2012 AUDI A7 PREMIUM PLUS VIN WAUYGAFC2CN175487

The Audi A7 Premium Plus described here left the factory in 2012. The petrol engine has six cylinders. There is an automatic gearbox, with all-wheel drive.

The record gives the mileage as 149,523 miles. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The record lists minor dents and scratches as the main problem on this car. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. With minor dents and scratches on file, the inspection should start with the paintwork and whether any dent has reached the metal underneath.

A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The car carries a clean title. Nothing on the title points to a total loss or a flood.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was. 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.

A VIN never contains the letters I, O or Q, which could be mistaken for digits; its 17 characters identify the maker, the model and the individual car. The record gives the VIN as WAUYGAFC2CN175487. 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.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. The next step is to look up the history behind VIN WAUYGAFC2CN175487.