When you buy a used car from Korea, you start with a listing — photos, mileage, an auction sheet, a dealer's description. Useful, but there's a gap between reading about a car and standing next to it: you can't walk around it, hear the engine idle, or ask whether that rear quarter panel has been repainted.
LMN secondary inspection closes that gap. It happens before you secure the car, while every option is still open — not to make the car look good, but to show it clearly enough for you to decide what's next: proceed, negotiate, ask for more, or walk away.
What "secondary inspection" actually means
It helps to be precise about the timing, because it's the whole reason this step is valuable.
Secondary inspection is a pre-decision step. LMN carries out a physical inspection of the specific vehicle you're considering and turns it into evidence you can act on. That's different from the facility work that happens after a car is secured — that's preparation and documentation of a car you've already committed to. Secondary inspection comes earlier, when the evidence can still change your mind.
You can request it for cars from both auction listings and dealer listings. Once the vehicle is available to inspect, LMN delivers the report within 24 hours.
The simplest way to think about what you get back:
| 1. What we found | 2. What it means | 3. What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Photos, measurements, and findings from the car. | Plain-English notes explaining the findings. | Proceed, negotiate, ask for more, or walk away. |
What LMN checks and shares
Every inspection follows the same checklist — 69 points across five sections. The physical checks come back in the report as photos, measurements, and plain-English notes. History & documents is a records pull LMN provides separately, on request. Expand any section to see what's covered:
Body
- Frame & structural sections — radiator support, inner panels, rear panel, trunk floor (accident repair / replacement)
- Body panels — fenders, doors (with hinges & frames), side sills, rear quarters, pillars, wheel houses, mirrors, bumpers, hood, windshield, trunk, roof, sunroof — each classified as replaced or sheet-metal repaired
- VIN plate
Painting
- Repaint check — hood, roof, fenders, doors, rear quarters, trunk/tailgate
- Paint-thickness gauge reading (µm) where a closer look is needed
Wheels & Tires
- Tire tread — front & rear
- Brake disc & pad life — front & rear
- Wheels — condition & scratches
Interior
- Upholstery — driver, passenger, rear seats
- Door cards, center console, dashboard, steering wheel
- Functions & electronics — A/C, windows, seats, speakers, sunroof, lights
- Number of keys
- English availability — instrument cluster & infotainment
Mechanical & Walkaround
- Engine oil & coolant — leaks and condition
- Noise & vibration
- Frame & underbody corrosion
- Diagnostic scan — OBD fault codes
History & documents (on request)
- Ownership history
- Accident records (CarHistory.kr)
- Insurance repair cost
- Recall completion status
How you get it: photos, videos, and notes
The checks above come back in three forms — photos, videos, and plain-English notes.
Photos & Videos
Photos are the base layer — LMN documents the car section by section, so you can see where any damage, wear, or paint concern is and how serious it looks. Video then shows the car as a whole; every inspection includes three walkthroughs:
- Interior — seats, dashboard, trim, controls, cabin condition, and wear points.
- Exterior — body panels, paint, visible damage, wheels and tires, overall presentation.
- Engine running — at least 30 seconds, so you can hear the idle before you decide.
Plain-English notes
Korean listings and inspection materials lean on local terms and auction codes; LMN rewrites the findings in plain English so you and your customers can read them without a translator. Good notes also separate what was observed from what it means — and admit where the evidence runs out:
Certain — Right front fender replaced. Trunk: paint history.
Inference — Paint film 130–180 µm, uneven (OEM ~100–130) — likely a factory double-coat, not a repair.
Unknown — Unable to run the car through the diagnostic machine.
A report that tells you what it couldn't determine is worth more than one that sounds certain about everything.
See a real report
Words only go so far. Here's a live example of an LMN secondary inspection report:
View a sample inspection report →
It brings the pieces above together in one place, so you can see the kind of report you'd receive before requesting one.
A better way to buy from Korea
Buying from Korea shouldn't come down to trusting a set of listing photos.
LMN secondary inspection gives you a clearer view before you commit — photos, checks, videos, and plain-English notes in one shareable report, within 24 hours.
For importers, it cuts down blind risk. For dealers, it creates evidence you can put in front of a customer. For that end customer, it makes the car easier to understand before the deal moves forward.
Before you secure the car, LMN helps you see it clearly.
Request a secondary inspection
Considering a car from a Korean auction or dealer listing? Request an LMN secondary inspection at lmnauto.com before you commit, and you'll have a clearer view within 24 hours.
A note on scope: LMN secondary inspection covers visual and functional observations made at the time of inspection. It isn't a certification, a warranty, or a guarantee of future reliability; it doesn't involve dismantling the vehicle; and it doesn't include a road test unless one was specifically performed.
Frequently asked questions
What is LMN secondary inspection?
LMN secondary inspection is a physical inspection of a specific used car from a Korean auction or dealer listing, carried out before the buyer secures the car. It turns the car's condition into evidence — photos, three videos, and plain-English notes in one shareable report — so the buyer can decide whether to proceed, negotiate, ask for more, or reject it.
When does an LMN secondary inspection happen?
It happens before you secure the car, while every option is still open. This is different from LMN's facility process, which prepares and documents a car after it has already been secured.
Does LMN inspect every car listing?
No. An LMN secondary inspection can be requested for cars from auction and dealer listings; it does not run automatically on every listing.
What does an LMN secondary inspection check?
It covers the exterior and frame (panel-by-panel repair and repaint history, plus any structural repair), the engine bay (oil and fluid leaks, noise, vibration), the undercarriage, the wheels, tires and brakes, a diagnostic fault-code scan, interior condition and functions, whether the displays can be switched to English, the VIN and origin, and available accident and insurance history.
How long does an LMN secondary inspection take?
LMN delivers the report within 24 hours once the vehicle is available to inspect.
Can I share the LMN inspection report with my customer?
Yes. Reports are designed to be shareable, so a dealer can show a customer the photos, videos, paint findings, visible issues, and English condition notes before the car is secured or exported.