You may well have read our article last week... 'Japanese Car Auctions: How to spot a good'un...' where we highlighted the dangers of relying on an auction grade alone. The car in question was a grade 4 Tommi Makinen at USS Tokyo. If you didn't catch this article then in summary this was a TME that on first appearances was perfect for the collector... high graded, sought after model and a documented 7170kms from new.

However looks can be deceiving as once we'd received our inspection team's report it was in particularly bad shape with corrosion being the major issue. Considering what our team had uncovered it was surprising to see it sell for a lofty pricetag of 3,800,000 JPY which made us believe the buyer was likely bidding blind. Perhaps unsurprisingly we see it up again this week at USS Nagoya, but wait for it... as an auction grade 3!  Check out the differences between USS Tokyo and USS Nagoya's auction sheets...

001

002

USS Tokyo

003

Translation of the USS Tokyo Auction sheet:

  • 3503 Lancer / Hanaten
  • Trade in car
  • Documented mileage of 7,170 kms
  • Standard front, side, rear aero parts
  • Standard alloys and rear wing
  • 5 speed
  • Momo steering wheel
  • Part of exterior faded
  • Door trim loose
  • Seats are faded
  • Underbody has rust, corrosion, cracks, painted
  • No mention of books to be sent afterwards

USS Nagoya

004

Translation of the USS Nagoya auction sheet...

  • Standard aero front side rear
  • Standard alloys, rear spoiler
  • Momo steering
  • Standard Tommy Makinen Recaro
  • Door trim sagging
  • Seat colour fade
  • wheel scratch
  • Corrosion hole on rear floor
  • Underneath and inside engine room has corrosion 
  • Stickers on body has colour fade
  • Many scratches on both side sills

The obvious alteration is the grade change from grade 4 at USS Tokyo to grade 3 at USS Nagoya. Here are brief explanations of the two auction grades...

Grade 4 - 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. Will require some minor repair. The auction sheet will tell us in more detail.

Grade 3 - 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.

Inspectors comments:

  • Rear over fender paint is bad, needs repaint
  • Trunk floor has corrosion hole
  • N/S rear chassis leg is very rusty
  • Exterior sticker has tears
  • Engine and Transmission are ok
  • Corrosion around bonnet duct 
  • Left front fender has corrosion
  • Right front fender top has corrosion
  • Oil pan has corrosion
  • Water in tail lamp
  • Door trim is loose
  • Seat has colour fade

We'd like to point out that this is not a 'one off'. In fact this is a fairly regular occurrence as we've witnessed variations in grades between auction houses countless times over the 18 years we've been importing cars from Japan. Hopefully we've gone some way to help reinforce the importance of obtaining a trusted inspection before parting with your money. Auction sheets are only a guide and grades should to be taken with a pinch of salt. If you're interested in importing a car from Japan, drop us a comment below or get in contact here.


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