Read the date first
A report describes a vehicle on the day somebody looked at it. A six-month-old report on a machine that has been sitting outside since is a historical document, not a description of what will arrive on your truck.
The second thing to check is who signed it. A report from a named inspector with a certification number is a person who can be asked questions. An unsigned checklist is marketing.
Findings are more useful than scores
Summary grades compress away the only information you need. A vehicle scored 'good' may have a perfect body and a transmission that slips; the score cannot tell you which, and the two are not the same purchase.
Go to the line items. Look for the sections where the inspector wrote a sentence rather than ticking a box — that is where the effort went, and it is usually where the problem is.
What is missing is information too
If a report covers the body, interior and electronics in detail and says nothing about the undercarriage, the undercarriage was not inspected. That is not a conspiracy; inspectors report what they can reach. But it tells you exactly where your own risk is concentrated.
The same applies to road testing. 'Started and ran' is a very different claim from 'driven five miles, no fault codes'.
Treat it as a floor, not a ceiling
Everything in the report is wrong with the vehicle. Not everything wrong with the vehicle is in the report. Price accordingly, and remember that as-is means the findings are disclosure, not a promise of condition.
From the auction floor
See how this works on a real lot.
Every listing carries its inspection report, its full specification and its bid history. Read one before you decide what it is worth to you.