Japanese Car Auction Grades Explained: Reading an Auction Sheet

Each auction house sets its own rules

USS, a Japanese auction operator, says its vehicles are evaluated on a 10-grade scoring system based on its own inspection system. TAA, CAA and AS publish separate rulebooks with their own grades and symbols.

How the grade is produced

USS says its certified inspectors inspect each car on the basis of the seller's declaration and rate it against published criteria. TAA says its grade is calculated by computer from the entered vehicle information. The calculation adds up scratches and other defects and an index of functional defects in the engine and running gear, then factors in time since first registration, mileage and repair history.

TAA says its own inspection is a visual check of the interior and exterior plus operation with the car stationary. Faults that need parts removed or a road test rely on the seller's declaration. USS says members may use its rating as a reference but cannot hold USS responsible over a difference in rating.

Lower grades and special marks

USS lists these other marks in the same table.

• 2: low commercial value, poor-quality vehicles and similar. USS defines a poor-quality vehicle as one whose main body parts, such as the frame, members, pillars or floor panel, are in bad condition from corrosion holes, or one USS judges to have a problem with safe driving.
• 1: flood-damaged vehicles, vehicles exposed to fire-extinguishing agent and similar.
• R and RA: repair-history vehicles.
• X: vehicles that are hard to evaluate, such as extremely old, replica or special vehicles.

Other houses publish different criteria

TAA's grade 4.5 row gives an exterior rating of B or better and an interior rating of C or better, while USS's grade 4.5 needs interior B or better. For grade 5, USS lists mileage under 50,000 km and TAA lists mileage within 50,000 km. TAA's grade 3 includes cars with a major engine or mechanism defect. CAA uses 99 for vehicles it does not evaluate, such as unrepaired accident vehicles.

What the marks mean

At USS, R and RA appear in the overall grade table as grades in their own right. USS defines a repair-history vehicle as one it judges to have a history of damage to the body skeleton from a traffic accident or other disaster.

TAA describes RA as a lighter repair-history vehicle. It says the RA display is only a guide and that no claim is accepted if the car turns out to differ. CAA gives the same RA wording.

Which parts USS counts

USS lists these cases as repair history.

• Frame, members, inside panels, cowl panel or trunk floor panel: replaced, corrected, or needing correction.
• Pillars, excluding the outer surface part: replaced, corrected, or needing correction.
• Roof panel: replaced or corrected in poor condition, or needing major correction.
• Room floor panel, or a panel welded to it: replaced, corrected, or needing correction.
• Other cases where the state of correction or repair makes USS suspect a traffic accident or disaster history.

Rules differ on minor damage

CAA defines a repair-history vehicle as one with damage to the specified skeleton parts, or traces of its repair. CAA excludes the minor dents, upward-impact dents and minor tears (cracks) that CAA judges to be so, and their repair traces.

Other AS symbols

AS also lists these symbols.

• W1, W2 and W3: repair-trace paint waviness, from a good-quality finish (W1) and a normal finish (W2) to one that needs repairing again (W3).
• S1: up to several small rust spots.
• A cross marks a part that needs replacing, and a double cross marks a part already replaced.

Mileage marks

USS's consignment rules treat a mileage declaration with no unit as kilometres. They require a mark in the sheet's mileage field when the odometer was tampered with (an asterisk), when a documented meter replacement is shown with the readings before and after the replacement combined (a dollar sign), or when the actual running distance cannot be judged (a hash sign). For tampered mileage and mileage that cannot be judged, the reading shown on the odometer is entered.

Checking mileage

The Automobile Fair Trade Council's pages say the mileage management system is run by the Nippon Auto Auction Association (日本オートオークション協議会). The system checks a reading against stored data, and it cannot check a car with no stored mileage data, for example one never listed at auction. The Council also says buyers can check mileage against documents such as the auction sheet and maintenance records.

The inspection company JEVIC lists an odometer inspection that verifies the odometer mileage against the vehicle's historical readings.

First registration is not manufacture date

USS requires the seller to declare the first-registration year, and the USS grade criteria count months from first registration. Neither is a manufacture date. For the US federal safety provision, 49 CFR 591.5(i)(1), checked on 12 October 2026, covers a vehicle that is 25 or more years old. NHTSA's FAQ, in an archived copy from 19 September 2026, says the 25 years run from the date of the vehicle's manufacture. If no label shows that date, it says an invoice showing the date of first sale or a registration document showing registration at least 25 years ago can establish age.

As of 12 October 2026, EPA's importing page says its over-21-year provision requires an engine of the same model and configuration as the original, and it encourages importers to contact its Imports Hotline first. Transport Canada says the age of an older vehicle is primarily determined by the month and year it was manufactured, and that importing one successfully does not guarantee it can be registered and licensed.

Inspection scope

USS says stored auction vehicles can be viewed in person to avoid trouble after the sale, and that bidders taking part by terminal or online can request a proxy preview. A USS investor presentation describes an underbody imaging system and inspections using on-board diagnostic scans. It says auction sites use a special section for vehicles that pass the scan inspection.

If the car differs from the sheet

Under USS's claims rules, a claim on a purchased car is made through USS. A price-reduction claim is not accepted in several cases, including repair-history, disaster and poor-quality vehicles, vehicles of 100,000 km or more, vehicles whose running distance cannot be judged, meter-tampered vehicles, vehicles at least 15 years from first registration, and vehicles exported from Japan, including through Japanese customs. Items written in the sheet's sales-point section are excepted from the repair-history, disaster, poor-quality, mileage and age cases. USS may also allow a reduction that it considers appropriate.