How to read a Japanese auction sheet

What the sheet is

Every car that crosses a Japanese auction block is inspected first. The inspector writes an overall grade, a separate grade for the interior, a diagram of the panels with coded marks, and a few lines of handwritten notes. That one page is the closest thing to an honest pre-purchase inspection you will get from 11,000 kilometres away.

It is not marketing. The auction house has no stake in the sale price, and an inspector who overstates a car loses their licence. Read the sheet before you look at the photographs.

The overall grade

The headline number runs from 1 to 6, with a few letters mixed in.

• S or 6 — effectively new. Delivery mileage, no wear anywhere.
• 5 — excellent. Under about 60,000 km, nothing to fix.
• 4.5 — very good. Light wear, small scratches, nothing structural.
• 4 — good. The everyday clean import. Expect a few marks and higher mileage.
• 3.5 — fair. Visible scratches, dents or a worn interior. Budget for panel work.
• 3 and below — rough. Only worth it if you are buying for parts or a full rebuild.
• R or RA — repaired. The car has had accident repair. Sometimes a replaced bumper, sometimes a straightened chassis. Read the notes.

The panel diagram

The little car outline is where the detail lives. Letters mark what the inspector found and the number beside each one rates how bad it is, 1 being barely visible and 4 being severe.

• A — scratch
• U — dent
• W — repaired or repainted panel
• X — panel needs replacing
• XX — panel has already been replaced
• S — rust, C — corrosion
• B — dent with a scratch

What we do with it

We send you the sheet and a translation of the inspector notes before we bid, not after. If a grade 4 carries a W2 on the right quarter panel, you should know that while you can still say no.