2017 NISSAN PATHFINDER PLATINUM VIN 5N1DR2MM1HC646430

The Nissan Pathfinder Platinum described here left the factory in 2017. There is a CVT gearbox, with four-wheel drive. 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.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 105,530 miles. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years.

No damage entry is on file for this car. Water marks under the carpets, rust in unusual places or a panel in a slightly different shade would point to damage nobody ever entered.

A key was noted with the car.

The record shows a clean title. A clean title is a good sign, though it says nothing about wear, maintenance or how the car was driven.

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. A car’s past rarely shows on the paintwork: a well-repaired accident or water damage that was dried out is easy to miss.

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, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. 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. On a car with four-wheel drive, a whine or clunk when turning tightly at low speed needs a mechanic’s attention.

Every modern car carries a 17-character VIN, its identity for life, and no two cars share one. The VIN on file for this car is 5N1DR2MM1HC646430. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Before any decision, check what is known about VIN 5N1DR2MM1HC646430.