2016 SUBARU FORESTER 2.5I LIMITED VIN JF2SJARC0GH558002

This Subaru Forester 2.5I Limited is a 2016 model. There is a CVT gearbox, with all-wheel drive. The petrol engine has four cylinders and produces 170 hp. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The car was recorded with 147,937 miles on the clock. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

When the car was recorded, it showed damage to the right rear. 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. Given the kind of damage entered, a mechanic should look first at the right rear quarter panel, the suspension on that corner and the boot floor.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The car carries a salvage title. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage. The structure and the quality of any work done deserve a thorough inspection on a car with a branded title, however sound the car looks.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

A cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. 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. Drive to all four wheels means more to maintain: differentials and couplings have oil of their own, which some manufacturers want changed at set intervals.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. The VIN on file for this car is JF2SJARC0GH558002. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. With this 2016 Subaru Forester 2.5I Limited, the first step is a look at the history behind VIN JF2SJARC0GH558002.