2012 FORD FOCUS SE VIN 1FAHP3K27CL442829

The Ford Focus SE described here left the factory in 2012. The engine is a 2.0-litre petrol unit with four cylinders. The gearbox is automatic, with front-wheel drive. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The record gives the mileage as 134,384 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. Gaps of several years between logged figures deserve attention, as does any reading lower than the one before it.

No damage type appears in the source data; that shows what was entered, not what the car has been through. Signs of an old repair – uneven panel gaps, overspray, a slight mismatch in paint – can still turn up at an inspection.

A key is on file for the car. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

The car carries a clean title. There is no salvage or similar mark, so the car was never recorded as 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. 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. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

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. This Ford Focus SE has the VIN 1FAHP3K27CL442829. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. 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 1FAHP3K27CL442829 is the place to start.