2012 FORD ESCAPE XLT VIN 1FMCU0DG1CKB31905

This Ford Escape XLT is a 2012 model, finished in blue. The gearbox is automatic. Under the bonnet is a 3.0-litre petrol engine.

The car was recorded with 98,663 miles on the clock. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. 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 damage to the left front. Two cars with the same damage label can be very different: one needs a few new parts, the other major work.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key was there when the car was checked. 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.

The car carries a salvage title. Such a title means the car was declared a total loss and can return to the road only after repair and inspection. If any work has been done on the car since, photos and invoices should show what was replaced.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. 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.

A cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. 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.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. The VIN on file for this car is 1FMCU0DG1CKB31905.

Where entries exist, a VIN check can show changes of owner, past mileage readings, reported damage and whether the car is listed as stolen. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. A VIN check and a physical inspection answer different questions: the first says what happened to the car, the second what condition it is in now. Look up the history of VIN 1FMCU0DG1CKB31905 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.