The trust mechanism

The only reason to bid on a car you have never driven

Forty to ninety minutes on a lift, in the same order, on every vehicle in the sale. The output is a grade, a diagram and an announcement sheet — and the announcement sheet sets the light the lot runs under.

Read it in this order

Start with what the inspector could not see

The limitationsUnderseal on a chassis. A panel repainted last month. A car that would not start on the day. Each of those limits an assessment, and each is written down as a limitation rather than graded around. A report with no limitations section is either a very clean car or an incomplete inspection.
The diagram, not the listThe plan view shows the shape of a car's history at a glance. Damage clustered at one corner reads differently from damage scattered across four panels, and neither reads like damage down the centreline.
The announcementsUnder an amber light these are the only lines with legal weight. Read them as the boundary of what you can dispute.
The grade, lastBy now the number should not surprise you. If it does, one of you has misread something.

A technician working beneath a vehicle raised on a workshop lift

The underside is where a car stops being able to lie about itself. It is also where treatment and fresh paint make an honest assessment hardest, which is exactly why the limitations paragraph exists.

The scale

1.0 to 5.0, to one decimal

One number summarising four things: structure, mechanical condition, cosmetics, and the completeness of the file. Which is why it is a summary and not the report.

5.0Exceptional · 4.5 – 5.0Presents as new or better than new. No paintwork outside the factory finish, no structural repair, documentation complete. Rare, and we do not hand this out often.

4.4Excellent · 4.0 – 4.4A strong car with only cosmetic entries on the diagram. Anything mechanical would have to be minor and named.

3.9Good · 3.5 – 3.9A sound vehicle with disclosed wear, old repairs, or a maintenance item on the horizon. Most of a normal sale sits here.

3.4Average · 3.0 – 3.4A driver. Repairs present, cosmetics honest, nothing structurally alarming, but the file has gaps or the metal has history.

2.9Rough · 2.0 – 2.9Needs work before use, or carries repair history that cannot be verified. Usually a red light as well.

1.9Salvage-grade · 1.0 – 1.9Not roadworthy as presented. Sold as parts, as a project, or on a branded title.

The diagram

A real one, from lot 108

Plan view, three severities, numbered findings. Every pin is keyboard reachable and linked both ways to the list beside it — the diagram is navigation, not decoration.

■ minor■ moderate■ major

Rear crossmemberPrevious repair section welded in. Weld quality is acceptable; the repair is old and stable.
Driver door skinDent approximately 60 mm, not through the paint.
Bulkhead footwell, passenger sideCorrosion at the seam. Sound to the pick test but it will need attention.

See the whole report for lot 108

Vocabulary

Two fields people misread

Odometer status

Actual: The reading is believed to be the distance the vehicle has covered.
Not actual: It is not. The instrument has been replaced, rolled, or is known to be wrong, and the true distance is unknown.
Exceeds mechanical limits: A five-digit odometer that has rolled past its own capacity. This is a legal disclosure, not a hedge.

Title status

Clean: Never written off by an insurer.
Salvage: Declared a total loss and not yet repaired and re-inspected.
Rebuilt: Was salvage, has since passed a state inspection. The brand is permanent and travels with the vehicle. It affects resale and insurance, sometimes severely.
Title absent: Not physically present at the sale. Runs under a blue light: funds held, vehicle held, nothing released until it is recorded.

Sample data. Lots, grades, estimates, hammer prices and bid counts on this site are illustrative copy written for a design demonstration. Photographs are licensed stock images and are not the vehicles described.

What a report is not

The honest limits of an opinion

It is an opinion formed on one day by one inspector. It is not a warranty.
We do not certify authenticity, matching numbers, or a model designation. Where the file supports a claim we say so; where it does not, the vehicle is described as presented.
We do not road-test every vehicle. Where we did not, the report says we did not.
Wear is not a defect. A worn clutch on a 168,000-mile car is a description of a 168,000-mile car.

How the inspection runs See it applied on the run list