Know the source

Japan's auction houses — where your car really came from

Every imported Japanese car passed through an auction lane before it sailed — and the house that ran that lane wrote the sheet. Knowing the houses helps you read the sheet correctly and spot the ones that were never written in Japan at all.

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The houses

The auction houses behind Pakistan's imports

All grade on broadly the same scale — but each prints its own sheet template. That template is your first authenticity check.

USS
Most common sheet in Pakistan

Used car System Solutions

Japan’s largest auction group

Runs the biggest venues — USS Tokyo alone auctions tens of thousands of cars weekly. The majority of Japanese imports in Pakistan trace back to a USS lane. Its sheet layout is the one most buyers (and most forgers) know best.

TAA
Strong for Toyota hybrids

Toyota Auto Auction

Toyota-affiliated network

Operated by Toyota dealers, with especially strong Toyota, Daihatsu and Lexus stock — many Aqua, Vitz, Prius and Passo imports come through TAA lanes.

JU
Regional variety

JU Group (Japan Used-car dealers)

Co-operative network

A federation of prefectural used-car dealer associations running regional auctions across Japan. Sheets vary slightly by prefecture but follow the JU template family.

JAA
Established Kanto house

Japan Auto Auction

Tokyo-area house

A long-running house in the Kanto region with a distinctive sheet layout. Less volume than USS, but well represented among exported compacts.

HAA Kobe
Western Japan volume

Hanaten Auto Auction Kobe

Major Kansai auction

The big house of western Japan. Kansai-sourced imports — and their sheets — commonly carry the HAA Kobe format.

ARAI / Bayauc
Online bidding

Arai Auto Auction

Online-bidding pioneer

Known for proxy and online bidding. Sheets are frequently seen for kei cars and commercial vehicles headed to export markets.

CAA · SAA · GAO
Own templates, same scale

Regional groups

Chubu and beyond

CAA (Chubu), SAA (Sapporo), GAO and other regional houses each run their own lanes with their own sheet templates — all on broadly the same grading scale.

Reading across houses

Same grades, different paperwork

Whichever house wrote it, the sheet carries the same essentials: an overall grade from S to 1 (plus R/RA), an interior letter, the recorded mileage, the lot number and date, and a body diagram covered in damage codes.

What changes is the layout — and that's a feature for buyers. A "USS" sheet arranged like no USS sheet ever printed is a forgery announcing itself. Template mismatch is one of the 8 signs in our fake-sheet detection guide.

On every genuine sheet, any house

House name & logo — matches a real auction house template
Lot number & auction date — lets the record be looked up
Chassis / frame number — matches the plate on the car
Grade + interior letter — consistent with the damage diagram
Body diagram — flaws coded panel by panel
Whatever the house

We verify the record. Then we inspect the car.

USS or a tiny regional lane — the process is the same. CarOK pulls the original record, confirms the sheet, then physically inspects the car across 70+ checkpoints at your doorstep. The sheet verifies the past; the inspection verifies the present.

Verify My Sheet — Free
FAQs

Auction houses — your questions

Related: the full Japanese sheet guide · one-page decoder.

Which auction house do most Pakistani imports come from?

USS is by far the largest source — it is Japan’s biggest auction group, so the majority of imported cars in Pakistan carry a USS sheet. TAA is common for Toyota hybrids like the Aqua and Prius, while JU, JAA, HAA Kobe and regional houses make up the rest.

Do different auction houses grade differently?

The scale is broadly the same everywhere — S/6 down to 1, with R/RA for repaired accident cars and A–D for the interior. Interpretation can vary slightly at the margins (one house’s strict 4 is another’s generous 4.5), but a grade never legitimately jumps a whole level between houses. The bigger difference is the sheet template itself.

How do I know which house an auction sheet is from?

The house name and logo are printed on the sheet, and each house has a recognisable layout — where the grade box, mileage, lot number and diagram sit. A sheet whose layout doesn’t match the printed house name is a forgery red flag. If you’re unsure, send it to CarOK and we’ll identify and verify it free.

Can CarOK verify sheets from any auction house?

Yes. We verify records from USS, TAA, JU, JAA, HAA Kobe, ARAI/Bayauc, CAA and the other regional houses. Send the chassis number or the sheet photo on WhatsApp — verification is free regardless of the house.

Are auction records available forever?

No — houses keep look-up records for a limited window. Older auctions, small regional houses or private (non-auction) sales may return no record. That doesn’t automatically mean fraud; see our guide on what “record not found” means and what to do next.

Is a car from a big auction house better than a small one?

Not inherently — the car’s grade and condition matter, not the venue size. The practical advantage of big houses is verifiability: USS or TAA records are easy to check, which protects you as a buyer. Whatever the house, the rule is the same: verify the sheet, then inspect the car.

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