2014 CHEVROLET EQUINOX LTZ VIN 1GNALDEK1EZ136161

This record covers a 2014 Chevrolet Equinox LTZ. The engine is a 2.4-litre petrol unit with four cylinders. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox.

The source data puts the mileage at 56,482 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. For a car of this age the mileage is low, which is exactly the kind of figure that deserves confirming from older entries. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it. Figures carry most weight when they come from independent sources: workshops, inspection stations and past title paperwork.

Primary damage in the record: front end. 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.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was noted with the car. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

The record shows a salvage title. Titles of this type are issued to cars declared a total loss. Once issued, a branded title stays with the VIN for good, and it affects registration and insurance for every later owner.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

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. 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.

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. This car’s identification number is 1GNALDEK1EZ136161. Scratches, fresh paint or a replaced plate around the VIN markings are warning signs in their own right.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. 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 1GNALDEK1EZ136161 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.