2014 CHEVROLET MALIBU 1LS VIN 1G11B5SL5EF225837

This record covers a 2014 Chevrolet Malibu 1LS, finished in black. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Under the bonnet is a 2.5-litre petrol engine producing 196 hp. The specification is taken from the source data.

The car was recorded with 142,658 miles on the clock. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years. Figures carry most weight when they come from independent sources: workshops, inspection stations and past title paperwork.

The record lists front-end damage as the main problem on this car. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was noted with the car. Condition notes are a snapshot: the car may have been worked on, stripped of parts or left standing since.

The car carries a salvage title. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage. 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. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

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. Automatic transmissions, CVTs included, are expensive to repair, so the test drive should include pulling away from a standstill and a stretch at motorway speed.

The tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. The VIN on file for this car is 1G11B5SL5EF225837. 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. 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 1G11B5SL5EF225837 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.