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Ungraded Cars in Japanese Car Auctions

Some cars at the Japanese car auctions are “ungraded”. What this means is that they are sold as-is with the inspector often only noting visible major exterior damage on the auction sheet. Also, notes that the seller writes on the auction inspection report about the car are crossed out by the inspector or blocked out with large stamps to tell the reader to ignore these comments.

Cars that are auctioned in Japanese auctions with no overall grade are always sold as-is and serious problems should be expected. (After all, otherwise they would have been inspected and graded with a number or letter as usual.)

The exceptions are found at auctions like ZIP Osaka, where older cars are not inspected and graded as a matter of routine, or JAA, where "special" or classic cars are sometimes not inspected and given grade T. Ungraded cars in auctions like this may well run and be in acceptable condition, but the lack of an inspection means it is still a gamble.

Please note that at Integrity Exports we strongly advise customers to be cautious of these ungraded cars in the auctions as they represent very high risk, along with the potential for escalating costs which cannot be predicted at the time of bidding.

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