If General Average is triggered, all cargo owners must share the rescue costs. If you purchased marine insurance with a "General Average included" clause under CIF terms through us, the insurance company will cover this high shared cost for you; if you are an uninsured FOB buyer, you will need to pay it yourself.

Please take timestamped photos and videos at the first opportunity when picking up the car at the destination port (before leaving the port area). We will compare these with the final archived images taken at the Chinese port before shipping. If it is confirmed that we missed reporting it during the pre-shipment inspection, we will provide compensation for parts or labor costs based on the severity of the defect; if it is new physical damage incurred during shipping, the insurance claim process will need to be initiated.

A professional pre-shipment inspection typically costs a small fraction of the vehicle price and routinely pays for itself. A thorough inspection covers: paint thickness measurement across 30+ points to map body repairs; structural assessment of pillars, rails and crossmembers for accident damage; engine and transmission operation; a full electronic scan for fault codes; suspension and underbody checks for leaks and rust; and, for EVs, battery SOH and thermal management performance. You receive a written report with photos before the car is loaded — if the car fails, you can stop the shipment or renegotiate. Skipping the inspection to save a small fee is the classic false economy in used car importing: discovering a problem after arrival is far more expensive than preventing it at origin.