If you’re a licensed driver, you probably know you need to get someone knowledgeable to inspect your car every year.
This annual inspection doesn’t cost much, but it can reveal whether you’re keeping your vehicle in good working order. However, you might not know precisely what happens during one of these inspections.
If you know about the importance of annual car safety inspections, that’s great, but you should also know what goes into one. We will talk about that in the following article.
It’s Not the Same in Every State
First, you should know that an annual vehicle inspection won’t follow the exact same pattern in every state. Some states have more rigorous inspection standards, and others less so.
However, you can expect most inspections to cover some of the same ground. We’ll review some of what you can anticipate happening to your car when you take it for an inspection in virtually any state.
The Mechanic Will Check Your Tires
First, a mechanic will likely look over your tires. They will make sure they are sound and have enough air in them. If they see any punctures or slow leaks, they’ll let you know about that.
If you have one, you’ll probably know about it already, but the mechanic will still look at each tire to see if there’s anything obviously wrong.
They will also check how much tread you have on your tires. If you drive a lot, your car’s tires will wear out their tread faster. A mechanic might recommend that you get new ones if they see that yours will soon get to the end of their usable life.
They’ll Test the Horn
The mechanic will try the horn. It’s pretty rare that you’ll have a horn that wears out, but it can happen. If it does, you can usually blame a collision.
In some instances, you’ll have a defective horn. If so, you can probably get a new one from the vehicle’s manufacturer free of charge.
They’ll Look at Your Windshield Wipers and Fluid Levels
The mechanic will try your windshield wipers. If there’s anything wrong with them, they’ll let you know. Sometimes, you might bend a wiper or get one that skips over the windshield’s surface. That won’t wipe the water away sufficiently, and you’ll need a replacement.
The mechanic will check all of your fluid levels. Those include your brake fluid levels, your oil level, transmission fluid level, your coolant level, and your power steering fluid level if your car comes with that feature. Many modern cars do.
They Will Run Some Rigorous Mechanical Tests
Any competent mechanic will certainly want to run some mechanical tests when they look over your vehicle during its yearly inspection. They will try your brakes.
If your brake pads don’t feel quite right, you might need to buy replacements. You need your brakes in perfect working order, so you can’t ignore this issue if your mechanic brings it up.
They will look at your car’s suspension and frame. If they see any frame or suspension damage, you might know about it already.
That sort of thing doesn’t usually happen unless you’ve hit another vehicle or one struck your car instead. However, every once in a while, you might run into a situation where you hit some debris in the road that damaged the frame or suspension.
That’s a potentially costly fix, but if you don’t do it, your car might not run as smoothly as before.
They will also look at your car’s transmission, exhaust and emission systems, the wheel fasteners, and the engine. The engine must always run smoothly or you’ll eventually have serious problems with the vehicle.
They’ll Look Over the Vehicle’s Interior
A mechanic probably won’t spend much time on the car’s interior, but they will likely do a quick spot check of a few specific things. They’ll try out all your seat belts to ensure they extend and fashion properly. You and your passengers should appreciate that.
They will also look at your vehicle’s steering wheel and column. If they see irregularities, they’ll tell you about them. Again, you’ve probably already noticed any issue in this area, but if you don’t drive the car very much, it’s possible you’ve overlooked something.
They’ll Look Over the Exterior
Finally, the mechanic will spend some time looking over the rest of the car’s exterior. That will involve the mirrors. They’ll look to see if they can adjust them and whether they have any noticeable cracks. They will look at the windshield and see if it has any cracks as well.
They will look at your lights and reflectors. They will try your car’s lights on the regular setting and the brights as well. If your lights seem foggy, they may recommend you clean them or get new ones.
The mechanic will also check to see whether your car has any warning lights on the dashboard. As vehicles come with more features, newer ones have more warning lights.
The newest and fanciest models have more than just the standard check engine light. You might get ones that warn you about an issue through a color-coded system.
Usually, with these types of systems, you’ll see a green light indicating a relatively minor problem. A green light could mean you’ve simply left the headlights on, for instance, and that light serves as a reminder.
A yellow light usually indicates there’s a slightly more serious issue. You might see a yellow light if the traction control system activates on a slippery surface.
If the mechanic sees a persistent red light, that could mean something like major system failure or something equally dangerous. In most instances, you’ll already know about the light unless you are absentminded and simply didn’t notice.
That’s part of why you’re taking the car for that yearly session with the mechanic, though. They’ll usually spot anything you’re not aware of and tell you how you can fix it.
