2012 FIAT 500 POP VIN 3C3CFFAR4CT382038

This Fiat 500 POP was built in 2012. The petrol engine has four cylinders. The drivetrain combines a manual gearbox with front-wheel drive. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The recorded mileage is 41,327 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. Low mileage for the car’s age is good news only if older readings confirm it. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

When the car was recorded, it showed flood damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first.

The record describes this Fiat 500 POP as a non-runner. The engine would not start, which can mean anything from a flat battery to serious mechanical damage. A key was noted with the car.

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. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

Behind every used car lies a string of events: who owned it and for how long, what the inspections found and which repairs and claims were made. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. On a non-runner the clutch and gearbox cannot be tried on the road, so a mechanic has to check the linkage, the clutch hydraulics and the gearbox oil instead.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, and no two cars share one. The record gives the VIN as 3C3CFFAR4CT382038. The number in the car’s documents should match the one stamped into the body and the one on the plate at the base of the windscreen.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. 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. The next step is to look up the history behind VIN 3C3CFFAR4CT382038.