I LIKE THAT ONE

Once you find a car you like, it's time to dig in. Click on the car to bring up its individual auction page. This is Lot 85043 and it goes up for auction in 3 hours.

Here's an R-grade Beat. Photos down the left show it's been repainted, has a body kit, and the interior is not stock. If you're still interested, we dig in to the auction sheet. This tells us what works, what doesn't, and lets us better understand the condition of the car.

This shows us a couple things. In the upper right corner, the R designation is clearly visible. The letter grade under it is the interior condition; in this case a C. I'll guess there's some wear-and-tear on the seats or some mounting holes for things like cup holders or gauges evident in there somewhere.

Below the condition box is a text box with a bunch of stars drawn in it. This is the hype box. They highlight all the good things about this car in there. If you're lucky, you might be able to use Google Translate to take a photo of it and get it to translate the text.

Lower left corner is where all the concerns are listed. This is what your import specialist will translate for you. I live in a hot state where AC is a must. In Japan, if the AC is broken or has issues you'll see the English letters AC in this area. For me, if I see AC there, it's a deal breaker.

Bottom right corner is a generic car image. This is where dents, dings and repairs are marked. The key to understanding it is at the bottom of the page. In general, XX means something has been replaced. It's not a bad sign. Dots or dashes along the body panels indicate the locations of dings and scratches. Anything with S and C mean rust and corrosion and should raise concern. For this car we see it has an A2 marking on the front of the car. Because it has a front lip kit we can assume there's a good curb scratch on the lip. But otherwise the body looks straight. We'll want to get details from our importer on what the marking on the windshield means.

Time to talk to the Pros

At this point I'd email my auction contact with a short email saying the following "I'm interested in Beat 85042 (The lot number). Can you translate this for me?" and I'd send a the URL to the page we were just on.

After a while if it's within business hours I usually get a response like this example.
"mt, ac, timing belt sticker, front end repairs, interior dirty, dashboard bracket attached, steering wheel worn, audio missing, seats torn and sunk, soft top tears, mirrors scratched, rear panel/tail panel dents, right baffle/right front inside panel slightly bent, side duct painted, small chips in windshield, other dents scratches paint cracks"

Your contact may also briefly translate it and then recommend passing.
"5mt, ac, turbo, aftermarket steering wheel, floor mats, brake noises and vibrations, engine oil leak, let me know if you want the rest..."

STILL INTERESTED?

Time to check the car's history. At the top of the page is a "Check Vehicle" icon. Click it to bring up the car's past auction history. Some cars get purchased by flippers and will have a long auction history. You'll see the purchase price the flipper paid Most flippers want to make at least a grand over what they paid so only bid on the car if you're willing to try and chase the flipper's reserve.

Also, look to see if the car was recently won and suddenly back at the auction with a different grade. It could be the car is a lemon that somebody purchased and then is trying to get back out of. It takes a little detective work but checking the car's auction history can be a good way to learn more about your potential purchase's history.

That sounds awesome - by the end of this I'm going to be sorely tempted to import a car...

What other stuff does everyone want to know? A crash course in the Auction process and how to judge inspection sheets?