, who can check the structure, underbody, electrics and any repairs on a lift. Before going any further with this Nissan Juke S, it makes sense to look up VIN JN8AF5MRXBT002479.