2015 CHEVROLET EQUINOX LT VIN 2GNALBEK1F6340797

The Chevrolet Equinox LT described here left the factory in 2015. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre petrol engine. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The clock stood at 137,286 miles when the data was entered. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

This Chevrolet Equinox LT is recorded with front-end damage. 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. Whatever the cause, a diagnostic scan of the car’s electronics shows fault codes that a visual check misses.

The car is recorded as running and driving. 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.

A salvage title is on file for this car. Such a title means the car was declared a total loss and can return to the road only after repair and inspection. The structure and the quality of any work done deserve a thorough inspection on a car with a branded title.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

For the engine, the service history matters most: oil changes, filters and the timing belt or chain are the entries to look for. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. 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 history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. For this car, the VIN is 2GNALBEK1F6340797. 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 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. For this 2015 Chevrolet Equinox LT, the sensible next step is a history check on VIN 2GNALBEK1F6340797.