2013 RAM 1500 SLT VIN 1C6RR6GT6DS700106

This entry is for a 2013 RAM 1500 SLT, finished in white. There is an automatic gearbox, with rear-wheel drive. The engine is a 5.7-litre petrol unit with eight cylinders. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The recorded mileage is 145,472 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable.

The main issue noted for this car is minor dents and scratches. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. With minor dents and scratches on file, the inspection should start with the paintwork and whether any dent has reached the metal underneath.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

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 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. The record gives the VIN as 1C6RR6GT6DS700106. 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 1C6RR6GT6DS700106 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.