2014 NISSAN SENTRA SV VIN 3N1AB7AP1EY304795

This entry is for a 2014 Nissan Sentra SV, finished in blue. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with front-wheel drive. The fuel is petrol. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The recorded mileage is 155,010 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. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

In the source data, the main issue is front-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. A lift and a diagnostic check show what photos cannot: bent brackets behind a panel, chafed wiring or deployed airbags.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key is on file for the car. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

The record shows a salvage title. Titles of this type are issued to cars declared a total loss. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. Pieces of a car’s history sit with registries, dealers, workshops and insurance companies, and none of them sees the whole picture. 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 cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. 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 on file for this car is 3N1AB7AP1EY304795. 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.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. 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. The next step is to look up the history behind VIN 3N1AB7AP1EY304795.