Production Month and Year

The actual production month and year of the vehicle is displayed on the car auction sheet to help prospect buyers calculate its exact age.

The Japanese years are counted from the numbers of years that the current Emperor has been in position. The table below explains how their years match up with the Western calendar. You should also be able to read the month of registration. From this form you will see the car is 4 so the month was April. Quite often, as the duty payable for imports is dependent on the month of registration.

Auction Grade

The auction grade is the overall rating of the condition of the vehicle. “S” means brand new, “R” is for repaired and “XX” stands for damaged car. Also, the car is graded by numeric figures. As a rule of thumb, the lower the figure is, the lower the quality of the vehicle is. Below is a guide on the grading system

Interior and Exterior Condition Grade

The inspector grades the interior and exterior parts of the vehicle to give prospect buyers an idea on its overall quality. The exterior rating of the vehicle is displayed on the left, while the interior rating is written on the right section of the box. A is the highest grade awarded for both exterior and interior parts.

Transmission / Shift

Most cars from Japan are Automatic. So you should expect to see AT written. If the car is manual then you will read MT. We would strongly recommend that if you see anything else written on the sheet other than AT or MT, you must check with your supplier as they have many other ways of writing the transmission.

Additional Accessories / System

The information is always in Japanese. If it is a digital report (rather than hand written) you can find that Google translate will help to decode the information for you. You should expect to read details about the key features of the car: PS = power steering, PW = power windows, SR = sunroof.