2007 LEXUS RX 350 VIN 2T2GK31U37C010786

This entry is for a 2007 Lexus RX 350. Power comes from a 3.5-litre petrol engine with six cylinders. The gearbox is automatic. The specification is taken from the source data.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 90,780 miles. Miles and kilometres are easy to confuse, and a distance in miles looks lower than the same distance in kilometres. For a car of this age the mileage is low, which is exactly the kind of figure that deserves confirming from older entries. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display.

Primary damage in the record: front end. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show. A lift and a diagnostic check show what photos cannot: bent brackets behind a panel, chafed wiring or deployed airbags.

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

According to the source data, the car has a salvage title. A title like this is issued when repair was judged uneconomical or unsafe. A branded title follows the car through every change of owner, so it remains part of its history.

A car’s history is the sum of what has happened to it since it was new, and most of it has left a trace on paper somewhere. Pieces of a car’s history sit with registries, dealers, workshops and insurance companies, and none of them sees the whole picture. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

An engine that has had its oil changed on time is far less likely to cause trouble later, and workshop invoices are the proof. 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.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. For this car, the VIN is 2T2GK31U37C010786. The VIN usually appears at the base of the windscreen, on a door pillar and stamped into the body, and all of them should match the documents.

Depending on what is on file, a VIN report may include past registrations, mileage readings, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks. 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. Before any decision, check what is known about VIN 2T2GK31U37C010786.