Every photo read, panel by panel.

Bumpers, bonnet, wings, quarters, doors, roof, glass and wheels each get a severity from light through to replace, with a one-line note and the photo it came from. Scroll back to the original and check the read yourself.

Left and right are scored separately, so a one-sided hit does not get averaged into a shrug.

These are the patterns that decide whether a lot is repairable at all. Each one is checked on every lot.

1. Airbag deployment. Adds the SRS module, pretensioners and clock spring to any cosmetic repair.
2. Frame or structural impact. Suspected chassis rail or unibody damage. Jig work changes the sums.
3. Front overlap crash pattern. A buckled core support points to an impact big enough to bend the rails.
4. Side impact pattern. B-pillar intrusion or a distorted door frame. Rarely worth repairing properly.
5. Flood lines. Water marks on door cards, dash or carpet. The electrics fail weeks later.
6. Engine bay fire or heat. Burned looms and melted plastics. Diagnostic time with no end.
7. Coolant or oil pooling. Fluid under the car in the photos: head gasket, sump or seal territory.
8. Paint mismatch. A previous repair. You may be the second person to fix this car.
9. Body filler or waviness. Poor earlier bodywork that often hides more than was declared.
10. Cut and shut or aftermarket panels. Mismatched panels and odd weld lines. Walk away.
11. Missing factory components. Catalytic converter, headlights, ECU or infotainment: parts cost, or a theft recovery.

The interior gets a score from 1 to 5 with named flags: seat tears, dash damage, headliner staining, missing infotainment, blown airbag covers, water or smoke marks. Wheels are triaged corner by corner for kerb rash, tread and missing wheels, and the windscreen, side glass and sunroof get a look too.

Every analysis lists the missing angles: no engine bay, no underside, no VIN plate. That is where to send an inspector, or how much to take off your max bid for risk you cannot price.

The gaps feed directly into confidence. A lot with no engine bay photo cannot earn a confident “engine starts” call, and the chat will tell you the same.

Photos go through to the analysis in memory and are discarded when it returns. The image files are never stored, and they stay on Copart’s own servers.