2008 KIA SPECTRA LX VIN KNAFE121385532748

This record covers a 2008 KIA Spectra LX. The gearbox is manual, with front-wheel drive. Power comes from a 2.0-litre petrol engine with four cylinders, rated at 138 hp. The specification is taken from the source data and has not been checked against other documents.

At the time of recording, the car had covered 196,232 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. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

The record lists mechanical damage as the main problem on this car. A damage entry is a starting point for the inspection, telling the mechanic where to look first. With mechanical damage on file, the inspection should start with the engine, the gearbox and the running gear.

A key was there when the car was checked. Running condition describes a single moment, and standing or work done since can change it.

According to the source data, the car has a clean title. Nothing on the title points to a total loss or a flood.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. A car’s paperwork is scattered: the registry knows about owners, the workshop about repairs and the insurance company about claims. A clean, polished car can still hide a serious accident, a flood or years of hard use.

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. A manual gearbox should change cleanly into every gear; a slipping clutch or a rattle at idle points to work that will be needed soon.

The ninth character of the VIN is a check digit calculated from the other sixteen, so a mistyped or invented number does not add up. This car’s identification number is KNAFE121385532748. 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. A repair paid for in cash at a small workshop leaves no trace in any database, so no report can list it. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. Before going any further with this KIA Spectra LX, it makes sense to look up VIN KNAFE121385532748.