K1–K5 Damage Scale
The K1–K5 scale is a severity grading scale for vehicle damage, running from K1 (minor, often cosmetic wear) through K5 (severe damage typically requiring part replacement), used to classify defects consistently during inspections.
Where a damage framework like AIAG defines how to assess condition, a K-scale expresses how bad a given defect is on an ordered scale. The lower grades capture light, often acceptable wear; the higher grades capture progressively more serious damage — deeper dents, structural deformation, or damage that requires replacing a panel or component rather than a touch-up.
Grading on an ordered scale lets operators set thresholds. For example, a rental program might treat light wear as acceptable and only charge from a certain severity upward, applied uniformly across the fleet. That turns "chargeable vs. not" into a documented policy rather than a per-agent judgment call, which is exactly what holds up when a customer disputes a charge.
VerifyAI can assign a severity grade as part of an automated inspection and combine it with a before/after delta — so you can show not just that damage exists, but that it is new and how severe it is. The grade and the delta then anchor a PDF condition report you can attach to a representment.
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Related terms
An AIAG damage grade is a standardized classification of vehicle damage based on the Automotive Industry Action Group's grading framework, used so that the same dent or scratch is graded the same way regardless of who inspects it or when.
Before/After DeltaA before/after delta is the comparison of an asset's condition at two points in time — typically handoff and return — that isolates what changed, separating new damage from pre-existing wear.
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