2016 CHRYSLER 200 LIMITED VIN 1C3CCCAB8GN178472

This Chrysler 200 Limited was built in 2016. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. The fuel is petrol.

The source data puts the mileage at 75,717 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. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

When the car was recorded, it showed minor dents and scratches. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was there when the car was checked. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

The record shows a clean title. A clean title is a good sign, though it says nothing about wear, maintenance or how the car was driven.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. 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.

An engine that has had its oil changed on time is far less likely to cause trouble later, and workshop invoices are the proof. On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. 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 tenth character of the VIN stands for the model year, and the eleventh for the plant that built the car. The VIN on file for this car is 1C3CCCAB8GN178472. 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.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. A VIN check and a physical inspection answer different questions: the first says what happened to the car, the second what condition it is in now. For this 2016 Chrysler 200 Limited, the sensible next step is a history check on VIN 1C3CCCAB8GN178472.