Buying a car you cannot walk around is the part that worries most first-time importers. In practice, a Japanese purchase is one of the best-documented used-car transactions in the world — if you know which details to check. This is the checklist we run through before we recommend any vehicle.
1. Read the Auction Sheet, Not Just the Grade
The grade is a summary; the diagram and inspector's notes contain the detail. Look at the lettered marks on the body diagram — scratches, dents, waves and panels marked as needing paint or replacement — and read the inspector's comments, which often flag things the grade alone does not reveal.
2. Confirm the Mileage and the Chassis Number
Japanese mileage is usually genuine and low, but a sheet marked as mileage unknown means exactly that, and you should value the car accordingly. The chassis number must match the sheet, the export certificate and the invoice — a mismatch is the single most common reason a car gets stuck at a destination port.
3. Look for Repair History, Not Just Accident Damage
Grades R and RA mean the car has been repaired, and the sheet normally describes where. A properly repaired panel is not automatically a bad buy, but the price must reflect it, and some markets assess duty or inspect more strictly on repair-history vehicles. We show you the notes and photograph the repaired area on request.
4. Check the Underside
Rust decides the value of a Japanese import in Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Ireland, where a clean underside is worth a large premium and a salty one can fail compliance outright. Ask for underside photographs before you buy — we take them on every vehicle we ship.
5. Service Items That Cost Money Later
- Timing belt or chain: a belt due for replacement is a known cost; confirm when it was last changed, or price the job in.
- Hybrid battery health: on a Prius, Aqua or similar, ask for the age of the battery and any recorded replacement. A failing pack is expensive.
- Tyres and brakes: worn tyres are common on Japanese cars and often need replacing to pass destination compliance.
- Air conditioning: check the sheet or ask for a specific report, because a compressor fault is not always noted.
- Fluid and filter history: on a low-mileage car, a full service history is a genuine value signal.
6. Confirm the Paperwork Set
Before shipping, you should be able to see the export certificate, the de-registration document, the commercial invoice and, where your country requires it, the pre-export inspection certificate. The export certificate is what proves the car legally left Japan, and it is the document destination customs will ask for first.
7. Match the Car to Your Country's Rules
Age limits, steering side, inspection schemes and emissions standards differ from market to market, and a perfect car that does not qualify is an expensive mistake. Check the rules before you fall in love with a vehicle — our country pages set out the key requirements market by market.
Let Us Do the Checking
We run all of the above on every car we recommend, translate the Japanese annotations and send photographs of anything that matters. If a car has a fault we do not hide it — a returned vehicle costs far more than an honest conversation.
Talk to our team about a specific car
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