Jane from Moonee Ponds was selling her Holden Astra which was 4 years old so she came to us requesting that we do a roadworthy inspection on the car. After checking the car against the set criteria from Vicroads for a roadworthy, we found that its windscreen failed the criteria as it had a crack going across the driver’s line of sight and so needed to be replaced. We were able to organise a replacement windscreen that day and then we were able to issue a roadworthy certificate.
Another client, Liam from Footscray, was looking at buying a 10 year old Ford Falcon and needed a pre-purchase inspection to ensure that the car had no major faults that would result in extra costs later on. We performed a pre-purchase inspection and found that the car had been used to tow a boat and had been in salt water. This was only evident by putting the car up on the hoist as all the external panels looked free of rust. However, underneath the car there was rust in the rear floor section and chassis. We advised Liam that he would be up for an expensive repair if he bought the car. He didn’t buy the car so the small cost of a pre-purchase inspection saved Liam a lot of money.
A customer from Coburg had just bought a 7 year Holden Commodore without a roadworthy certificate and needed us to perform a roadworthy inspection. A roadworthy inspection is different to a car service inspection as it is mainly based on safety criteria instead of maintenance criteria. After checking the Commodore against the set criteria from Vicroads, we discovered that the car had several problems that needed to be resolved before a RWC could be issued. Firstly, the front brake discs were below the minimum standard of thickness and required to be replaced. Secondly, there was significant wear in the steering rack which would cause the car to steer badly and wear tyres out quickly. The customer was advised of the defects and decided to get us to fix them. We were able to achieve these for a reasonable price and do the second roadworthy inspection which the vehicle passed. So a RWC was issued.
Helena from Pascoe Vale brought her Toyota Yaris in for a Roadworthy certificate because her Vicroads vehicle registration had lapsed and she wanted to re-register it. After checking the vehicle against the set criteria from Vicroads, our car mechanic discovered that the car needed some attention. It had one brake light which didn’t work and two front tyres that were worn on the edges. We replaced the globe in the brake light and we replaced the worn tyres and performed a wheel alignment. We then issued the RWC so she was able to re-register her car.
Joe from Northcote had bought a Jeep from someone with a roadworthy certificate issued by a different mechanic. Joe brought the car into us for a car service as we had always serviced his previous car. When completing the car service, our car mechanic found that a steering tyre rod end had movement and there was excessive movement in the tailshaft universal joints. The car also had the wrong size tyres fitted on it according the manufacturers’ specifications. The customer was advised to return the car to the previous mechanic who had issued the RWC, as soon as possible as a Roadworthy certificate is only valid for 30 days. The mechanic who issued the roadworthy certificate was at fault because he failed to discover these problems so he is required by law to rectify the defects at his own cost.
