2008 TOYOTA RAV4 VIN JTMBD33V785201785

This entry is for a 2008 Toyota RAV4. Under the bonnet is a 2.4-litre petrol engine producing 166 hp. The gearbox is automatic. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The source data puts the mileage at 175,579 miles. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it.

In the source data, the main issue is rear-end damage. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. Given the kind of damage entered, a mechanic should look first at the boot floor, the rear panel and the chassis rails.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was there when the car was checked.

Title status in the record: salvage. Titles of this type are issued to cars declared a total loss. The structure and the quality of any work done deserve a thorough inspection on a car with a branded title.

Every car builds up a history from the day it is first registered: owners come and go, inspections are passed or failed, and repairs are paid for. 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. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was. 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 vehicle identification number has 17 characters: the first three name the manufacturer, the next six describe the model and its specification, and the last eight identify the individual car. The record gives the VIN as JTMBD33V785201785.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. 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. A history check on VIN JTMBD33V785201785 is the place to start.