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Car Inspections & Auction Inspections
There are two different types of Vehicle Inspections we offer which are Car Inspections & Auction Inspections. On this page you can check the type of inspections we do and also learn more about buying cars from Japan.
Auction Inspections
Car Inspections
An auction vehicle inspection is exactly as it sounds. We go to the auction and inspect the vehicle for you to confirm the grading of the car is accurate. This is done per request of our customers.
Why do we do this after the auctions have already inspected the car?
- The average time an auction spends grading any car is 8 minutes and this is not enough time to give the car what it deserves.
- In 8 minutes items will be missed. Read What We Do Below
- 1. We check fluids etc, brakes, sounds, smoke, dampness, old oil leaks, tyre wear, signs of previous damage, paint condition, paint thickness, interior condition, mileage accuracy, auction sheet accuracy, alignment of panels and to get a general feeling of the car overall, + more
- 2. We also take 30 to 40 photos of the car to confirm its accuracy.
- 3. In addition to our inspection in most instances, we can provide undercarriage scans, wheel scans and 360 interior scans.
- 4. A written overview of what we see and find including recommendations.
This information will be relayed to you on the actual day of the auction and not before as we can’t enter the auctions before the auction date.
We do not take videos as auctions are very noisy and the sounds from a phone will be distorted and horrible. You will at a video once and never look again, but you will always go back to the photos for reference.
Even a good car engine sounds bad from an iPhone microphone. The images are jumpy and poor quality so we rely solely on many good-quality still pictures and capture everything this way.
Please check the example below
A car inspection is not an auction inspection. In this instance, we inspect cars at dealer car yards or elsewhere upon request. These inspections are paid inspections that must be done on a case-by-case basis.
Japan is huge and getting around here is costly so having us jump around Japan comes at some expense so we want to make this clear from the onset.
The fee for inspections is done on a case-by-case basis yet again determined by the location of the vehicle that’s required to be inspected.
We Recommend This Type Of Inspection For Rare Or Expensive Vehicles Only
If you want to have a standard mass-produced car inspected using this service we strongly advise buying from auction where they can be found in abundance.
- We check fluids etc, brakes, sounds, smoke, dampness, old oil leaks, tyre wear, signs of previous damage, paint condition, paint thickness, interior condition, mileage accuracy, auction sheet accuracy, alignment of panels and to get a general feeling of the car overall, + more
- We also take 150 to 200 photos of the car to confirm its alignment and overall condition.
- In addition to our inspection in most instances, we also provide multiple videos
- A written overview of what we see and find including recommendations.
- Paperwork for the vehicle authenticity is checked
- A video call is also provided on a case-by-case basis
- We accept customers’ additional questions upon application only if they can be achieved and governed by the resources available to us on the day of inspection.
These inspections are often done on dealers’ yards. The cars are often in positions that are tight and hard to get around so we do the best we can. We will explain what sort of access we have on the day of inspection.
Please check the example below
650023 USS Tokyo Porsche 911 4S Yellow
The car’s overall condition was clean and tidy befitting with the kilometres shown.
The auction sheet is accurate with only some small scratches on 1 alloy. Tyres had minimal wear and brakes looked only 30% worn. All fluids are in clean condition and the engine revs and idles nicely. The interior driver’s carpet is dirty and the steering wheel and seat are minimally worn in line with the kilometres driven.
A clean car that will be hard to buy for small money at USS Tokyo and in this condition but worthy of a good budget all the same.
Read Dealer Inspections Here
1996 Porsche 911 Turbo 9,000klm inspected in Tokyo.
Hello Adam,
I hope that you are enjoying the photos. As you know we had the appointment at 4 pm at the dealer’s yard in Tokyo. However, the car was not there and we had to drive very close to Tokyo station where the car was parked in a private basement 3 levels underground. There was no reception from there so we could not do the video call as planned. However, I have sent 5 additional videos with this report including as requested “cold start, paint check, engine sound, interior, opinion”
The paint looked original and in some respect a little too original. You could easily see many years of polishing in the clear coat which under a good eye will cut out. There is a decent scratch on the driver’s bottom door. The front bumper has been bumped and needs refitting correctly. There are some scratched on the underbody and a few small stone chips on the front of the car. It’s an original paint job yes but painting it is discretionary. The interior is close to immaculate as you can see with servicing stickers found in the engine bay matching the mileage. No sign of oil leaks and all fluids topped up. As you know I let the images tell the story and in this case, they speak volumes. The only real cause for concern was smoke on the start-up (check the video please) It was white/blue. As we know the car has not been started for some months so I have to assume some oil leakage internally which should clear with a good run. We will talk about the paperwork and more as soon as I have reception and we can talk verbally.
Did You Know That Japan Is Bigger Than
Germany, Poland, New Zealand, The UK and More!
We have over 135 Vehicle Auction houses scattered throughout Japan.
Read More About Our Inspection Coverage Below.
Where Are All These Auction Houses?
How Can You Guys Cover All These Auction Houses?
The Simple And Honest Answer It’s Impossible To Cover All Auctions And This Is Why.
As we stated earlier Japan is huge with sprawling cities and mountainsides. Tokyo for example is one of the largest cities in the world with an amazing infrastructure and urban transport system. Getting from one side to the other can take half a day.
As you can fathom from the map above we have auctions all over Japan and furthermore, they are all on different days of the week. For example, USS Tokyo is on Thursday and Nagoya on Friday. If my company is in Tokyo I can easily drive to USS Tokyo but would have to take a train or Shinkansen to USS Nagoya as it is not driveable in the time frame required by auction. In many instances its simply easier to jump on a plane.
Getting to any auction in Japan is governed by the day of the week, our office location, auction time, and staff level. In our case, we provide inspections at the following auctions.
- USS Tokyo
- USS Yokohama,
- USS Nagoya
- USS Kobe
- USS Osaka
- HAA Kobe
- JAA Tokyo
- USS Kyushu
If any auction agent tells you they can go to every auction in Japan they are not telling the full truth. It’s physically, logistically and financially impossible. There is no call centre or service that provides services to all auctions so tread carefully.
We can use a third-party image or photo centre in some cases on an auction-by-auction basis but you will need to check with us first.
Our company covers all the major auction houses in Japan so mostly everything is covered as USS auction group is the largest in Japan.
We also offer USS Ninja to our preferred customers so please reach out to us for this here.
You can also use this link to get an idea of the auctions for a simple look around.
Car Inspections & Auction Inspections
Whatever type of motoring you are into we can find the car to suit your needs. From Classic Cars to JDM Imports and more we provide access to it all for you here. At Auto Trader Imports we are one of the original exporters of used cars from Japan to multiple countries globally.
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