2012 HONDA ODYSSEY TOURING VIN 5FNRL5H97CB132077

This record covers a 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring, finished in black. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with front-wheel drive. The fuel is petrol.

The source data puts the mileage at 262,500 miles. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. The mileage is high for the car’s age, so the suspension, brakes, seats and steering wheel deserve a close look. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

Primary damage in the record: side. 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. With side damage on file, the inspection should start with the door pillars, the sills and the side airbags.

At the time of recording, the car ran and drove. A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

According to the source data, the car has a salvage title. 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.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. Pieces of a car’s history sit with registries, dealers, workshops and insurance companies, and none of them sees the whole picture. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

An engine that has had its oil changed on time is far less likely to cause trouble later, and workshop invoices are the proof. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

A VIN never contains the letters I, O or Q, which could be mistaken for digits; its 17 characters identify the maker, the model and the individual car. This Honda Odyssey Touring has the VIN 5FNRL5H97CB132077. 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 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. With this 2012 Honda Odyssey Touring, the first step is a look at the history behind VIN 5FNRL5H97CB132077.