2010 MAZDA MAZDA6 I GRAND TOURING VIN 1YVHZ8CH2A5M29843

This record covers a 2010 Mazda MAZDA6 I Grand Touring, finished in red. The petrol engine has four cylinders. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The recorded mileage is 178,000 miles. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The main issue noted for this car is damage to the left side. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. With damage to the left side on file, the inspection should start with the pillars, sills and doors on the left side.

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. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage. The structure and the quality of any work done deserve a thorough inspection on a car with a branded title, however sound the car looks.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. On a car that does not run, the automatic gearbox cannot be judged on the road; the colour and smell of its fluid and a diagnostic scan give the first clues.

The VIN is a 17-character code assigned at the factory: it identifies the manufacturer, the model and its variant, and ends with a serial number unique to the car. The record gives the VIN as 1YVHZ8CH2A5M29843. Scratches, fresh paint or a replaced plate around the VIN markings are warning signs in their own right.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. Look up the history of VIN 1YVHZ8CH2A5M29843 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.