How to read a Japanese car auction sheet

Every car at a Japanese auction comes with an inspection sheet written by an independent inspector. It records the grade, the mileage, the equipment, and a diagram of every mark on the body.

If you can read this sheet, you can buy a car from six thousand miles away with real confidence. If you cannot, you are trusting whoever is bidding for you. Here is what each part means.

The four things to check first

Before the detail, get these four right, because they rule most cars in or out on their own.

1. The overall grade, in the box at the top right. See our grade guide for what each one means.
2. The mileage, shown in kilometres, often as a number followed by a symbol meaning thousand. Divide by 1.6 for miles.
3. The chassis number and model code, which confirm you are bidding on the exact variant you think you are.
4. The shaken expiry date, the Japanese roadworthiness certificate. It does not transfer to the UK, but a car with long shaken remaining has usually been maintained.

The panel diagram

This is the outline of the car covered in letters and numbers. The letter tells you the type of damage, and the number tells you the severity. It is the most valuable part of the sheet and the part most people skip.

The number after the letter runs from 1 to 3, occasionally 4. A1 is a barely visible scratch. A3 is a scratch you will notice from across a car park. So A1 on a door is nothing. S3 on a sill is a car to walk away from.

The equipment codes

Usually a row of short codes telling you what the car has:

• AC — air conditioning. AAC — climate control.
• PS — power steering. PW — electric windows.
• SR — sunroof. AW — alloy wheels.
• TV and NAVI — screen and satellite navigation. Note that Japanese navigation units do not work in the UK and Japanese digital TV tuners do not pick up UK broadcasts.
• AT or F5 / F6 — automatic, or five and six speed manual.

The inspector's notes

At the bottom there is usually a handwritten block of Japanese. This is where the real information hides, and it is the part that machine translation handles worst.

The notes cover things the diagram cannot: whether the engine sounds healthy, whether there is oil weeping, whether the timing belt has been changed, whether the car has been modified, whether the mileage has been corrected, and whether there are warning lights showing.

Two phrases are worth knowing, because both are common and both matter. One flags that the odometer reading cannot be verified. Another flags that the car has aftermarket modifications. Neither is necessarily fatal, but both change what a car is worth.

What to do with all this

Score the car in this order: structural marks first (S, C, X, XX on sills, pillars or floor), then mechanical notes, then cosmetics. Cosmetic marks are cheap to live with. Rust and structural repairs are not, and in the UK a rusty import is a hard car to sell on.

Be realistic too. A fifteen-year-old car with a handful of A1s and a U1 has led an ordinary life. If you hold out for a perfect sheet on an older car, you will not buy anything.

On every car we bid on, we translate the full sheet, including the handwritten notes, and send it to you with a plain-English summary before you commit. If we do not like what the sheet says, we tell you and we find you another car.

Common questions

What does the letter and number mean on a Japanese auction sheet?

The letter describes the type of damage and the number describes its severity from 1 to 3. A is a scratch, U is a dent, W is a repainted panel, S is rust and XX means a panel has been replaced. So A1 is a barely visible scratch, while S3 is severe rust.

Can I trust a Japanese auction sheet?

Yes, largely. The sheets are written by independent inspectors who do not work for the seller, and that independence is what makes buying unseen from Japan viable. They are not infallible, but they are far more reliable than a typical used car advert.

What does shaken mean on an auction sheet?

Shaken is Japan's roadworthiness inspection, similar to an MOT but far more expensive. The expiry date appears on the sheet. It does not carry over to the UK, but a car with plenty of shaken remaining has usually been maintained recently.

Does the auction sheet show if the mileage is genuine?

The inspector flags it in the written notes when an odometer reading cannot be verified or appears to have been altered. This is one of the main reasons to have the handwritten notes translated rather than relying on the grade alone.