2016 NISSAN ROGUE SL VIN 5N1AT2MT3GC832920

This Nissan Rogue SL is a 2016 model, finished in green. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. The car runs on petrol. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The recorded mileage is 149,873 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. 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. 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 damage to the right 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.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was there when the car was checked.

The car carries a clean title. There is no salvage or similar mark, so the car was never recorded as a total loss.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. 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. On a petrol engine, a rough idle, misfires or a warning light on the dashboard need looking into. 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.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. For this car, the VIN is 5N1AT2MT3GC832920. The VIN usually appears at the base of the windscreen, on a door pillar and stamped into the body, and all of them should match the documents.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Before going any further with this Nissan Rogue SL, it makes sense to look up VIN 5N1AT2MT3GC832920.