2013 FORD FUSION TITANIUM VIN 3FA6P0K91DR201659

This entry is for a 2013 Ford Fusion Titanium. Under the bonnet is a 2.0-litre petrol engine. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox.

The recorded mileage is 174,091 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it. Title paperwork often notes the mileage at each change of owner, which makes it a useful cross-check.

When the car was recorded, it showed front-end damage. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show. Whatever the cause, a diagnostic scan of the car’s electronics shows fault codes that a visual check misses.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

Title status in the record: salvage. At some point in its life, the car was declared a total loss.

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. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

On a petrol engine, a rough idle, misfires or a warning light on the dashboard need looking into. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

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. This Ford Fusion Titanium has the VIN 3FA6P0K91DR201659.

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. The past is on file; the car’s condition today is a job for a mechanic, who can check the structure, underbody, electrics and any repairs on a lift. The history behind VIN 3FA6P0K91DR201659 is the natural starting point before any decision about this Ford Fusion Titanium.