2018 MERCEDES-BENZ CLA 250 VIN WDDSJ4EB3JN526804

This Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 was built in 2018. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre petrol engine.

The clock stood at 49,439 miles when the data was entered. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it. Title paperwork often notes the mileage at each change of owner, which makes it a useful cross-check.

This Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 is recorded with damage to the right side. 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.

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 present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A salvage title is on file for this car. Titles of this type are issued to cars declared a total loss. 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. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

For the engine, the service history matters most: oil changes, filters and the timing belt or chain are the entries to look for. Many modern petrol engines are turbocharged and direct-injected; where they are, the turbocharger and injectors belong on a specialist’s checklist. 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.

Stamped into the body and printed on a plate, the VIN is the one identifier that stays with a car through every owner, registration and repair. The VIN on file for this car is WDDSJ4EB3JN526804. 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. 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. Before any decision, check what is known about VIN WDDSJ4EB3JN526804.