State of Health (SOH) tells you how much of the original battery capacity remains. Here's how to use it. Reading the report: SOH is usually shown as a percentage of original capacity. A car at 90% SOH retains roughly 90% of its original range. Also check for cell imbalance (voltage spread between modules)—a low SOH with balanced cells is often fine, but high imbalance causes sudden range drops and charging problems. Acceptable thresholds: for a car under 3 years old, expect 90%+ SOH. For 3-5 years, 85-90% is normal. Below 80% SOH, the battery may soon need replacement—replacement costs can exceed the car's value, so negotiate hard or walk away. How to verify: don't trust a screenshot. Ask for a live screen recording of the diagnostic app (like the brand's official tool) starting from the car's VIN page. Cross-check the fast-charging curve: a healthy battery charges at near-peak rate up to 60-70%; a degraded one tapers early. Finally, remember that hot climates degrade batteries faster—if the car spent its life in southern China, scrutinize SOH more carefully.

A complete service history tells you more about a car than its mileage. In China, most maintenance is done at authorized (4S) dealers, and each visit is recorded in the brand's national database. First, ask the seller for the service booklet and maintenance invoices, then have your inspection agent call the brand's 4S network with the VIN to pull the full service record. This shows oil changes, major repairs, recall work and accident-related repairs. Second, check that the mileage recorded at each service visit increases logically. A gap between the database mileage and the dashboard reading is a red flag. Third, ask for the annual inspection (nianjian) records, which are mandatory in China and show whether the car passed emissions and safety checks on time. If the seller claims a full service history but the database shows no records, assume the car was maintained at small independent shops or neglected. Adjust your offer accordingly — plenty of used cars in China have documented histories.

Our foreign versions of the report standardize terminology and include illustrations. For example, instead of just writing "control arm failure," we specify "Lower Control Arm Bushing Torn" to help your local technicians identify the issue directly.