2015 FORD MUSTANG V6 VIN 1FATP8EM9F5377656

The Ford Mustang V6 described here left the factory in 2015. The car runs on petrol. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with rear-wheel drive. Details for this car come from a single data source and may differ from its documents.

The car was recorded with 107,545 miles on the clock. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. 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. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

Primary damage in the record: all over the body. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was there when the car was checked.

The record shows a salvage title. Such a title means the car was declared a total loss and can return to the road only after repair and inspection.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

For the engine, the service history matters most: oil changes, filters and the timing belt or chain are the entries to look for. 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.

A VIN never contains the letters I, O or Q, which could be mistaken for digits; its 17 characters identify the maker, the model and the individual car. For this car, the VIN is 1FATP8EM9F5377656. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. 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. Look up the history of VIN 1FATP8EM9F5377656 first, and let what it shows guide the inspection.