Red flags at a car dealer in Japan: the four things that put me off a car

Most UK checklists for a used car start with the paperwork: the V5C, the MOT history, whether the mileage adds up. A car at a dealer in Japan doesn't come with a V5C, and its papers are a different set (see what a Japan car history check can tell you). When I go and look at a car for myself, the things that put me off are things I see and hear there.

There are four things. Any one of them is enough for me to decide a car isn't worth it.

1. Rust underneath or at the strut tops
2. Signs of an accident repair or a repaint
3. How the engine sounds and starts
4. How the dealer deals with me

Three of the four don't show in listing photos. The fourth only shows once you start talking to the dealer.

This page is about why each one is enough on its own. How to look for each is on its own page, linked in each section.

1. Rust underneath or at the strut tops

This is where a UK checklist and a car in Japan differ most. A car from a snowy, salted part of Japan can look sound from above and be badly rusted underneath. The strut tops, where the front suspension meets the body, are the other place that matters.

Why it can be enough on its own: rust in the parts that hold the car together isn't a cosmetic problem, and what can be seen from the ground is only part of the underside.

Two things from my own experience:

• When the exhaust is badly rusted, the body often is too. In my experience they tend to go together. So a rotten exhaust is worth more than a glance: it can point to the body above it.
• I've seen a car where the dealer had painted over rust at the strut bases and arches. So fresh paint in those places is worth a closer look, not a reason to relax.

One example of a single red flag being enough: when I was buying my R33, there was an R34 for sale too, and I thought about buying that instead. It was rusted all over, so I didn't.

How to look, and what can and can't be seen from the ground: underneath a car from Japan and rust on the body or a part.

2. Signs of an accident repair or a repaint

A repaint on its own doesn't put me off. What matters to me is why the panel was painted. Paint that was redone because the clear coat had peeled, or because it had faded with age, I can live with. A repaint that was covering accident damage or rust isn't good news, and a replaced panel can mean welding as well.

So the red flag isn't "this panel has been painted". It's "this panel was painted because of something I'd rather not have". When the signs point that way, that alone is enough for me.

A dealer's word on repair history only goes so far: Japan's "repair history" line on a listing covers the car's structure, not every panel, as our page on repair history in Japan explains. How to spot a repaint, and what I can't spot: how to tell if a car has been repainted and how a dent technician looks at a panel.

3. How the engine sounds and starts

The third is the engine: the sound and the way it starts. I'm not a mechanic, and I don't diagnose. But on a car I'm buying for myself, the sound of the engine and the way it starts can be enough on their own.

One thing to keep in mind before reading too much into a slow start: a car that has stood on a forecourt for weeks can simply have a flat battery. What I watch and listen for, and what a start-up video can't show, is on what to watch for in an engine start video. For what's under the bonnet (hood), see the engine bay.

4. How the dealer deals with me

This one isn't about the car. But you rely on what the dealer tells you for everything you can't see, so how they handle questions matters.

Two things I come across a lot:

• Being told other people are interested. It happens a lot. My guess is it's to get you to decide faster. It isn't always a line, though: a popular model can sell the same day it's listed. Both are true, which is why it shouldn't change what you check. If the car sells while you're getting photos of the underside, it sells.
• The person on the phone not knowing the car. That's common too. Whatever they tell you is then what they were told, or what they read off the listing. That doesn't make it wrong, but treat it as the dealer's word, not something anyone has looked at.

Japan's National Consumer Affairs Center lists cancellation disputes among the used-car complaints it receives, alongside problems with the quality of the car bought. Deciding first and checking afterwards is the wrong way round.

What this page can't tell you

• Whether any of these applies to a particular car from its photos. Mostly it can't be seen in a listing. That's the point of looking.
• What's behind panels or inside the strut towers. We don't lift the car, remove anything or press on rust. What we can't see goes in the report as Not verified.
• How the car drives. We don't test drive it.
• Whether a noise or a repaint is serious. We describe and photograph what we saw. Your mechanic, if you have one, can tell you what it means.
• Whether you should buy it. On a viewing, our founder can add his own view of what he saw if you ask, but it's for reference and the decision is yours.

What puts me off a car is my own view, for a car I'm buying. On a viewing for you, we photograph and describe what you've asked us to look at, and the decision is yours. If you'd like the underside, the strut tops and any repainted panels looked at closely, send us the car.

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Two things to ask the dealer first

If you're asking a dealer yourself, these two cover the first two red flags before anyone travels:

1. Photos of the strut tops (under the bonnet, where the front suspension meets the body) and of the underside behind the front wheels, taken from the ground.
2. Whether any panel has been repainted, and why. Treat the answer as the dealer's word.

And if you're told someone else is interested, a short reply that survives a translation app:

Thank you. I understand if it sells. Before I decide, could you please send photos of the strut tops under the bonnet and of the underside behind the front wheels? Has any panel been repainted, and if so, why?

A dealer who sends the photos has given you something to look at. A dealer who won't is telling you something too.

Written by Yoshiaki Sagara, a paintless dent repair and detailing technician in Japan. He looks at cars for overseas buyers through Ninja Desk Japan. About us

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