What’s involved in a vehicle inspection form?
Vehicle inspection forms assess the condition of your vehicle and help you identify needed repairs. It is a useful tool to prevent the occurrence of hazards and ensure vehicle safety at all times.
Motor vehicle inspections should be recurring in addition to comprehensive. Use vehicle inspection forms to make sure every part of your vehicle gets inspected and all parts are in good working order. Regular vehicle inspections are compulsory and acknowledged with a safety badge.
Table of contents
What to include in a motor vehicle inspection form
A motor vehicle inspection plan usually involves more than one vehicle inspection form. That’s because there are both minor and major inspections. A minor inspection usually only checks the following:
- Oil change
- Windscreen wiper system
- Air filter
- Brakes
Major inspections are much more extensive. They involve checking:
- The engine (including timing belt, spark plugs, alternator, etc.)
- Exhaust system
- Transmission
- Axles and body
- Electronics
- Wheels and tires
To prevent vehicles from being damaged, perform regular motor vehicle inspections, whether for rental cars or commercial vehicles. Recommended maintenance intervals vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. Some vehicles need to go to the workshop after 15,000 kilometers or one year, while others can go longer without repairs. In newer car models, the service indicator shows when the next check-up is due.
During your scheduled vehicle inspections, use your inspection checklist to ensure that nothing is overlooked. In a minor inspection, look at:
- Handbrakes
- Exhaust
- Lighting and signaling systems
- Windscreen wiper and cleaning systems
- Safety belts
- First aid kits
- Tires and air pressure
- Coolant and antifreeze levels
- Brake fluid levels and water content
- Brake pads, brake hoses, and brake discs
- Suspensions, wheel bearings, and shock absorbers
- Lubrication on the locks and hinges
- Oil filters
- Cabin filters
- MOT dates
- The vehicle’s fault memory
Every two years during major inspections, the following items are added to the list above:
- Change air filter and fuel filter
- Change brake fluid
- Disinfect the air conditioning service
- Test battery
- Check service interval of timing belt
4 steps of any vehicle inspection process
1. Capture key data
Details such as car make and model, insurance number, and identification number should be recorded. It’s also important to include data from past inspections and repairs, as well as mileage.
2. Schedule regular inspections and maintenance
To ensure the safety and quality of a vehicle, regular inspections should be scheduled. It’s up to you how often you want to perform inspections, though it’s a good idea to perform at least a minor inspection once a week.
3. Document the process
Make sure that all the results of your inspections are documented using descriptions and pictures. Photo evidence is useful in case of insurance issues or additional repair costs.
4. Use available technologies
You can make the process easier by digitizing your vehicle inspection forms. That way, it’s easier to create, distribute, and store them.
Vehicle inspection forms with workflow automation software
Workflow automation software like Lumiform enables you to easily perform vehicle inspections, report problems in an instant, and assign corrective actions to responsible colleagues. Real-time communication with team members and third parties makes it easy to improve internal processes and resolve incidents up to four times faster.
Documenting all your vehicle maintenance helps you meet legal requirements for operational safety and avoid fines. Managing your vehicle inspection forms with Lumiform:
- Means you’ll complete inspections approximately 30%-50% faster and helps you standardize maintenance
- Allows you to convert any existing forms into their digital version using the flexible checklist builder
- Makes issue reporting instant and improves teamwork thanks to in-app notifications
- Gives you access to automatically generated data analyses you can use to further improve your vehicle inspection process
