2015 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF R VIN WVWLF7AU3FW217795

This record covers a 2015 Volkswagen Golf R, finished in black. The gearbox is automatic, with all-wheel drive. The engine is a 2.0-litre petrol unit with four cylinders.

A later figure lower than an earlier one points to a replaced instrument cluster or an odometer that has been wound back.

When the car was recorded, it showed front-end damage. Whether the damage has been repaired since, and how well, is not something a damage entry can show. Whatever the cause, a diagnostic scan of the car’s electronics shows fault codes that a visual check misses.

Without a key, a modern car needs a replacement coded to its immobiliser before it can even be started. Months of standing can leave a car with seized brakes and perished tyres.

A salvage title is on file for this car. A title of this kind usually means the car was written off as a total loss after damage. Once issued, a branded title stays with the VIN for good, and it affects registration and insurance for every later owner.

Registrations, changes of owner, inspection results and accident claims together make up what is called a car’s history. 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. Drive to all four wheels means more to maintain: differentials and couplings have oil of their own, which some manufacturers want changed at set intervals.

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 Volkswagen Golf R has the VIN WVWLF7AU3FW217795.

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 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 Volkswagen Golf R, it makes sense to look up VIN WVWLF7AU3FW217795.