2017 BUICK ENCORE SPORT TOURING VIN KL4CJ2SB7HB100322

This Buick Encore Sport Touring is a 2017 model, finished in grey. There is an automatic gearbox, with all-wheel drive. The engine is a 1.4-litre petrol unit with four cylinders.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 153,145 miles. A car that has covered this much distance for its age has worked hard, and a mechanic should judge the wear accordingly. Services and inspections note the distance covered, so a car with an ordinary past builds up a trail of figures that climb year after year. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

In the source data, the main issue is front-end damage. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. 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 did not start. A key is on file for the car. A condition note describes the car at one moment; months of standing or later work on the car can change the picture in either direction.

Title status in the record: clean. There is no salvage or similar mark, so the car was never recorded as a total loss.

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. A car’s past rarely shows on the paintwork: a well-repaired accident or water damage that was dried out is easy to miss.

Regular oil changes and timely work on the timing belt or chain decide how well an engine copes with age. On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. While the car does not run, stored fault codes and a look at the fluid are the only early evidence of how the automatic gearbox has fared. Drive to all four wheels means more to maintain: differentials and couplings have oil of their own, which some manufacturers want changed at set intervals.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. This car’s identification number is KL4CJ2SB7HB100322. The number in the car’s documents should match the one stamped into the body and the one on the plate at the base of the windscreen.

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 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. With this 2017 Buick Encore Sport Touring, the first step is a look at the history behind VIN KL4CJ2SB7HB100322.