How to read an Encar inspection report (성능·상태점검기록부)

What the Encar inspection report is

On an Encar listing, the 성능점검 (performance check) button opens a scan or a rendered copy of the 성능·상태점검기록부. The form is defined in the enforcement rules of Korea's Motor Vehicle Management Act, so it looks the same whichever site shows it: encar.com↗, K Car, KB Chachacha or a dealer's own page. Encar displays it; Encar does not write it.

The check is done by a registered performance inspection operator. The operator guarantees the result for at least 30 days or 2,000 km after delivery, whichever comes first, backed by liability insurance. That guarantee is written for buyers in Korea; for a car that is already on a ship it rarely helps, so an export buyer should treat the record as information, not as cover.

Dealers are the ones obliged to provide the record. Private sellers on Encar are not bound by the same rule, so private listings often have none, which is one reason exporters tend to buy from dealers.

The sections, in reading order

1. Vehicle information (자동차 정보)

Model name (차명), VIN (차대번호), year (연식), first registration (최초등록일), gearbox (변속기), fuel (사용연료), engine type (원동기형식), inspection validity (검사유효기간) and the warranty type (보증유형). The first thing to do: compare the VIN with the listing and with the photo of the VIN plate. If they differ, stop there.

2. Overall condition (자동차 종합상태)

A block of short lines, each with a box to tick:

• 주행거리 및 계기 상태: odometer and gauges, 양호 (good) or 불량 (faulty), with the reading and whether mileage is high, average or low for the age.
• 차대번호 표기: the VIN marking itself, 양호 (good), 부식 (corroded), 훼손 (damaged), 상이 (does not match) or 변조 (altered).
• 배출가스: emission readings.
• 튜닝: tuning, 없음 (none) or 있음 (yes), marked 적법 (legal) or 불법 (illegal), and whether it changed the structure (구조) or a device (장치).
• 특별이력: special history, 침수 (flood) and 화재 (fire).
• 용도변경: change of use, such as 렌트 (rental), 리스 (lease) or 영업용 (commercial).
• 색상: colour, including 전체도색 (full repaint) and 색상변경 (colour change).
• 주요옵션: main options, and 리콜대상: whether a recall applies and was done.

3. Accident, replacement and repair history (사고·교환·수리 등 이력)

Two lines decide most prices: 사고이력 (accident history) 있음/없음 (yes/no) and 단순수리 (simple repair) 있음/없음. Under them sits the car diagram, top and side views with numbered parts, where the inspector writes a status code next to every part that was touched.

4. Detailed condition (세부상태)

Mechanical checks, each marked 양호 (good) or 불량 (faulty), sometimes with a degree: 자기진단 (self-diagnosis of engine and gearbox), 원동기 (engine: idle, oil and coolant leaks), 변속기 (gearbox), 동력전달 (drivetrain), 조향 (steering), 제동 (brakes), 전기 (electrics) and 연료 (fuel system, including gas leaks on LPG cars). Leaks are graded 없음 (none), 미세누유 (slight seepage) and 누유 (leak). Newer versions of the form also cover the high-voltage parts of hybrids and electric cars.

5. Repairs needed, notes and signatures

A short list of things that need work (exterior, interior, polish, wheels, tyres, glass), the basic items supplied with the car, the inspector's special notes (특기사항), the date of the check and the signatures. Read the notes; inspectors put the context there that the checkboxes cannot hold. Check the date too: a record from many months ago describes a car that has been driven since.

The panel codes on the car diagram: X, W, C, A, U, T

The X is sometimes printed as ✕ or ×, and some sites show the codes as coloured dots instead of letters, but the legend on the form is always the same six.

Outer panels (rank 1 and 2) vs frame parts (rank A, B and C)

The numbered parts on the diagram fall into two groups, and each group is ranked by how deep into the body it sits. This is the part of an Encar inspection report that matters most for price.

The rule behind the two summary ticks follows from this table:

• Rank 1 outer panels and bumpers: replacement, sheet-metal work or welding counts as a simple repair (단순수리), not an accident.
• Rank 2 outer panels: the quarter panel, roof and side sill count as an accident only when they were cut or welded, because they are welded to the body rather than bolted on.
• Frame parts (A, B, C): sheet-metal work, welding or replacement means 사고이력 있음, an accident car.

Mechanics read the ranks as a map of the impact. Work on rank A parts usually comes from a front or rear hit, rank B from a side hit or a heavier one, and rank C (the dash and the floor) means the damage reached deep into the cabin structure. A car with an X on a front fender and a W on the front panel (9) had a front-end hit that went past the bolt-on parts.

What is normal and what is a red flag

Few used cars come back from an inspection perfectly clean, and that is fine. What you want to know is whether the marks are the kind a buyer abroad will accept at the price.

A replaced front fender on a five-year-old car with 90,000 km is common and usually cosmetic: someone touched a pillar in a car park. A W on the front panel and a cross member on the same car is a different conversation, even if the photos look perfect, because the structure has been repaired and that is what a buyer at home will pay less for.

Encar diagnosis (엔카진단) vs the mandatory record

Some Encar listings carry an Encar diagnosis badge (엔카진단). That is a separate check by Encar's own staff, offered to sellers as a service, with its own frame and panel results and photos. It does not replace the legal record and is not a copy of it. K Car runs its own diagnosis in the same spirit for the cars it sells.

When both exist, read both and compare. They are done by different people, sometimes on different days, so a small difference (a scratch one inspector noted and the other did not) is normal. A difference on the frame is not. What Encar promises around its diagnosis can change, so read the terms on the listing itself rather than relying on what was true last year.

Read it with the insurance history and the photos

The record captures one day, by a shop the seller chose. Two other sources check it:

• The insurance history (보험이력) shows claims paid for this car and their amounts. A large claim for damage to this car next to a record that only says “simple repair” means one of them is incomplete.
• The photos. Ask for the trunk floor, the inner wings under the hood, the door hinges and the sealer along the seams. Turned bolt heads on a fender confirm an X on a rank 1 panel; rippled sealer or fresh paint inside the trunk does not fit “no accident”.

Getting Encar inspection reports as data

For one car, a translator and this guide are enough. For a catalog, you want the record as fields, so you can filter for “no frame work”, draw the diagram in your own language and show buyers the same layout for every Korean site listed on the sources page. The Encar API returns each checked part with its result:

{  "conclusions": {    "accident_status_key": "ok",    "water_damage_status_key": "ok",    "fire_damage_status_key": "ok"  },  "checked_items": [    {      "block_key": "exterior",      "part_key": "front_fender_right",      "result_key": "issue",      "issue_type_keys": ["replaced"]    },    {      "block_key": "exterior",      "part_key": "front_door_left",      "result_key": "issue",      "issue_type_keys": ["scratch"]    },    { "part_key": "hood", "result_key": "ok" }  ]}

The keys are the same whichever Korean site the record came from, and labels can be returned in English, Russian or another supported language.

Next steps

Open a few Encar listings in the car class you buy and read their records with the tables above; after ten of them the pattern becomes quick. If you are about to buy, the step-by-step guide to importing a car from Korea covers what comes after the inspection: the exporter, deregistration, shipping and customs. If you want to see how records, prices and Korean names look once they are cleaned up, read the Encar API article.