Vehicle has major accident/fire/flood damage or major defects in power battery related components (structural/strengthening/covering parts), repaired or unrepaired, still affecting body structural strength or safe use, with hidden fault risks.
Accident inspection: main structure no damage, strengthening parts damaged, covering parts damaged, hinges normal; engine bay: key mechanical components normal; exterior: none; interior: most functions normal, airbag normal, seatbelt normal, dashboard normal, instrument test normal, lighting system normal; start test: main components normal; on-board tools: none.
Apply for a certificate of origin from the local customs or trade promotion agency, proving that the country of manufacture is China. This is a necessary document for customs clearance in regions like the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
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.
As rubber seals age, "slight oil seepage (oil stains but no dripping)" is very common in used cars and is not considered a major fault. Our recommendation is: as long as the oil level does not drop abnormally, just clean and monitor it regularly after arrival, without the need to immediately incur high costs to disassemble and replace the seals.
