2017 AUDI A4 ULTRA PREMIUM VIN WAUKMAF48HN042490

The Audi A4 Ultra Premium described here left the factory in 2017. There is an automatic gearbox, with front-wheel drive. Power comes from a 2.0-litre petrol engine with four cylinders, rated at 190 hp. Every figure for this car is given as it appears in the source data.

The recorded mileage is 158,107 miles. A clock converted from miles to kilometres should be documented, since the swap can hide the true mileage. High mileage alone does not rule a car out; what matters is whether regular servicing kept pace with it. A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back. A service book or a folder of workshop invoices is the simplest place to find past readings.

In the source data, the main issue is rear-end damage. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show.

No key is recorded with the car, and a replacement has to be coded to the immobiliser. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A car’s history is everything logged against it since it left the factory: registrations and owners, inspections, repairs and insurance claims. What a car has been through is seldom visible at first glance, and a respray can make even a badly damaged car look sound.

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 needs its fluid changed at the manufacturer’s intervals, and invoices should show that it was.

A history check works by VIN because the number never changes, unlike registration plates and owners. The VIN on file for this car is WAUKMAF48HN042490. 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 shows what has been logged: earlier registrations, odometer figures, damage entries, branded titles and theft checks, wherever such data exists. The absence of an entry is not proof that nothing happened; it may only mean that nobody wrote it down. A professional inspection makes sense whatever the paperwork shows, because no report measures corrosion, worn bushes or a poor repair. A history check on VIN WAUKMAF48HN042490 is the place to start.