2022 AUDI A4 PREMIUM PLUS 45 TFSI S LINE QUATTRO S TRONIC VIN WAUEAAF44NN004840

This Audi A4 Premium Plus 45 Tfsi S Line Quattro S Tronic is a 2022 model, finished in black. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. Power comes from a 2.0-litre petrol engine with four cylinders. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The recorded mileage is 40,300 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

When the car was recorded, it showed damage to the left front. Two cars with the same damage label can be very different: one needs a few new parts, the other major work. Given the kind of damage entered, a mechanic should look first at the left front wing, the suspension on that corner and the wheel alignment.

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

The record shows a salvage title. At some point in its life, the car was declared a total loss.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. 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. On a petrol engine, a rough idle, misfires or a warning light on the dashboard need looking into. The automatic gearbox should respond smoothly and without delay; jerks, slipping or hesitation on a test drive need investigating. On a car with all-wheel drive, a whine or clunk when turning tightly at low speed needs a mechanic’s attention.

The VIN is a 17-character code assigned at the factory: it identifies the manufacturer, the model and its variant, and ends with a serial number unique to the car. For this car, the VIN is WAUEAAF44NN004840. The number in the car’s documents should match the one stamped into the body and the one on the plate at the base of the windscreen.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. Look up the history of VIN WAUEAAF44NN004840 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.