How to make sure you pass your Roadworthy Inspection

In order to sell your car legally and to get a good deal out of it, a roadworthy inspection is really important. Roadworthy inspection isn’t anything complicated. It’s simply a safety certification of your vehicle. This certification gives the potential buyer confidence that the car is safe to drive.

For a successful certification, there are a few tests that your vehicle needs to pass. 

Wheel and Tyre Test: 

• The wheels, rims and tyres should be crack-free and shouldn’t have any other damages. 
  
• The wheel/rim of the tyre should not be dented, buckled or out of balance.
• If there are spokes to the wheels, then they should be intact, well fitted, straight and laced.
• The wheels and tyre of the car shouldn’t touch the mudguard. 

Steering and Suspension: 

• When driving straight, the car shouldn’t pull to the left or right.
• The steering components should be mounted correctly and should not have any sort of damage.
• Power steering fluid shouldn't be leaking. 
• There must be adequate clearance between the vehicle and the steering components. 
• All parts of the steering system should be in good condition.
• Shock absorbers and struts must be in good condition and should be mounted securely. 

Brakes: 

Along with the clutch, this is  the most important component of the vehicle. If this is not in working condition, your vehicle will not be roadworthy and will need brake and clutch repairs. Here are a few major things you need to keep in mind about brakes: 

• The brake pads should not have any sort of damage, wear and tear. 
• Vehicle parking and emergency brakes must function properly.
• Park brakes must function properly in order to keep the vehicle from moving.
• Brake lights or warning signs should work properly and must be fitted in a proper manner. 
• The car horn should work properly.
• There should not be any leakage in the brake systems.
• There should not be any damage to the brake lining. 

Seats and Seatbelts: 

• All seats must be secured and structurally fitted. 
• The driver's seat should not have any sort of damage that’ll compromise your driving.
• Seat sliders must be functioning correctly. 
• Any seatbelt components cannot be modified.
• There should not be any sort of wear and tear, damage and knots to the seatbelt webbing.

Headlight and Taillights: The headlights and taillights consist of three parts: the lens, reflectors and the bulb carrier. Only the single bulb needs to be replaced and not the entire headlight or taillight. To be able to remove the bulb, you need to remove the taillight entirely to see the single bulb. Simply twist the quarters and the bulb comes out. For the replacement, you can easily find a bulb of the right size at any auto parts store.

Brake Lights: Brake lights is another filament of the taillight. If it needs to be replaced, then you need to ask a favor from a friend to stand behind and check if it’s in a working condition. The replacement of the light is similar to that of the taillight.

Turn Signals or Indicators: This is important to obtain a roadworthy certificate. Turn signals must function properly. With the help of a friend, find out if your turn signals are working properly. 

Windscreen and Windows:

• The windscreen needs to be damage-free.
• During the test, minor wear and tear of the windscreen is acceptable. However, anything that obstructs your view of the road is unacceptable. 
• The primary visual area of the windscreen cannot be tinted more than 70%. Also, the tinting of the windscreen should be manufactured in and not applied afterwards. 
• Windscreen wipers must work properly and need to be fitted correctly. The washer jets also have to be positioned correctly.

Vehicle’s Body and Chassis: 

• The structural components of the vehicle must be free from damage or unsafe modifications. There should not be any rust that causes structural weakness.
• The floor of the vehicle must be sound and should be damage-free that can cause the safety of the vehicle. 
• The door, boot, lid, bonnet, hatch and tailgate latches need to be working correctly. 
• Mudflaps are necessary on the vehicle. 
• Bumper bars must be securely fitted and should not have any sharp corners. 

Bottom Line:

These are the requirements that your vehicle needs to meet to pass the roadworthy test. By meeting all the requirements, you will be able to sell your vehicle at a higher price. This way, the potential buyer will be assured of the vehicle's working condition and safety. Read our another article on "How does a Roadworthy Inspection Work?"