2013 HYUNDAI SONATA GLS VIN 5NPEB4AC1DH556603

This record covers a 2013 Hyundai Sonata GLS, finished in black. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with front-wheel drive. The car runs on petrol. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The record gives the mileage as 160,949 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable.

The record lists front-end damage as the main problem on this car. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. A key was noted with the car.

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 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. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

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.

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. The VIN of this Hyundai Sonata GLS is 5NPEB4AC1DH556603.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. Look up the history of VIN 5NPEB4AC1DH556603 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.