2014 NISSAN MAXIMA 3.5 SV VIN 1N4AA5AP5EC466996

This Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV was built in 2014. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Under the bonnet is a 3.5-litre petrol engine. The specification is taken from the source data.

The car was recorded with 202,929 miles on the clock. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. High mileage alone does not rule a car out; what matters is whether regular servicing kept pace with it. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

The main issue noted for this car is rear-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. With rear-end damage on file, the inspection should start with the boot floor, the rear panel and the chassis rails.

A key was there when the car was checked. Condition notes are a snapshot: the car may have been worked on, stripped of parts or left standing since.

The car carries a clean title. A clean title is a good sign, though it says nothing about wear, maintenance or how the car was driven.

A car’s history is the sum of what has happened to it since it was new, and most of it has left a trace on paper somewhere. 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 petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. The automatic gearbox should respond smoothly and without delay; jerks, slipping or hesitation on a test drive need investigating.

The tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. The VIN 1N4AA5AP5EC466996 belongs to this 2014 Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

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 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. Before making a decision about this Nissan Maxima 3.5 SV, check the history behind VIN 1N4AA5AP5EC466996.