Almost every used car in Japan passes through an auction house, and each one is inspected and graded by a neutral inspector before it goes under the hammer. That inspection is recorded on a single sheet.
If you can read the sheet, you know more about the car than most buyers standing next to it.
The overall grade
| S or 6 | Essentially new, very low mileage |
| 5 | Excellent, minimal wear |
| 4.5 | Very good, small cosmetic marks |
| 4 | Good, normal wear for the age. The most common grade for a sound used car |
| 3.5 | Average, visible marks or small dents |
| 3 | Below average, noticeable cosmetic work needed |
| 2 or 1 | Poor condition, heavy modification, or major issues |
| R, RA or A | Accident repaired, meaning structural repair has been carried out |
Grade 4 is the one to understand properly. It is not a compromise grade. It describes a car with normal wear for its age and no structural damage, and it is where most sensible used purchases sit.
R matters more than the number beside it. An R grade means the car has had accident repair to a structural part. An R-grade car may look fine and drive fine, but it has a repair history and it is worth less. Never skip this field.
The interior grade
Beside the overall grade is a letter for the interior, usually A to D. A is close to new. B shows light wear. C shows clear wear, marks or smells. D is poor, with burns, tears or heavy staining. Interior grade is where cheap cars are most often let down, and it is the part photographs disguise best.
The damage map
The car diagram on the sheet carries short codes marking exactly where each fault is. The common ones:
| A1, A2, A3 | Scratch, increasing in size |
| U1, U2, U3 | Dent, increasing in size |
| B1, B2, B3 | Dent with a scratch |
| W1, W2, W3 | Already repaired, quality increasing with the number |
| X | Panel needs replacing |
| XX | Panel has been replaced |
| S | Rust |
| C | Corrosion |
| P | Paint fade or discolouration |
| Y | Hole or tear |
| G | Stone chip in the glass |
A sheet covered in A1 and U1 marks is describing an ordinary car that has been parked in ordinary places. A sheet with several XX marks is describing a car where multiple panels have been replaced, and you should ask why. Codes are broadly standard across the major auction houses, though a few use small variations, so read the legend printed on the sheet itself.
The inspector’s notes
The handwritten notes are the most valuable part of the sheet and the part most often ignored, because they are in Japanese. They record things no code covers: warning lights, a noisy bearing, worn tyres, a missing service book, a non-standard exhaust, water in the boot.
If someone is selling you a car from an auction sheet and cannot tell you what the notes say, they have not read them.
What the sheet does not tell you
The mileage is what the odometer read on inspection day. Japanese auction houses take odometer fraud seriously, but the sheet is a record, not a guarantee.
The inspection is visual and static. It is not a road test, not a compression test, and not a diagnostic scan. A grade 4 car can still have a tired battery, worn brake pads, or a fault that only appears at motorway speed.
And the grade describes condition on the day of inspection, which may be weeks before the car reaches you.
How we use auction sheets
When we bid on a car for a customer, we read the full sheet including the notes, translate them, and tell you what we found before you commit. We calculate the bid ceiling from the total landed cost, not the hammer price, so the number you agree is the number that works.
We do not describe a car’s grade, mileage or history as anything other than what the sheet and the documents actually show.