Written byIn this blog, we will discuss the importance of a car inspection, different scenarios in which car inspections are important, what kind of car inspections can be done, and briefly tap into how you can conduct a car inspection yourself.
Let’s dive in.
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Introduction
The need for a car inspection can arise due to many reasons.
While many car owners may have a fundamental understanding of how to go about assessing the car’s condition, they may be unaware of how to conduct a thorough inspection.
Let’s understand why car inspections are needed, how you can inspect a car and what factors do experts look for while conducting car inspections.
Why are car inspections needed?
Car inspections are an important process to ensure the road safety of a vehicle. They provide a clear picture of your vehicle’s condition and help assess any repair/replacement work needed for its better functioning.
While most car inspections are done by an expert at a body shop or by an insurance company, the need for one can extend to various scenarios like
- When renting a car to maintain an accurate record of the vehicle’s condition to prove or disprove any damage claims that might arise later. There have been scenarios where car renters have complained about being falsely charged for damages they didn’t cause, and end up having to pay the price because they didn’t have a record of the before vs. after conditions of the vehicle.
- After an accident to evaluate the extent of damage and decide whether to take it to the garage based on the assessment. Vehicle damage may often appear external (or merely cosmetic) but actually have internal issues that you cannot spot by just a visual check. In this case, vehicle inspections are highly recommended.
- While buying a used car for due diligence to ensure that the car is functioning properly so that you don’t face any trouble with the vehicle in the future. Inspecting a car before-hand also helps you get a better deal if there are existing damages/other issues identified during the inspection process.
How can you inspect a car?
Inspecting a car involves checking various factors, such as the engine, windshield, panels, brakes, and other elements that ensure the car’s in a good condition. There are two approaches to conducting these vehicle inspections – manual inspections and digital vehicle inspections.
- Manual inspections require you to physically inspect the vehicle and take notes based on the issues you identified. While this is the traditional method of inspections, it is pretty complex, tiring, and takes a lot of time, causing a lot of hassle to the inspector as well as the car owner.
- Manual inspections are unreliable in a lot of cases and prone to fraud and human error (even with an expert involved in the process)
- You require more resources (like specialized expertise, equipment etc) to conduct a thorough inspection.
- Digital Vehicle Inspections are a better option for a lot of reasons. This method uses a fully digitized process making it more efficient and reliable. This is slowly becoming a norm for various industries because
- They are pretty straightforward and make inspections easier
- They require lesser time, effort, and resources for a detailed inspection
- AI makes these inspections more accurate and less prone to errors during reporting.
How to conduct a digital vehicle inspection?
A lot of companies are already building AI-powered digital tools to ease vehicle inspections.
For example, Inspektlabs allows you to either use a fixed camera setup or your smartphone camera to run 360° scans on your vehicle, which is then analysed using their proprietary AI, and you get a detailed report of your vehicle’s condition within a few seconds with recommendations on whether you should repair or replace the damaged parts.
Additionally, they also have inbuilt fraud detection measures ensuring a more thorough vehicle condition report.
Digital inspections enable anyone to inspect vehicles, remove the liability of human errors, while significantly improving accuracy and cutting down on time.
Conclusion
Car inspections are an essential part of owning or driving a vehicle and the need for an inspection can arise in various situations.
While Manual inspections are traditionally the norm, the industry is slowly moving towards digital vehicle inspections that are more reliable and easier to conduct.
Additionally, digital inspections also allow anyone to become an expert in vehicle inspections ensuring that there are lesser chances of errors and fraud in the process.
