Vehicle Inspection Report: What Goes on It

A vehicle inspection report from your shop is your own record, not a state inspection form. The official inspection a state requires goes through your state's program. The report in this article is the page you write and the customer keeps.

What a vehicle inspection report from your shop is

Think of it as the shop's written answer to one question: what did you look at, and what did you find? The customer reads it at the counter. The next tech reads it on the next visit. You read it when a customer calls back about a noise.

A state inspection is a different job. New York's DMV, for example, describes a state program with its own inspection stations and inspection stickers. It says an inspector commits a misdemeanor by knowingly issuing a sticker without a full and proper inspection. Your shop report does not replace any of that. A state's pass and fail limits are not on it either.

A report earns trust when someone who was not in the bay can tell what was checked.

What goes on the report

Every shop report needs the same six parts. The order matters less than having all of them on one sheet.

The VIN is 17 characters and never uses the letters I, O or Q, so copy it from the door label and read it back once.

Pass, Attn and Fail: one rule for every tech

Use three marks and define them in one line at the top of the page. A workable version reads: Pass means OK today. Attn means plan attention soon. Fail means repair is needed now.

Mark one box per row. Do not use color alone to carry the status, because a photocopy or a black-and-white printer wipes it out. Write the finding in the note next to the mark, so the mark has a reason on the page.

Your shop sets its own tread, brake and battery alert points. The same tire may be Attn in your shop and Pass in the next one. Write your points down once, so every tech marks the same tire the same way.

Work done and work recommended stay apart

The most useful line on a report is the one that separates what you did from what you advise. The Federal Trade Commission's guide to auto repair says a written estimate should identify the condition to be repaired, the parts needed and the anticipated labor charge. The same guide says the completed repair order should list each repair, the parts supplied and the cost of each part. It should also list the labor charges and the odometer reading at drop-off and at completion.

California's Bureau of Automotive Repair goes further for shops in that state. Its Write It Right guide says an estimate must contain a description of the specific job and the estimated price for all parts and labor. The guide adds that all parts supplied and all repairs performed, including repairs done at no charge, must be recorded on the invoice. Other states have their own rules, so read yours.

Put recommendations in two groups: needs attention now, and needs attention soon. Give each line an approve box and a decline box, and leave the amounts for your counter to fill in. A customer who initials one line has told you exactly what to do.

The order a report moves through the shop

A report is not finished when the tech stops writing. It has a short life from the bay to the filing cabinet, and each step has one owner.

The advisor owns steps 1, 3 and 4. The tech owns step 2. Whoever closes the repair order owns step 5.

Keep a copy and file it by repair order

Keep one copy for the shop. Filing by RO number finds it again in seconds when a customer asks what you checked in March.

How long you must keep it depends on where you work. California's Bureau of Automotive Repair says repair dealers there must keep records for at least three years and make them available for inspection. Check your own state's repair rules before you decide on a retention period.

A ready sheet for the report

Designing the page yourself is optional. The Multi-Point Inspection Kit is a fillable PDF set built around exactly these parts. It has a two-sided inspection sheet for each vehicle with Pass, Attn and Fail on every row. A findings and estimate sheet and fields for your shop name, address, phone and logo come with it. You print it, fill it in and hand it over. The kit costs $4.

When a shop report is the wrong tool

A printed sheet is the wrong choice in three cases. For the official state inspection certificate, use your state's program. When your customers expect photos and a link sent to their phone, a shop report on paper will not do that, and inspection software will. Commercial trucks need a driver vehicle inspection report, which is a separate form with its own rules. These sheets do not replace it.

A filled-in PDF also has no signature check and no automatic copy to the customer. You print it, hand it over and file the copy yourself.