Verifying an imported car in Pakistan

In four stages, because an imported car has two histories rather than one. First verify the Japanese auction record against the chassis number to establish what the car was before it arrived. Second, check the import file — the Goods Declaration, duty payment evidence and export certificate — to confirm it entered the country lawfully. Third, check the provincial registration on MTMIS or the ICT portal to confirm the current record and holder. Fourth, inspect the physical car, because none of the paperwork describes its condition today.

No, and this is the most common gap we see. A provincial registration check confirms the vehicle appears in the record and shows who holds it, which is exactly the same assurance you would get for a locally assembled car. What it does not do is account for the import itself — how the car entered the country, whether duty was properly settled, or whether the file backing that registration is genuine. An import carries a document trail a local car simply does not have.

They cover different halves of the same car. Auction sheet verification confirms the vehicle’s history in Japan: that the sheet is genuine, that it belongs to this chassis number, and that the grade and mileage were not edited. Document verification covers its life in Pakistan: the import file, the ownership chain, lien status and whether the car can actually be transferred to you. An imported car needs both, and neither substitutes for the other.

Yes, for Punjab-registered vehicles, at PKR 1,500 with the result the same day. We check the record against the physical file, confirm the ownership chain and transferability, and look for lien and tampering signals the free portals do not show. Auction sheet verification is separate and free nationwide. We do not currently offer paid document verification for Islamabad (ICT) registrations.

Not automatically, but it should change what you do next. Plenty of imports have no retrievable auction record — the sale fell outside the window the house keeps, it went through a small house, or the chassis and lot details are incomplete. What it means practically is that the car has no independent past, so the burden shifts entirely onto the import file and a physical inspection. Be more careful when the sheet is missing, not less.

It gives you the one thing odometer fraud needs to erase: an independently recorded reading at a known date. Take the auction figure, add the years since, and ask whether the dashboard number is plausible. A car that read 78,000 km at auction three years ago and shows 61,000 km today has been wound back. The check fails only if the inspector flagged the original reading as unknown or the meter as replaced.

The mechanical inspection is the same, but there are import-specific things worth weighting more heavily: evidence of transit damage, repairs carried out at the port or shortly after landing, a repaint that post-dates the auction sheet, and whether the odometer still agrees with the recorded auction reading. Having the verified sheet in hand before the inspection makes the inspection sharper, because there is a documented baseline to compare against.

The free checks are quick — an auction sheet check is usually the same day, and a registration lookup on MTMIS or the ICT portal takes about a minute. Paid document verification comes back the same day on WhatsApp. The physical inspection takes 45 to 60 minutes on site, with the report shortly after. Realistically, the entire chain fits inside a couple of days, which is well within the time a serious seller will hold a car.