2016 HONDA ODYSSEY TOURING/TOURING ELITE VIN 5FNRL5H9XGB009346

This Honda Odyssey was built in 2016. The gearbox is automatic. Under the bonnet is a 3.5-litre petrol engine. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The clock stood at 164,919 miles when the data was entered. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. High mileage alone does not rule a car out; what matters is whether regular servicing kept pace with it. Services and inspections note the distance covered, so a car with an ordinary past builds up a trail of figures that climb year after year. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

Primary damage in the record: rear end. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. With rear-end damage on file, the inspection should start with the boot floor, the rear panel and the chassis rails.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. 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.

The car carries a salvage title. Titles of this type are issued to cars 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. 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.

Stamped into the body and printed on a plate, the VIN is the one identifier that stays with a car through every owner, registration and repair. The VIN of this Honda Odyssey is 5FNRL5H9XGB009346.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. 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. Before any decision, check what is known about VIN 5FNRL5H9XGB009346.