2012 SUBARU FORESTER 2.5X PREMIUM VIN JF2SHADC4CH441388

This Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium was built in 2012. Power reaches the wheels through an automatic gearbox. The fuel is petrol. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The clock stood at 140,572 miles when the data was entered. The number on the clock proves little by itself; earlier figures logged at services and inspections are what make it believable. Older figures usually turn up on service invoices, inspection reports and past title paperwork.

In the source data, the main issue is front-end damage. The damage type is a short label: the extent of the damage and the quality of any repair still have to be judged on the car.

The car is recorded as running and driving. A key was present. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

The record shows a transfer document in place of a title. Without a title certificate, registering the car can take extra paperwork and checks.

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. Much of a car’s past cannot be seen: a good body repair leaves no obvious mark, and neither do years of hard driving.

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. 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 car with all-wheel drive has extra differentials and often a transfer case, which an inspection should cover alongside the engine and gearbox.

A vehicle identification number has 17 characters: the first three name the manufacturer, the next six describe the model and its specification, and the last eight identify the individual car. For this car, the VIN is JF2SHADC4CH441388. 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.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. However complete the paperwork, only an inspection shows the condition of the body, suspension, brakes and electrics today. For this 2012 Subaru Forester 2.5X Premium, the sensible next step is a history check on VIN JF2SHADC4CH441388.