2013 HYUNDAI ELANTRA LIMITED VIN KMHDH4AE8DU640575

This Hyundai Elantra Limited was built in 2013. Power comes from a 1.8-litre petrol engine with four cylinders. The gearbox is automatic, with front-wheel drive. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 115,571 miles. The figure is in miles and needs converting before it is compared with kilometres: one mile is about 1.6 km. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display. Figures carry most weight when they come from independent sources: workshops, inspection stations and past title paperwork.

The record lists flood damage as the main problem on this car. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. With flood damage on file, the inspection should start with the wiring, connectors and electronics, and any corrosion under the carpets.

A key was noted with the car. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

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. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

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. Many modern petrol engines are turbocharged and direct-injected; where they are, the turbocharger and injectors belong on a specialist’s checklist. 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.

The ninth character of the VIN is a check digit calculated from the other sixteen, so a mistyped or invented number does not add up. This Hyundai Elantra Limited has the VIN KMHDH4AE8DU640575. 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. 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 KMHDH4AE8DU640575 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.