How Japanese Auction Grades Work
What the auction grade (4.5, 4, 3.5, R/RA) and A–E sub-grades mean, how to read a Japanese inspection sheet, and how to buy a kei truck with confidence.
Almost every used kei truck worth importing passes through a Japanese vehicle auction, and almost every one arrives with an inspection sheet. Learning to read that sheet — starting with its headline grade — is the single most useful skill a remote buyer can have. It is the difference between bidding with confidence and gambling.
This is the canonical reference for the grading system itself. It applies to every model, which is why our individual model guides show a compact version of this table and link back here rather than re-explaining it each time.
Why the grade is trustworthy
The grade is assigned by an inspector who works for the auction house, not the seller. That independence is the foundation of the whole system: a neutral professional examines the vehicle, drives it, and records a standardised assessment that the seller cannot edit. It is what makes buying a truck you have never seen, from a market on the other side of the world, a reasonable thing to do.
It is not infallible. Inspectors are human, they work quickly, and a grade is a summary rather than a guarantee. So the grade is where you start — never where you stop.
The overall grade
The headline number runs from a pristine 5 down through the working grades to the accident-flagged R. For kei trucks — most of which spent a working life on a farm — the band you will actually shop in is roughly 4.5 down to 3, with R/RA as the flag to treat carefully.
4.5 Very low wear, well kept throughout. Premium keeper
Near the top of what you will realistically find on an older work truck. Minimal cosmetic wear, clean underbody, and a tidy interior. Expect to pay a premium and to compete for it.
4 Clean, low-mileage, well maintained. Aim for this
The standard to target for a long-term truck. Light, even wear with no significant issues flagged. The sweet spot between condition and price for most keepers.
3.5 Above-average wear, only minor issues. Value pick
The value sweet spot. Honest wear and a few small items, but nothing structural. Read the sheet map closely — this is where condition varies most from one truck to the next.
3 Average — visible wear, a few items to address. Budget — inspect hard
A working truck that has been used. Often fine mechanically but expect cosmetic tidying and some deferred maintenance. Scrutinise the photos and the inspector notes before bidding.
R / RA Accident-repair history recorded. Price in or avoid
Repaired accident damage. Not automatically dangerous, but it is added risk and resale drag. For a long-term keeper, prefer a non-R truck unless the repair is minor, documented, and the price reflects it.
Each truck also carries interior and exterior letter sub-grades from A (near new) down to E (poor). For a keeper, aim for C/D or better on both.
Grades of 2 and below exist but denote heavily worn, damaged, or modified vehicles that are rarely worth importing as keepers. If you see one, assume it needs work and price accordingly.
The interior and exterior sub-grades
Alongside the overall number, the inspector scores the interior and exterior separately, each on a letter scale from A (near new) to E (poor). These matter because a truck can earn a respectable overall grade while hiding a thrashed interior or a tired, faded exterior.
A grade-3.5 truck with B/B letters is a very different proposition from a grade-3.5 truck with D/E letters, even though the headline is identical. For a truck you intend to keep, treat C/D as your floor on both — and read an E on either letter as a warning to look hard at the photos.
The sheet map and the inspector’s notes
The most detailed part of the sheet is the diagram of the vehicle covered in symbols, paired with short handwritten notes. The symbols flag the location and type of every blemish the inspector found: a scratch here, a dent there, rust in a specific panel. This is where you learn whether a truck’s wear is honest cosmetic ageing or something that will cost you.
A few notes recur often enough to be worth memorising — for example 下廻りサビ (underbody rust), エアコン不良 (air-conditioning fault), and エンジン異音 (engine noise). Any of these should change your offer or end your interest.
How to actually use it
- Read the overall grade for the headline.
- Check the interior and exterior letters — both of them.
- Study the sheet map and notes for the location and nature of any flagged issues.
- Cross-check against the photos, which the auction provides in quantity.
- Confirm the details that govern your purchase — for an import, that means the compliance-plate build date, because it sets your eligibility timeline.
Do all five and the grade stops being a gamble and becomes what it was designed to be: a fast, honest summary you can buy on.
Information for guidance only. Grading is consistent but not a warranty — always pair the grade with the inspection sheet and photos, and verify anything that matters to your specific purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a good auction grade for a used kei truck?
- For a long-term keeper, aim for an overall grade of 4 or higher with interior and exterior sub-grades of C/D or better. A 3.5 is the value sweet spot and often perfectly good, but condition varies most at that grade, so read the sheet map and photos carefully. Avoid R/RA accident-repair trucks for a keeper unless the repair is minor, documented, and priced in.
- What does an R or RA grade mean at a Japanese auction?
- R (and the variant RA) means the vehicle has recorded accident-repair history — it has been in a collision and repaired. It is not automatically unsafe, but it carries added risk and depresses resale value. Treat the grade as a flag to investigate the repair quality and to negotiate, not as an automatic disqualification.
- What are the A to E letters on an auction sheet?
- They are the interior and exterior sub-grades, scored separately from A (near new) down to E (poor). A truck can have a decent overall grade but a weak interior or exterior letter, so always check both. For a keeper, look for C/D or better on each.
- Is the auction grade enough to buy on?
- No. The grade is a fast, reliable summary, but you should always pair it with the inspector's diagram and notes (which flag rust, dents, and mechanical issues by location) and the photos. The grade tells you the headline; the sheet map and notes tell you the specifics that decide your offer.
- Who assigns the auction grade?
- A neutral inspector employed by the auction house grades each vehicle independently of the seller. That independence is what makes the Japanese auction system trustworthy to buy from at a distance — but inspectors are human, so the photos and notes remain essential.
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