Anyone can hand you a USS sheet — or a copy of one with the numbers changed. The only way to be sure is to pull the original record by chassis number, and see what the inspector actually wrote.
Start here
Why a USS sheet is worth checking
USS is the biggest auction group in Japan. Roughly one in three used cars sold at auction there passes through a USS hall — Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Yokohama and a dozen more.
That scale is why the sheet matters. A USS inspection is one of the stricter ones, so a grade 4 from USS usually describes a tidier car than a grade 4 from a smaller regional house.
It is also why the sheet gets faked. A USS sheet carries weight with buyers, which makes a forged one worth making.
What we see in practice. Across thousands of verifications, the most common problem with a USS car is not a fake sheet — it is a real sheet for the same model, shown for a different car. The chassis number catches that in seconds.
The process
How to verify a USS auction sheet
Three steps, and the first two cost nothing.
1
Find the chassis number
On the export certificate, the registration paper, or stamped in the engine bay. It looks like ZRE172-1234567. Not a VIN — Japanese domestic cars use a chassis number.
2
Search it — free
Enter it on the
homepage. Within seconds you see the car, the auction house and the date. If nothing comes back for a car the seller says went through USS last month, you have learned something important for nothing.
3
Open the sheet — $7
The grade, the interior grade, the damage diagram with every inspector mark, the odometer USS recorded, and the price the car actually sold for.
That last figure is the one sellers least like showing. It is the difference between what the car is worth and what you are being asked to pay.
Reading it
How USS grades work
USS uses a number for the body, a letter for the interior, and separate marks for repair history. The number alone never tells the whole story — the damage map beside it does.
S
Essentially new. Delivery mileage, no marks. Rare.
6
Near new, very low mileage, no repairs.
5
Excellent. Light marks at most, nothing structural.
4.5
Very good. A few small scratches or a minor dent.
4
Normal used condition with visible wear. The most common USS grade, and usually a sound buy.
3.5
Noticeable damage — larger dents, panel scratches, or a repaint.
3
Significant cosmetic damage. Budget for paint and panel work.
R
Accident repair to a structural part. Recorded separately from the number — an R car can still look tidy.
Interior grades
A to D, and worth reading. A is clean. B shows normal use. C means stains, burns or tears. D means the interior needs work.
A grade 4 body with a C interior is common on ex-family cars, and it is a fair negotiating point.
The mistake buyers make. They read “grade 4” and stop. Two grade 4 cars can be very different: one with three small A1 marks, one with a repainted quarter panel and a W repair note.
Read the damage map, then read the grade.
What you are looking at
What a USS sheet shows
USS sheets are consistent, which makes them easier to read than most. The important things sit in the same place every time.
Top row
Auction date, lot number, hall, and the chassis number.
Grade box
The numeric body grade and the interior letter, usually top right.
Diagram
A line drawing with the inspector’s marks — A for scratches, U for dents, W for repaired, plus a severity number.
Odometer
The reading USS recorded, and a note if the mileage could not be confirmed.
Remarks
Handwritten Japanese — often the most revealing part of the whole sheet.
Result
The hammer price, or a note that the car did not meet its reserve.
The remarks column is where an inspector writes what the grade cannot say — a noisy gearbox, a warning light, rust underneath. Translation turns that into English.
Common question
Lot number or chassis number?
Use the chassis number. A USS lot number identifies a car at one sale, on one day, in one hall — and the numbers get reused at the next auction.
The chassis number finds every appearance. That matters more than people expect: a car that has been through auction three times in eight months is telling you something a single sheet will not.
If the search is empty
“No record found” on a USS car
It happens, and it is not always bad news. Three usual reasons:
1
It never went to auction
Plenty of Japanese cars are sold dealer to dealer and never enter the system at all.
2
It is older than our coverage
We hold records from 2007 onward.
3
The number was typed wrong
The most common reason by far. Check every character, including the hyphen.
If you are certain the car went through USS, our Manual Search team contacts the houses directly and looks through their archives by hand. If nothing exists, you are refunded in full.
Other auctions
USS is not the only one
If your car went through TAU, HAA Kobe, Arai, JU or any of the others, the same search works — one chassis number covers 500+ sources.
Each house grades a little differently, which is worth knowing before you compare two cars. Our guide to Japanese auction houses sets out how the main ones differ.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
How do I verify a USS auction sheet?
Enter the car’s chassis number on our
homepage. The search is free and confirms whether the car went through a USS auction and when. The full sheet — grade, damage diagram, verified mileage and the price it sold for — is
$7.
Is USS auction sheet verification free?
Searching is free and needs no account. It confirms the car exists in the USS records, which already catches a fabricated sheet. The original sheet itself costs $7.
What does grade 4 mean at USS?
A normal used car with visible wear — small dents, scratches or scuffs — and no structural repair. It is the most common grade at USS and a sound buy when the damage map is minor.
What is an R grade at USS?
R means accident repair to a structural part. USS records it separately from the numeric grade, so a car can be R and still look tidy. The sheet shows which panel was repaired.
Can I verify a USS sheet with only the lot number?
The chassis number is the reliable key. A lot number identifies the car at one sale on one day and is reused at the next auction. The chassis number finds every appearance the car has ever had.
How far back do USS records go?
Our database covers Japanese auctions from 2007 onward. Older cars, or cars sold outside the main auction system, may need a
Manual Search.
Next step
Check your USS car now
Type the chassis number. The search costs nothing and takes seconds.
Verify a chassis number →
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