2011 CADILLAC CTS LUXURY VIN 1G6DE5EY7B0165404

This record covers a 2011 Cadillac CTS Luxury, finished in red. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. The engine is a 3.0-litre petrol unit with six cylinders.

The clock stood at 70,613 miles when the data was entered. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. A car that has covered little distance for its age still ages: rubber seals, tyres and brake fluid deteriorate with time as well as use. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

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. Damage rarely stays where it is first seen: an impact can reach the mountings and airbags behind a panel, and water or fire the wiring and electronics.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

According to the source data, the car has a clean title. Such a title means no salvage, flood or similar mark was recorded against the car; it does not rule out damage repaired without a claim.

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. The paperwork is kept by different bodies – registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders – so the history of one car is spread across many places. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. 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. The VIN 1G6DE5EY7B0165404 belongs to this 2011 Cadillac CTS Luxury. A VIN that differs between the documents and the car, or shows signs of tampering, is reason enough to walk away.

A VIN report shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. No report is complete: a repair done privately and never claimed on insurance leaves nothing to find. 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. With this 2011 Cadillac CTS Luxury, the first step is a look at the history behind VIN 1G6DE5EY7B0165404.