JAPANESE CAR AUCTION GRADING
The grade is the overall assessment of the car given to it by the Japanese car auction house?s own assessors. The purpose of the grade is to give you a quick idea of the general condition of the car or vehicle. However, it is not enough to base your final bidding decision on: There will be a range of different quality levels within each grade, so a car that is classified as a grade 4 may be almost a grade 4.5 in quality terms, or it may be only just above a grade 3.5. As a buyer, you use the grading to narrow down the vehicles you may want to bid on. Once you have narrowed down the field, this is when the car map and our translation of the auction sheet will help you to make the final decision about whether to go ahead or not.
There are usually two grades: The overall grade based on the exterior and mechanical condition (usually a number), and the interior grade, based on the interior condition (usually a letter - A, B or C). Although different auctions may have slightly different methods of determining each grade, in general they are broadly similar. Let?s look in more detail at the grading below.
Overall Grade
Grade 7, 8, 9 or S is given to a new car that is being sold in an auction, with only delivery mileage.
Grade 6 Similar to the cars above but with a little more than delivery mileage.
Grade 5 to a car with exceptionally low mileage and in mint condition.
Grade 4.5 is in excellent condition, but can also have mileage of up to 100K.
Grade 4 is a good, solid car. Mileage is not an issue (could be low or high).
Grade 3.5 is similar to a grade 4 but may need more paint and panel work. Alternatively, it may have high mileage.
Grade 3 often has either serious paint and panel, or it has had a panel replacement somewhere. Grade 3 cars can also be basically grade 3.5s in terms of condition, but with very high mileage.
Grade 2 is reserved for vehicles in the worst condition. This does not mean that they are write offs, simply that they have experienced deterioration such that they are now in a very poor state. A grade 2 vehicle will often have corrosion, perhaps corrosion holes and other serious issues. If you are looking for ?classic? and other older cars or older trucks and buses, you will find a number of them are grade 2.
Grade 1 Can be one of the following
1). After market turbo / engine (some sort of serious modification to the original vehicle)
2). Transmission changed from auto to manual.
Grade A, R, RA are repair history cars. The auctions definition of ?repair history? is a car that has had an inside panel repaired in some way. This can range from extremely minor to major.
Grade ??? are ungraded write off cars which may not move at all. Auctions provide no information about these cars on the auction sheets. If the cars are drivable, then there should be no additional transportation costs. However, if the motor does not start or if the car cannot move under its own power for some other reason there may be problems in getting it from the auction to the port, and then from the yard onto the ship. If the engine does not start and is not steerable, transportation and port costs can skyrocket.
Exterior and Interior Grading
Some auctions have a letter, A, B or C to denote the exterior and interior grade separately. These letters can be seen near the overall grading number. A is excellent, B average and C below average.
We will normally not note the exterior grade, as the exterior condition of the car can be ascertained by looking at the car map (see below). For the interior grade, we will normally note this in the translation of the auction sheet if you bid on a car.
Car Map
This is in the bottom right corner of the auction sheet. On the map, the number after the letter denotes the severity of the damage. 1 = light, 2 = moderate, 3 = significant , 4 = major
car map
A Scratch
U Dent
B Dent with scratch
W Wave, or repaired area
S Rust (orange discoloration on the surface)
C Corrosion (rust has progressed so that now the original metal is now flaking away)
P Paint marked
H Paint faded
XX Replaced panel / item
X Item that needs replacing
G Stone chip on glass
Y Crack
E Dimple
In general non-Japanese people tend to find that this grading is stricter than they were expecting.
........
Auction sheets are an essential part of buying used cars from Japan.
USS Auction sheets are the first point of inspection when selecting your used car for purchase. The Auction reports are produced by professional inspectors employed by the auction house, independant of us, your export agent, and the seller of the vehicle in question. They can give us fairly good idea of the condition, history and market value of specific vehicle before the auction commences with basic information like ?
- If the Vehicle has any crash history
- First registration date of the vehicle in Japan (Important when buying a car such as a Mercedes Benz as the registration date and actual production date may be different)
- Any dents or scratches on the vehicle, rated in severity.
- Actual chassis number (To be used for conformation of the year of the vehicle and check with manufacturer of any factory options etc)(Also important to make sure the car you are sold is the car that is shipped!)
- Any rust or corrosion on the vehicle.
- Interior condition
- Any engine noise or transmission problem
- Oil leaks
- If the vehicle has been resprayed.
Afte the inspector has checked the vehicle, he(or she) will ?Grade? (Explanation of the grades below) the interior and exterior of the vehicle, and also give the car a total grade, giving us a clear indication of the condition and value of the vehicle in the market.
Though the Auction sheets are a great resource, they should not be relied upon 100% and should only be used as a indication of the condition of the car. In addition to the auction sheets, we always check the car personally, to get a true picture of the target vehicle. We can actually call you from beside the car at auction for a more through inspection giving you confidence in what you are purchasing.
