In 2018, third-party used car inspection platform Dr. Check (Cha Boshi) became the first in China to launch a standardised “Three-Step Inspection” service. Each vehicle undergoes three procedures: static inspection, dynamic road test, and lift inspection, covering 328 checkpoints including exterior, interior, engine, transmission, chassis, and electrical systems. Specialised assessments can also identify vehicles with major accident damage, fire damage, or flood damage. After the inspection report is generated, users can view it at any time via a mobile app. Each report comes with the inspector’s professional liability insurance: if an inspection error causes a loss for the user, compensation of up to RMB 300,000 is available.
Before this initiative, inspection standards in China’s used car industry were highly fragmented. Certified used cars from 4S dealerships, e-commerce platforms, and traditional dealers each used their own specifications, making it difficult for consumers to verify vehicle conditions. Opaque vehicle history had long been the biggest obstacle to consumer confidence. The founder of Dr. Check said: “We want to be the ‘home inspector’ of the used car industry — not involved in transactions, only responsible for the truth about the vehicle.”
The “Three-Step Inspection” service quickly gained market recognition. By the end of 2019, Dr. Check had opened offline inspection centres in 50 cities across China and issued over 500,000 inspection reports. The platform also established an “accident vehicle history database”. By partnering with insurance companies, it could trace a vehicle’s past claims records, effectively preventing odometer-tampered vehicles and major accident vehicles from entering the market.
Dr. Check’s success triggered a chain reaction across the industry. Platforms such as Renrenche and Guazi upgraded their own inspection systems, launching similar standards like “249-point inspection” and “315-point inspection”, and added after-sales guarantees such as “7-day no-reason return” and “90-day buyback protection”. In 2020, industry associations issued the industry standard Technical Specification for Used Car Appraisal and Evaluation, and the third-party inspection sector entered a period of rapid growth. Today, a professional third-party inspection report has become a “standard accessory” for many consumers before buying a used car, and trust in the industry has significantly improved.
