''Dom.. Pop the hood..''

Hello All,

So yes the headline may ready like you could be watching the Western film ''Fast And the Furious'', but really we are getting to see one-on-one what cars may truly look like at Japanese car auctions.

For the most part, all auctions will have three standard photo's in their listing for each car going to auction. One photo showing a quarter angle from the driver's front side, another from the opposing rear quarter, and one basic shot of the dash area internally.

Yes these photo's are supported by some data surrounding the cars history, but you really need to go further than that and have one of our staff inspect the vehicle/s you are planning to bid upon. The photo's in this article were taken by our staff in another city many many KM's away for an inspection so the customer could clearly see more of what was on offer.

Getting the basic exterior shots out of the way as the body did not warrant any further areas of question (as can be the case with dents, or cracked aero on some occasions). We pop the hood to get an overall shot of the engine.

We'll look to the frame joins and to the tops of the strut towers to look out for any rust or signs of damage and then take extras photo's close up of those areas if needed.

We get inside as well to take further shots to give other angles of the interior that are not always visible in the single shot on the auction website, and often the single shot is quite dark. So being up close and personal inside each car can allow us to find out any other areas that need attention.

That will include additional shots of the seats and there can a range of issues from cigarette burns to pet hair that can be found from time to time..

Perhaps though, the most important area tends to be the underside of the vehicle where we can check on levels of rust, painted over areas, damage, corrosion, and other key points.

Remember all, these photos are all coming from a singular vehicle - a 1998 Lancer GSR Evolution 5 - so considering the price point these vehicles can reach, it is really important we nail all the areas to give the customer as much information as possible so they can make an informed decision whether to proceed and make a bid or not.

Another location to check off will be in the spare wheel housing in the rear to check for and pools of water or check for any rust or corrosion that can often be found in the well.

Whilst this particular car was not bad in this area, you can see from the previous underside photo's there was some cause for concern. Couple with indications from the supporting paperwork that the car had some fenders and hood replaced, there could have been further damage in others it's not possible to see easily with the car just being parked at the auction.

Thanks to our feedback, the customer decided not to bid on this particular unit and instead kept his deposit safely in place with us, so we can move on and look at other auctions of which we can find a more suitable model in better condition.

The unit would still go on to sell, slightly below market price, so you do wonder if the buyer had an agent feeding back the same information to him/her..?

That is the nature of car auctions, but while we are in the business of supplying our great used car dealers around the globe with cars we export - we want to them to feel safe in the knowledge of exactly what they shall be receiving.

Around double the amount of photos were sent to the client to make that decision, and we hope that we get to support many more of you with those same decisions in the future.

Auto Portal Co, Ltd.

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Mitsubushi Lancer GSR EVO 5, 1998 Model. MIRIVE Saitama auction, July 2020. 115,000 KM's, White, 4WD. Sold for 1,152,000 Yen.