How to read a Japanese auction sheet

Most used imports in New Zealand were sold at a Japanese wholesale auction before they were shipped, and at the big auction groups the cars are inspected by the auction's own staff before sale. The result is the auction sheet: a one-page condition report with a grade, a diagram of the body marked with damage codes, and handwritten notes, all in Japanese shorthand.

It is the closest thing an import has to a condition record from before it arrived. It is also a snapshot taken by one inspector on one day, and it is easy to misread. Here is how to read one, and where it stops being useful.

What is on the sheet

Auction houses such as USS, TAA, JU, CAA and HAA each use their own layout, but the content is broadly the same: lot number and auction date, model and chassis code, year, engine size, transmission, colour, kilometres, the overall grade, interior and exterior grades, the damage diagram, and the inspector's notes.

The year is often written in the Japanese era rather than the Western calendar. H is Heisei, so add 1988: H27 is 2015. R is Reiwa, so add 2018: R3 is 2021. Do not mistake an R in the year box for the R repair grade.

The overall grade

The big number is the overall grade. Exporter and reference guides describe it in broadly the same terms, though any kilometre figures attached to a grade are rules of thumb, not cut-offs:

• S or 6: effectively new. S usually means under a year old with very low kilometres; 6 is near new, typically only a few years old.
• 5: excellent, minimal wear, usually low kilometres.
• 4.5: very good for its age, with light wear.
• 4: good, with honest wear for its age.
• 3.5: average. Visible scratches and dents, and it may need tidying before resale.
• 3: heavy cosmetic wear. It may need panel and paint work and can carry rust.
• 2: poor, typically with significant corrosion or deterioration.
• 1: a special case, such as flood damage or heavy modification.
• R or RA: repair history. R means accident or structural repair; RA usually means lighter repair. This sits outside the number scale, so an R car is not simply a bad 3.
• 0, *** or blank: not graded, often sold as-is, which can include cars that do not run.

Interior and exterior letters

Most sheets add letter grades, usually A to E, for the interior and often the exterior. A is close to new, B is clean with light wear, C shows visible wear or stains, D needs real work, and E is very poor. The overall number and the interior letter are separate judgements, so a good number can sit beside a tired cabin.

The damage codes

The diagram is marked with letter codes, usually followed by a number for size or severity, where 1 is small and 3 is large. The common ones:

• A: scratch. A1 is small, A3 is large.
• U: dent. B: dent with a scratch.
• E: dimples, a scatter of small dents such as hail.
• W: wave or repair mark, meaning the panel has been repaired or refinished. W1 is hard to spot, W3 is obvious.
• S: rust. C: corrosion, the more serious form.
• X: panel needs replacing. XX: panel has already been replaced.
• P: paint marks or paint damage. H: faded paint.
• Y: a crack or a hole.
• G: glass damage, usually a stone chip or crack in the windscreen.

Houses vary in the detail and some add their own symbols, so if a code is not on this list, ask rather than guess. W and XX are the ones to follow up hardest: they tell you the car has been repaired, and the sheet does not say how well.

The kilometres

The sheet records the kilometres at auction. A mark beside the figure (houses use symbols such as *, $ or #) generally means the odometer has been replaced or the true reading is unknown. The exact meaning varies by house, so get that symbol explained rather than ignored.

The auction figure is one of the last readings before the car left Japan, which makes it the first number to compare with its New Zealand history. If the reading at the NZ border, the first WoF or the dial today is lower than the sheet, something needs explaining. The odometer tampering guide covers how to read that trail.

Translation: the notes are the part that matters

The handwritten notes carry what a grade cannot: repaired areas, replaced parts, warning lights, noises, smells, modifications and missing equipment. They are abbreviated Japanese, and a one-line English summary can leave out the line you needed. Ask for the notes translated in full, line by line, alongside the original sheet.

How to get the sheet in New Zealand

• Ask the dealer or importer. Whoever bought the car at auction received the sheet, and a dealer selling imports should be able to show you the original, not only a translation.
• Ask before you view, with the chassis number visible. The chassis number on the sheet should match the car and its New Zealand papers.
• If the dealer cannot produce one, some other NZ report sellers sell a Japanese import history report that can include auction records. KickTyres does not sell this.
• Not every import went through an auction, so a missing sheet is not automatically suspicious. An unexplained one is worth a question.

Fake and altered sheets

A good grade adds value, so sheets are sometimes altered. The tricks exporters and verification services describe most often are editing the grade (an R turned into a 4 or 4.5), editing the kilometres to match a wound-back dial, deleting notes, and passing off a genuine sheet from a different car.

• Be wary of a blurry, cropped or low-resolution copy, or one where text looks shifted or patched.
• Check the chassis number on the sheet against the car itself, not only against the paperwork you were handed.
• Prefer a sheet retrieved from the auction's own records by the importer, or checked independently against those records by chassis number, over a copy that came with the listing.
• Check the car against the sheet. If the sheet shows no repairs but panel colours or gaps do not match, believe the car.

What an auction sheet cannot tell you

It is a condition report, not a mechanical inspection, and it records what one inspector saw in Japan before shipping. It says nothing about what happened in transit, in storage or in the years since the car arrived. It is no substitute for a cold drive, a look at the servicing, or a battery health test on a hybrid, and it will not tell you whether the timing belt has been done. The cambelt guide covers that one.

Nor does it tell you what the model is known for. A Toyota Aqua graded 4.5 carries the same documented traction battery risk as any other Aqua its age, and a clean Honda Fit sheet says nothing about its CVT. The grade describes the car one inspector saw that day, not what its drivetrain will do next.

How it fits with NZ compliance

The auction sheet is not a New Zealand document and plays no formal part in getting the car on the road. Two NZ checks do that. The border inspection, carried out in Japan before shipping or here on arrival, looks for structural damage and corrosion and records the vehicle's identity and odometer reading. Entry certification then checks the VIN, that the car meets NZ standards and that it is roadworthy before it is first registered. Cars flagged for structural damage go through a repair certification process.

So compliance tells you the car met NZ standards on the day it was certified. It does not tell you the auction grade, and a properly repaired car can pass. The sheet tells you what the car was like before it was shipped. Its New Zealand history tells you what has happened since, and you want all three. For the bigger picture, read why New Zealand drives Japan's used cars.

Once the car has a plate, look it up free to see the documented faults for that model and engine. Full History Info ($13.49) adds the New Zealand side of the record: the odometer history since it arrived, ownership and money owing.