Below you will find more specific information on Auction sheet grading and interior grades and also a full translation of a several different Auction Sheets ? Very useful information for reading the Japanese Auction Sheets if you are not fluent in Japanese!. We can help with the translations of the Auction Sheets also.
[h=1][U] USS AUCTION SHEET TRANSLATION[/U][/h]
[h=1][/h][h=1][U]ARAI AUCTION SHEET TRANSLATION[/U][/h]
[h=1][U]HAA & JAA AUCTION SHEET TRANSLATION[/U][/h]
[h=1][U]CAA AUCTION SHEET TRANSLATION[/U][/h]
[TABLE="class: aligncenter"]
[TR]
[TD][U]Auction Grade[/U][/TD]
[TD="width: 765"][U]Detail[/U][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]S[/TD]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6[/TD]
[TD]The car is less than 36 months old from the first registration date and under 30,000km.
Basicly a very late model and new new car.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]The car is under 50,000km.
The exterior may have some very minor scratches/scrapes and dents. A very difficult grade to obtain, the unit will be in near perfect condition with very minor imperfections.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4.5[/TD]
[TD]The car is under 100,000km. Again, a very high grade that you can be confident in. The car may have some very slight imperfections in the body work, but will not need major repair. Grade 6,5 and 4.5 are the top grades you could expect for a used car, and as such attract the top prices in the top 10%.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]The car is under 150,000km
The exterior may have some scratches/scrapes and dents. The car is in above average condition. No Crash history
The interior may have some tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or stains. They will require some minor repair. The auction sheet will tell us in more detail.
Generally a 4 grade car is a good target and the most popular for export. Price range will be in the top 30%.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3.5[/TD]
[TD]The exterior has some noticeable large scratches/scrapes and/or large dents. They may require some minor panel beating work and/or painting.
The interior may have many tears, cigarette burn marks, and/or stains. They will require repairs. Auction sheet will explain in more detail. The car is in average condition taking in to consideration the year and ks on the car.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]The car is in very bad condition ? PASS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]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[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]RA[/TD]
[TD]The car which has had accident damage which can be ranked MINOR, and has been repaired.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R
[/TD]
[TD]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. These cars can be good buying, and the repair work can be of top standard. Thorough inspection at auction and the car can be purchased if the repair is good. Repair may be invisible?or could be bad! We will be onsite to check and give you our opinion.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]***[/TD]
[TD]The car has had major accident damage, and has NOT been repaired yet. Or a car with an engine that does not work due to major engine trouble.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD] [/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Interior[/TD]
[TD]Detail[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]A[/TD]
[TD]Repairs are unnecessary.
New or near new condition.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]B[/TD]
[TD]Minor repairs are not necessary.
The most popular grade for export. Very clean interior.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C[/TD]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]D[/TD]
[TD]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. Needs work.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]E[/TD]
[TD]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.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[TABLE="class: aligncenter"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 454, colspan: 2"]Auction Sheet Abbreviations[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AC[/TD]
[TD]Air conditioner[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]FA/AT[/TD]
[TD]Automatic transmission[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]F5[/TD]
[TD]Manual (5-speed) transmission[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]PS[/TD]
[TD]Power steering[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]SR[/TD]
[TD]Sunroof[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AW[/TD]
[TD]Original alloy wheels[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]NAVI[/TD]
[TD]Navigator[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AAC[/TD]
[TD]Climate control air conditioner[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]CA[/TD]
[TD]Column automatic transmission[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]F6[/TD]
[TD]Manual (6-speed) transmission[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]PW[/TD]
[TD]Power windows[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]TV[/TD]
[TD]Television[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]KAWA[/TD]
[TD]Leather seats[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]AIRBAGU[/TD]
[TD]Airbag[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]E3[/TD]
[TD]Some dents which are barely visible.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]U1[/TD]
[TD]A dent which is the size of a thumb.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]U2[/TD]
[TD]A dent which is the size of a palm.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]U3[/TD]
[TD]A dent which is more than size U2.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Y1[/TD]
[TD]A tear which is the size of a thumb.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Y2[/TD]
[TD]A tear which is the size of a palm.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Y3[/TD]
[TD]A tear which is more than size Y2.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]W1[/TD]
[TD]A panel which has been repaired slightly, and is in good condition.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]W2[/TD]
[TD]A panel which has been repaired slightly, and has a slightly wave.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]W3[/TD]
[TD]A panel which has been repaired slightly, and has a conspicuous wave.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]S1[/TD]
[TD]Rust which is the size of a fist.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]S2[/TD]
[TD]Rust which is more than size S1.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C1[/TD]
[TD]Major rust corrosion which is the size of a fist.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]C2[/TD]
[TD]Major rust corrosion which is more than size C1.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]X[/TD]
[TD]A panel which needs to be replaced.[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]XX[/TD]
[TD]A panel which has been replaced.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Just a couple of Quick Copy + Paste from some websites forgot to quote them
this is just for quick reference i will explain in my own words later as to what is most relevant to the Pakistani Market
wassalaam.
