2011 HONDA CR-V SE VIN 5J6RE3H40BL042245

This entry is for a 2011 Honda Cr-V SE. The gearbox is automatic. Power comes from a 2.4-litre petrol engine with four cylinders. The specification is taken from the source data.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 303,457 miles. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. The mileage is high for the car’s age, so the suspension, brakes, seats and steering wheel deserve a close look. 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.

When the car was recorded, it showed front-end damage. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since.

When checked, the car could be started and driven under its own power. A key was there when the car was checked. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

A clean title is on file for this car. Nothing on the title points to a total loss or a flood.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. 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. A petrol engine in good order starts cleanly, idles evenly and pulls without hesitation. The automatic gearbox should respond smoothly and without delay; jerks, slipping or hesitation on a test drive need investigating.

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 on file for this car is 5J6RE3H40BL042245. 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.

A VIN report gathers what different sources know about a car, such as the number of owners, mileage readings, damage and any branded title. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. 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. A history check on VIN 5J6RE3H40BL042245 is the place to start.