How Japanese car auctions work
Around 150,000 cars a week pass through the Japanese auction halls. Every one of them is inspected and written up on a sheet before it is sold — which is the reason a Japanese used car can be bought at distance at all.
The auction sheet
One page per car, written by the auction's own inspector. It carries the chassis number, the mileage, an overall grade, an interior grade and a diagram of the body marked up with every scratch, dent, repaired panel and replaced panel the inspector found. The comments are in Japanese; we translate them.
How the bidding goes
You set a maximum. We bid in the hall on your behalf up to that figure and stop. There is no charge for a lot we do not win, and no pressure to raise a limit — a car you overpay for is a car you will resent for years.
Want a sheet checked before you commit?
We translate and read the auction sheet for any lot, whether or not you buy it through us. It is a priced service on the services page.
ServicesThe overall grades
- S / 6
- Effectively new. Very few cars, usually under a year old.
- 5
- Excellent. Minor marks at most.
- 4.5
- Very good. Small scratches, nothing structural.
- 4
- Good, normal wear for the age. The most common grade worth buying.
- 3.5
- Visible wear or small damage. Read the diagram carefully.
- 3
- Noticeable damage or high mileage. Worth it only at the right price.
- R / RA
- Repaired accident history. Not automatically bad — the extent matters and the sheet says what it was.
Grades are not identical between auction houses and an inspector is a person, not a machine. We read the diagram and the comments, not just the letter, and we tell you what we see — including when we would not buy it.
Start with one car
Send us a link, a lot number, or just tell us what you are looking for. You get the full breakdown back, with the commission on its own line, before you commit to anything.