2008 MERCEDES-BENZ E 350 4MATIC VIN WDBUF87X68B353844

The Mercedes-Benz E 350 4MATIC described here left the factory in 2008. The petrol engine has six cylinders. The gearbox is automatic, with all-wheel drive. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

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. 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 flood damage. 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 wiring, connectors and electronics, and any corrosion under the carpets.

A key is on file for 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. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

Many modern petrol engines are turbocharged and direct-injected; where they are, the turbocharger and injectors belong on a specialist’s checklist. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was. With all-wheel drive, mismatched tyres can strain the centre differential or coupling, so all four should be the same make and similarly worn.

The tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. This Mercedes-Benz E 350 4MATIC has the VIN WDBUF87X68B353844. Scratches, fresh paint or a replaced plate around the VIN markings are warning signs in their own right.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. 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 WDBUF87X68B353844 is the place to start.