Pre-shipment inspection and reading a Japanese auction sheet

Two rules govern the condition of a used vehicle coming into Jamaica. It must pass a pre-shipment inspection in the export country and arrive with the certificate, and it must not be a damaged or salvaged vehicle, which are prohibited outright. Both rules are decided before the vehicle is loaded, which means the time to think about them is when you are reading listings, not when the container is on the water.

The pre-shipment inspection

A used vehicle must be inspected in the export country by an approved inspection company before it ships, and the pre-inspection certificate is one of the documents your customs broker lodges with the entry. No certificate, no clearance. The inspection is arranged on the exporting side, and any exporter who regularly ships to Jamaica will know the requirement and which companies are approved for it. If an exporter has not heard of it, that tells you something about how often they ship here.

Ask for the inspection to be confirmed, in writing, as part of the sale. On a CIF quote it is reasonable to ask whether the inspection fee is included in the price or billed separately, because it is a real cost and it has to be paid by someone. The CIF and FOB guide explains what a CIF price is supposed to cover.

Damaged and salvaged vehicles are prohibited

This is not a duty question, and it is not a matter of paying more. A damaged or salvaged vehicle cannot be imported. The practical consequence is that any listing describing accident repair, flood damage or a salvage history is not a bargain to weigh up; it is a vehicle that may be refused at inspection or at the wharf, with your money already spent. Steer clear of auction grades and listing notes that describe those things, and if a price looks too good for the year and mileage, assume there is a reason and ask what it is.

How a Japanese auction sheet grades a vehicle

Most vehicles exported from Japan pass through an auction, and each one is inspected by the auction house before sale. The result is the auction sheet: a one-page report with an overall grade, separate grades for the interior and exterior, and a diagram of the body marked with the inspector’s notes. Exporters usually show the sheet on the listing or will send it on request. What follows is the general convention as the trade uses it. The grading is the auction house’s own, it varies a little between houses, and it is not a customs document; it is a tool for judging a vehicle, not a substitute for the inspection certificate.

• The overall grade runs on a numeric scale. Higher numbers mean better overall condition, with the top of the scale reserved for vehicles that are new or nearly so and the lower numbers for vehicles with visible wear or defects. A mid-scale grade on a car a few years old is normal.
• R or RA in place of a number means the vehicle has been repaired after an accident. The letters do not say how much damage there was, only that there was some. For a Jamaican buyer this is the grade to treat with the most care, because it is the one that overlaps with the prohibition.
• Interior and exterior letters grade the condition of the cabin and the body separately, usually from A downwards. They tell you about wear, stains, scratches and dents rather than about structural history.
• The body diagram marks each panel with short codes for scratches, dents, corrosion and replaced parts. It is the most useful part of the sheet, because it shows where any work was done.

Treat a sheet with a repaired grade as a reason to ask for more, not as an automatic rejection of the vehicle, but be honest with yourself about the risk. Between the auction house’s grading and Jamaica’s prohibition on damaged vehicles, the burden of showing that a repaired vehicle is acceptable is on you, and you are showing it to an inspector and a customs officer who did not see the listing.

Why the descriptions matter for the prohibition

The inspection and the customs entry both work from what the vehicle is, not what it was called in an advertisement. But the listing is where you decide whether to buy, so the descriptions are your early warning. Words like accident, repaired, flood, water damage, salvage, or their equivalents in the auction notes, all describe a vehicle that might not be allowed in. Flood damage deserves particular attention because it can be invisible in photographs and expensive to discover later. If the sheet or the notes mention it, walk away.

What to ask the exporter for

Before paying a deposit, get the following, and get it in writing:

• The full auction sheet, not a cropped image of the grade, with a translation of the inspector’s notes if you cannot read them.
• The export certificate, or the exporter’s transcription of it, showing the year and month of manufacture, engine displacement and unladen weight. Customs bands the vehicle on these, and the licence application counts age from them.
• Confirmation that the pre-shipment inspection will be carried out by an approved company before loading, and who pays for it.
• Recent photographs, including the underside and the engine bay, taken after the vehicle left the auction rather than the auction house’s own.
• A plain statement that the vehicle has no accident, flood or salvage history, and what the exporter will do if the inspection finds otherwise.

Before you pay

• The grade is not R or RA, or if it is, you understand exactly what was repaired and have decided to accept the risk with open eyes.
• Nothing on the sheet or in the listing mentions flood or water damage.
• The inspection is booked and the certificate will travel with the vehicle’s documents.
• The vehicle is inside the age limit for its category and the licence is issued before the ship is booked.

With the condition settled, the calculator tells you what the vehicle will cost to clear.