At a Japanese Licensed Dealer Car Auction, every vehicle is inspected by an auction house's professional car inspector and their findings are filled out on an Auction Sheet.
Their professional inspection covers not only appearance damage but also any hidden problems, such as flood damage, odometer rollback, or the vehicle having been salvaged.
The inspector's report is an un-biased source of information on the true condition of the vehicle.
In a Japanese Licensed Dealer Car Auction's inspection, an auction grade is given indicating the vehicle's condition and is recorded on the auction sheet.
This auction grade is an index of a vehicle's total condition.
We offer you access to 84 auction houses under 39 companies. Their auction
sheets and inspection standards are similar but slightly different between
the companies. We would like to offer a USS auction sheet and standards as
an example for this section.
Please view samples of the auction sheets and their English translation for each auction grade
by clicking on the auction grade links in the auction grade column.
The car is less than 12 months old from the first registration date and under 10,000km.
As good as new. The exterior and interior are in immaculate condition.
6
The car is less than 36 months old from the first registration date and under 30,000km.
The exterior has some very minor scratches/scrapes and dents. They may not need to be repaired.
The car is under 150,000km
The exterior has some scratches/scrapes and dents. They will require some minor panel beating work and/or painting.
The interior has some tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or stains. They will require some minor repair.
The exterior has some noticeable large scratches/scrapes and/or large dents.
They will require some major panel beating work and/or painting.
The interior has many tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or stains. They will require repairs.
The exterior has many noticeable large scratches/scrapes, paint blemishes, and/or large dents.
They will require major panel beating work and/or painting.
The interior has many tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or stains. They will require many repairs and/or interior parts will need to be replaced.
The car which has one or more of the following :
1. An aftermarket turbo
2. An automatic transmission converted to manual transmission
3. Flood damage
4. Fire extinguisher damage
The car has had accident damage and has been repaired.
The auction definition "A car which has had accident damage" is a car that has accident damage to the following area(s)
which parts were repaired or replaced :
1. Lower Tie Bar or Frame
2. Windshield Pillar (A Pillar)
3. Center Pillar (B Pillar)
4. Rear Pillar (C Pillar)
5. Strut Housing
6. Roof Panel
7. Trunk flooring Panel
8. Floor Pan
***
The car has had accident damage, and has NOT been repaired yet. Or a car with an engine that does not work due to major engine trouble.
Interior Grade
A
Repairs are unnecessary.
The car has one, some, or all of the following conditions :
1) A few very minor tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or minor stains.
B
Minor repairs are necessary.
The car has some, or all of the following conditions :
1) Minor tears, cigarette burn marks, minor worn patches, and/or remaining open screw holes.
2) The dashboard is slightly warped.
3) The interior is slightly dirty.
C
Repairs are necessary.
The car has some, or all of the following conditions :
1) Tears, cigarette burn marks, worn patches, visible open screw holes, dashboard warping, and/or dashboard has some small tears.
2) The interior is dirty and needs to be cleaned.
D
Major repairs are necessary.
The car has some, or all of the following conditions :
1) Several cigarette burn marks in the interior.
2) Dashboard has a major warp.
3) The interior is dirty and needs to be cleaned. Some dirty patches will remain after cleaning.
E
Major repairs are necessary.
The car has some, or all of the following conditions :
1) The dashboard has major tears.
2) The interior is very dirty and has some major tears. The interior is flattened.
3) The interior has a bad smell.