Buying a car on TCV (formerly tradecarview): what's checked, what isn't, and what to ask before you order

If you're looking for tradecarview, the site now calls itself TCV, "former tradecarview", at tc-v.com. Most people searching it want to know two things: is the platform real, and is this particular car what the listing says. The first can be checked from public records, and we set those out below. The second is harder, because TCV is a listing site: the cars belong to Japanese sellers, and TCV's own FAQ says it doesn't inspect their condition. Photos show less than you think, so the questions you put to the seller before you order matter most.

We don't rate sellers, and we don't use or work with TCV. Everything about the company here comes from its own pages, checked on 2 October 2026.

Who runs TCV

	What the public pages say
Company	TCV Corporation
Address	Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Founded	4 December 2018
Capital	28 million yen
Shareholder	ZIGExN Co., Ltd. (100%)
Secondhand dealer licence	Tokyo Metropolitan Public Safety Commission, No. 301082004270
Customer service	The site says it's available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

A secondhand dealer licence is required in Japan to trade used goods, including cars, and it's issued by the prefecture's Public Safety Commission, which oversees the police. It tells you the company is registered. It doesn't tell you anything about a specific car.

Who you're buying from

TCV's FAQ is clear on this: it is "an online vehicle listing service that connects international used car buyers with Japanese used car sellers", and "TCV itself is not a car seller". The listing information comes directly from the seller, and the seller usually arranges the shipping.

On the sellers themselves, the FAQ says they are legally existing companies in Japan, that TCV visits their offices and meets them before they can list, and that each submits ID and a secondhand dealer licence. Each seller has a page with company information, other stock and buyer reviews. Reviews are left after a completed purchase and rate the accuracy of the seller's information, communication and delivery time, out of 5 stars.

How buying and payment work

1. Ask the seller your questions first. TCV's FAQ says the basic condition and options are on the listing, and that you should contact the seller and "make all your questions clear before placing an order".
2. Order and receive an invoice. The FAQ says that, among other things, the invoice needs a valid chassis number before the order button works.
3. Pay TCV, not the seller. Payment goes by bank (T/T) to TCV under what it calls its Receiving Agent Service. TCV holds the money until the car is shipped from Japan, and if the seller fails to ship, you get a full refund, though bank fees and exchange losses may be deducted. There's no service charge for buying through TCV. Check that the payee on your invoice is "TCV Corporation".
4. Shipment. The seller ships the car and you track it in your account.

The money-back cover only applies to transactions made through TCV's own system. The FAQ says that if a seller asks you to pay its own bank account or deal outside TCV, you shouldn't, and that TCV takes no responsibility for deals made outside it.

Cancelling. Before you pay, you simply tell the seller. If you've paid but TCV hasn't confirmed it yet, you tell TCV, and the seller has to agree. After it's confirmed, you request cancellation through your account, but the FAQ says that "basically you cannot cancel the transaction after placing an order". If you cancel because you didn't check something beforehand, the FAQ says it counts as your reason and a refund processing fee of 150 US dollars applies.

What TCV checks

Car Info Check is an optional service at 50 US dollars a car, which you add when you order or before TCV confirms your payment. After your payment is confirmed, an inspection company appointed by TCV goes to the yard where the car is stored before shipping and compares it with the listing: make and model, chassis number, engine size (within 50 cc), fuel, colour, transmission, mileage (within 1,000 km), doors, steering side, drive type and listed options. If something doesn't match, you can ask to cancel within 5 business days of the result.

What it doesn't check

All of these come from TCV's own FAQ and protection pages:

• TCV doesn't inspect condition. The FAQ says so directly.
• Car Info Check doesn't check condition either. It checks that the information online is accurate, and the page says it doesn't guarantee the condition or function of the car.
• It happens after you've paid, not before you order.
• It isn't an official pre-shipment inspection. If your country needs one, you ask the seller.
• It isn't available for every car. Not for "Global Listing" cars, and not for cars kept in yards that the inspector can't enter.

None of this is unusual for buying a car from a distance. But it means a car can match its listing on every line and still have problems the listing never mentioned.

TCV's sellers are spread across Japan, and its pages don't say whether a buyer can have a car seen in person. If the seller is in or near Aichi, Gifu or Mie and agrees to an appointment, we may be able to go and look. You'd still order and pay through TCV. Send us the link and we'll tell you what's possible for that car.

Send us the listing link

Matching the listing isn't the same as good condition

Our founder would check the underside and the strut tops long before the paintwork, and neither tends to appear in listing photos (what dealer photos miss says why).

Look at what Car Info Check compares: colour, mileage, options, the chassis number. All useful, and none of them about rust or how the body has aged. A car with the right colour, the right mileage and every listed option can still have corrosion around the strut tops. That's a question for the seller, by name, before you order.

What to ask before you order

1. Read the seller's page: company details, other stock and buyer reviews.
2. Ask the seller for photos of the spots that matter to you. For example: the underside as far as it can be seen, both strut tops, the rear arches and sills, and the boot (trunk) floor with the mat lifted. Name the exact spots; general requests get general photos.
3. Ask for a short video of the engine starting, with the exhaust in view, and whether the engine was already warm. We list the three things we listen and look for, and the limits of a video, in engine start videos from Japan.
4. Ask whether there's an auction sheet or any inspection report, and when it was done.
5. Ask where the car is stored, so you know whether Car Info Check can be used for it.
6. Get your answers in writing through TCV's message system before you order, since cancelling later is limited and may cost you.
7. Get the full cost in writing. The FOB price, freight, any pre-shipment inspection your country requires, Car Info Check if you want it, bank fees, and import tax and clearing costs at home.
8. Pay only to TCV Corporation, as shown on your invoice. Report any seller who asks you to pay elsewhere.

Comparing other places to buy

If you're weighing TCV against other sites, our guide to buying on Goo-net Exchange covers a site that also lists cars from Japanese dealers, and all our guides to where you're buying are in one place.

We're based in Kuwana, Mie Prefecture, and mainly cover Aichi, Gifu and Mie. For a car at a Japanese dealer that accepts visits, we can make an appointment, look at the car in person and send you photos, video and a plain-English report that separates what we saw, what the dealer told us, and what we couldn't check. See how a viewing works. For a dealer anywhere else in Japan, a Remote Check is a phone call in Japanese: your questions, the extra photos you're missing, and a translation of the paperwork.

We don't tell you whether to buy, or where. That's for you to decide.

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

Send us the listing link