Terms and conditions

1. Scope & variations

The work we carry out is limited to the items listed in your quote. We will not perform “catch-all” work or undefined additional jobs. If, during the work, we identify additional items requiring attention, we will:

• stop work on the additional item;
• contact you with a description and price;
• wait for your written approval (SMS or email) before proceeding.

You will not be charged for any additional work you have not authorised.

2. Fixed quote vs estimate

Fixed quote: the total in your quote is the price you will pay, provided no variations are authorised. We bear the risk of underestimating parts or time.

Estimate: the total is our best assessment but the final price may vary. We will not exceed the estimate by more than 10% without contacting you first for written authorisation.

3. Categories A & B

Where the work is linked to a safety inspection, each item in your quote is marked A or B. A (rectification) is work required for the vehicle to pass. You are always free to have it done by any licensed repairer and re-present the vehicle. B (advisory) is a recommendation only and does not affect your inspection result. No inspection outcome is ever conditional on you accepting any work from us.

4. Parts

We use the parts category you choose when you approve the work. Where a part is unavailable in the category you chose, we will contact you before substituting.

Replaced parts: we will return them, dispose of them, or hold them for collection, whichever you ask for. Parts not collected within 7 days may be disposed of at our discretion.

5. Workmanship guarantee

We guarantee our workmanship for 3 months or 5,000 km, whichever comes first. Parts are covered by the manufacturer’s warranty terms. This guarantee is in addition to your rights under the Australian Consumer Law, and does not limit them.

6. Cancellation & payment

If you cancel after parts have been ordered or work has begun: parts ordered (less any restocking credit we can recover) and labour incurred to that point are payable. You can pay the displayed total online when submitting your request, or pay on completion of the work. Any additional work requires your written approval and is paid at the visit. We accept card, EFT, and approved account terms for commercial customers.

The inspection fee is payable whether your car passes or fails: you’re paying for the inspection, not the result. If it fails, a second inspection within 14 days has no inspection fee (see section 11).

7. Inspection independence

Where the work is connected to an AIS safety inspection (pink slip, eSafety check or blue slip): the inspection outcome is determined solely against the relevant TfNSW standards. No repair quote, including ours, is a condition of the inspection result. You are free to obtain any required repair work from any licensed repairer of your choice.

The inspection rules also forbid us from leading you to believe your car needs paid repairs to pass when it doesn’t. Transport for NSW can refer any case of that to NSW Fair Trading.

8. The rules every inspection follows

Pink slips are done under the Authorised Inspection Scheme, which Transport for NSW runs. Every inspection we do, whether at our warehouse in Auburn or at your home or work, follows its Business Rules for Authorised Proprietors and Authorised Examiners (opens in a new tab) and the Light Vehicle Safety Check Standards (opens in a new tab). Mobile inspections also follow the Supplementary Business Rules for Mobile Safety Check (Pink Slip) Inspections (opens in a new tab). If these terms and those rules ever differ, the rules apply.

The rules allow a mobile inspection only for renewing registration. It can’t be used to register a vehicle from scratch, and it can’t include a design check or the further identity checks an inspection station does. It isn’t available for tow trucks, buses or mobile cranes, or for any vehicle, trailer or caravan over 4.5 tonnes.

Only an examiner whose Transport for NSW authority carries a mobile endorsement can do a mobile inspection. Transport for NSW’s approval document is kept in the inspection vehicle, and you can ask the technician to show it to you. Mobile inspections are done only in NSW, within 75 km of the inspection station the technician works from.

9. Where and when we can inspect

On a mobile inspection, before starting, the technician checks that the spot is safe and suitable. The rules require:

• daylight, from half an hour before sunrise to half an hour after sunset;
• a sealed, hard, level surface such as concrete or asphalt, with room to open the bonnet, boot and doors fully;
• a spot away from pedestrian crossings and places with a lot of foot traffic, such as a shopping strip, shopping centre or busy business premises;
• somewhere the inspection won’t break a parking restriction or other road rule.

If there’s no suitable spot, we can’t inspect the car there, and the rules require us to refer you to an inspection station. Tell us when you book if the car is parked on grass or gravel, on a slope, or somewhere tight.

A first inspection includes a brake test whenever it’s safe to do one, so the technician will drive your car on a suitable road with a GPS brake test device, away from schools, pedestrian crossings, busy areas and heavy traffic. A car can’t pass without passing the brake test. If a car is so unsafe that the brake test itself would be dangerous, the technician fails it without one.

At the start, the technician reads the VIN or chassis number from the car itself and checks it against Transport for NSW’s records. We won’t ask for your registration papers, because the rules say the details must come from the car. If the number can’t be read or doesn’t match, we can’t finish a mobile inspection, and the car will need a further identity check at an inspection station.

The rules also require the technician to photograph the car where it’s inspected, with the number plate showing, along with the odometer reading and the brake test result. The photos are taken in Transport for NSW’s R-Safety app and form part of the inspection record. We use them, and your details, only for the inspection. Transport for NSW can ask to see these records when it audits us.

10. How an inspection can fail

The technician checks the car against the Light Vehicle Safety Check Standards and the manufacturer’s tolerances, wear limits and specifications. The standards cover brakes, steering and suspension, wheels and tyres, body condition, lighting, the engine and driveline, fuel systems and towing attachments. If anything doesn’t meet them, the car fails. Common reasons include:

• tyres with less than 1.5 mm of tread, or with cuts, bulges or exposed cords;
• a light that doesn’t work, or white light showing to the rear;
• a cracked windscreen in front of the driver, or wiper blades that are cracked, curled, frayed or torn;
• a brake pedal with less than 20% of its travel left when pressed firmly, or one that sinks towards the floor under steady pressure for 10 seconds;
• ABS, brake or airbag warning lights that stay on, or don’t light up when they should;
• seatbelts that don’t lock;
• oil leaking onto the road, the exhaust or the brakes, or a leaking exhaust;
• advanced rust in the car’s structure;
• a faulty horn, or mirrors, number plates or window tint that don’t meet the standards.

That list isn’t complete. The technician must also fail a car that’s unsafe in a way the standards don’t specifically cover. Advice we give before the visit, including from photos you send us, can’t guarantee a pass.

If the car is unsafe to drive: when the technician finds a car dangerously defective, the rules require them to fail it as “failed dangerous” and tell you it isn’t safe to use. It must not be driven or ridden until it’s repaired, and a trailer or caravan has to be moved on a float rather than towed. If that advice is ignored, the technician must contact the police.

11. If your car fails

The inspection report sets out why the car failed. You then have 14 days to have it repaired and inspected again:

• the second inspection has to be done by the same inspection station, which means us, though not necessarily by the same technician;
• within the 14 days, the second inspection itself has no inspection fee;
• after 14 days, the failed report is cancelled and the car needs a fresh first inspection, charged as a new one;
• if you take the car to a different inspection station instead, it will be a first inspection there;
• at the second inspection, the technician checks it’s the same car. If it isn’t, the inspection stops and we must tell Transport for NSW.

Coming back out to your car is a second visit, and it may carry a charge. We’ll tell you what it is, and you’ll agree to it, before we come back. The repairs can be done by any licensed repairer you choose (see clause 7).

12. When your car passes

We lodge the result with Transport for NSW electronically and send you a copy of the inspection report by email or text message. The report is valid for six months for renewing registration. Passing doesn’t renew the registration itself: you still renew it through Service NSW, with your CTP green slip. Once a report has been submitted, the rules don’t allow it to be changed.

Australian Consumer Law

Our goods and services come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. For major failures, you are entitled to a refund or replacement and to compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have goods or services repaired or replaced if they fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.