2011 HONDA CR-V EX VIN 3CZRE4H55BG702467

The Honda Cr-V EX described here left the factory in 2011. The drivetrain combines an automatic gearbox with four-wheel drive. The car runs on petrol. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

The record gives the mileage as 209,516 miles. Because the clock counts miles, any figure noted in kilometres has to be converted before the two can be compared. 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.

In the source data, the main issue is front-end damage. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first.

A ‘runs and drives’ note means the car moved under its own power when it was checked. A key is on file for the car.

A salvage title is on file for this car. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage.

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. 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.

A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. 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. With four-wheel drive, mismatched tyres can strain the centre differential or coupling, so all four should be the same make and similarly worn.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. The VIN 3CZRE4H55BG702467 belongs to this 2011 Honda Cr-V EX. 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. Paperwork is only as complete as the people who kept it, so a report with few entries lowers the risk without removing 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. The next step is to look up the history behind VIN 3CZRE4H55BG702467.