2013 LEXUS RX 450H VIN JTJBC1BA1D2441347

The Lexus RX 450H described here left the factory in 2013. There is an automatic gearbox, with four-wheel drive. The powertrain is hybrid. The specification is taken from the source data.

The source data puts the mileage at 200,827 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

When the car was recorded, it showed damage from vandalism. The damage type is a short label: the extent of the damage and the quality of any repair still have to be judged on the car. With damage from vandalism on file, the inspection should start with the glass, the locks, the paintwork and the interior.

A key is on file for the car. Condition notes are a snapshot: the car may have been worked on, stripped of parts or left standing since.

The record shows a salvage title. A title like this is issued when repair was judged uneconomical or unsafe. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

A hybrid’s traction battery loses capacity over the years, and a health check by a specialist is the reliable way to know its condition. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

A vehicle identification number has 17 characters: the first three name the manufacturer, the next six describe the model and its specification, and the last eight identify the individual car. The VIN on file for this car is JTJBC1BA1D2441347. 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. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Look up the history of VIN JTJBC1BA1D2441347 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.