2007 LEXUS ES 350 VIN JTHBJ46G072002491

The Lexus ES 350 described here left the factory in 2007. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Under the bonnet is a 3.5-litre petrol engine producing 272 hp. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The record gives the mileage as 142,031 miles. The instruments count in miles; the same distance in kilometres is about 1.6 times the figure. Turning back an odometer takes little skill and leaves no visible trace, which is why earlier figures matter more than the display. Service invoices and inspection reports each carry a mileage figure, and lined up in order they show whether the clock tells the truth.

Primary damage in the record: left rear. A damage type says what kind of damage the car had, not how serious it was or whether it has been repaired since. A lift and a diagnostic check show what photos cannot: bent brackets behind a panel, chafed wiring or deployed airbags.

The record notes that the car ran and drove. A key is on file for the car.

The car carries a salvage title. At some point in its life, the car was declared a total loss. If any work has been done on the car since, photos and invoices should show what was replaced.

A car’s history answers three questions: who kept it, how it was looked after and what went wrong along the way. No single office holds the whole story of a car: registries, workshops, insurance companies and lenders each keep their own part. From the outside, a car with a repaired accident and a car without one can look identical.

A cold start, the colour of the exhaust smoke and any oil leaks tell a mechanic a good deal about how an engine has been treated. On a petrol engine, spark plugs, ignition coils and the cooling system are the routine items a service history should cover. The automatic gearbox needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

Stamped into the body and printed on a plate, the VIN is the one identifier that stays with a car through every owner, registration and repair. The record gives the VIN as JTHBJ46G072002491. Scratches, fresh paint or a replaced plate around the VIN markings are warning signs in their own right.

What a history report can list depends on what has been documented about the car: registrations, mileage readings, damage, branded titles and theft reports. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list 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 history behind VIN JTHBJ46G072002491 is the natural starting point before any decision about this Lexus ES 350.