2015 LEXUS RC 350 VIN JTHHE5BC6F5004556

This entry is for a 2015 Lexus RC 350, finished in black. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. The engine is a 3.5-litre petrol unit with six cylinders. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The car was recorded with 98,839 miles on the clock. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. A single figure proves little: what makes a mileage believable is a series of readings that rise steadily over the years.

Primary damage in the record: front end. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key is on file for the car. 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. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

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. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. A car’s past rarely shows on the paintwork: a well-repaired accident or water damage that was dried out is easy to miss.

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.

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. This car’s identification number is JTHHE5BC6F5004556.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing it. The past is on file; the car’s condition today is a job for a mechanic, who can check the structure, underbody, electrics and any repairs on a lift. For this 2015 Lexus RC 350, the sensible next step is a history check on VIN JTHHE5BC6F5004556.