2017 INFINITI QX80 BASE VIN JN8AZ2NF1H9642659

This entry is for a 2017 Infiniti QX80 Base. The engine is a 5.6-litre petrol unit with eight cylinders. There is an automatic gearbox, with rear-wheel drive.

The source data puts the mileage at 146,553 miles. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. A car that has covered this much distance for its age has worked hard, and a mechanic should judge the wear accordingly. 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. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The main issue noted for this car is front-end damage. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show. Given the kind of damage entered, a mechanic should look first at the radiator support, the headlamp mountings and the front crash structure.

At the time of recording, the car ran and drove. A key was noted with the car.

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. Pieces of a car’s history sit with registries, dealers, workshops and insurance companies, and none of them sees the whole picture. 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. On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

The tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. This Infiniti QX80 Base has the VIN JN8AZ2NF1H9642659.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. A history report says nothing about the car’s present condition: the frame, corrosion, electrics and the quality of any repair are judged on a lift by a mechanic. Look up the history of VIN JN8AZ2NF1H9642659 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.