How to Read an Auction Condition Report
A condition report grades a vehicle's cosmetic and mechanical state on the auction's own scale, lists damage codes and written announcements, and reflects what an inspector saw at one point in time. It is the seller's disclosure, not a guarantee, and it is only as good as what the inspector chose to write down.
Find the grade scale
Before a single number means anything, find the key that defines it. Grade scales are not standardized across the industry: a "3" on one platform's report and a "3" on another's can describe very different vehicles, because each platform sets its own criteria for what separates each grade. OPENLANE, for one, states that its condition reports combine human inspection with AI-assisted damage detection and typically include more than 25 photos and component-level detail, which is a different depth of reporting than a one-line grade with no supporting images. Read the key page linked from the listing, not the number by itself.
Decode the damage codes
Most reports separate primary damage from secondary damage: primary is the main reported event (front end, rear end, side, undercarriage, mechanical, water or flood, burn, vandalism, and similar broad categories used across the industry), while secondary damage lists anything additional found during inspection. Treat "primary: mechanical" and "primary: front end" as two entirely different purchases requiring different due diligence, even if the grade number attached to each looks similar.
Manheim's own product line, Manheim Express Condition Reports, is built specifically to go further than a cosmetic grade: it includes diagnostic trouble codes pulled from the vehicle's onboard computer, which is the kind of detail that tells you about a check-engine light problem a walk-around inspection would never catch. Not every platform's report goes that deep, so check whether the one in front of you is cosmetic-only or includes an electronic scan before you assume it covers mechanical issues.
Read announcements and the light system
Written announcements sit separately from the grade and the damage codes, and they matter more than either. An announcement is where a lot note like a branded title, an odometer discrepancy, or a missing catalytic converter gets disclosed, often in a single terse line easy to skim past. Read every announcement on the lot page, not just the summary at the top.
Many salvage platforms also use a light system, a color-coded run status indicator (commonly a scheme like green for confirmed running and driving, yellow for a partial or uncertain start, red for no-start or not tested) attached to the lot in addition to the written grade. The exact colors and definitions vary by platform and are not something we will state as fixed across the industry, so treat the light as a prompt to read the accompanying text, not as a self-contained fact.
| Field | What it usually tells you |
|---|---|
| Overall grade or score | A single cosmetic and mechanical summary on the platform's own scale, not comparable across platforms |
| Primary damage | The main reported damage area or event, such as front end, mechanical or flood |
| Secondary damage | Any additional damage found beyond the primary category |
| Run status or light system | Whether the vehicle was reported to start, run and drive, or was not tested |
| Odometer status | Actual mileage, exempt, or true mileage unknown |
| Keys | Whether keys or a fob were present at inspection |
| Announcements | Written disclosures: title brand, prior use, missing parts, known defects |
Compare the report with the photos
A report and a photo set are two separate pieces of evidence, and they should agree. If the report lists "front end" primary damage, find the photo of the front end and confirm the damage shown matches what a reasonable person would call front-end damage. If a report claims no undercarriage issues but no undercarriage photo exists, that is a gap, not a clean bill of health. IronPlanet frames its own reporting this way in its marketing, stating plainly that "what you see in the report is what you get," which is a fair standard to hold any platform's report to, whether they say it out loud or not.
Check what the report does not cover
A condition report is a disclosure snapshot from one inspection, not a mechanic's warranty and not a promise about anything that happens after the sale. Purple Wave states this directly in its own terms: it performs no mechanical inspections at all, sells everything as-is, and its listings show only observable information such as mileage, weight and accessories, meaning cosmetic or body damage can exist even where the listing does not describe it. Even a platform with a far deeper report, like OPENLANE's AI-assisted version, is still reporting a point-in-time observation, and a vehicle that sat outside for weeks after inspection can develop new problems the report never saw.
Use it to set a bid
Turn every flagged line item into a number before you bid, not while you are bidding. A front-end primary damage code becomes a body shop estimate. A missing catalytic converter announcement becomes a parts-and-labor quote. A "run status unknown" light becomes the cost of a tow plus a diagnostic visit. Add those figures to your transport and fee estimate and subtract the total from what you were otherwise prepared to pay, using the same maximum bid logic you would use for any auction vehicle, then treat that adjusted number as fixed once the sale starts.
If a vehicle has an open safety recall on top of everything in the condition report, check NHTSA's recall lookup by VIN before you finalize your number, since a recall repair is usually free at a dealer but still costs you the time of getting it done.