What are the items included in a vehicle annual inspection?
4 Answers
The inspection includes: checking whether the engine, chassis, body, and their auxiliary equipment are clean, complete, and functional; whether the paint surface is uniform and aesthetically pleasing; whether major assemblies have been replaced and if they match the initial inspection records; verifying whether the vehicle's braking performance, steering control, lights, exhaust, and other safety features comply with the "Technical Conditions for Safe Operation of Motor Vehicles"; inspecting whether the vehicle has been modified, remodeled, or altered, and whether the driving license, license plate, and vehicle registration records match the actual condition of the vehicle, including any changes and whether approval and modification procedures have been completed; checking whether the license plate, driving license, and enlarged license plate markings on the vehicle are damaged, altered, or illegible, and whether they need replacement; for large vehicles, verifying whether the unit name or the name of the street, township, or town where the vehicle is registered, along with the maximum seating capacity in the driver's compartment, are printed in Chinese imitation Song font on both sides of the door as required; for trucks, checking whether the rear tailgate (including the rear tailgate of trailers) displays the vehicle number enlarged 2-3 times as required, and whether the sides of the door for individually or jointly owned vehicles are marked with the word "individual"; the markings must be clear, and unit codes or other patterns are not allowed (special cases require approval from the vehicle management office). Inspection time requirements: small and micro non-commercial passenger vehicles are exempt from inspection for the first 6 years, after which they must be inspected annually; after 15 years, inspection is required every 6 months; commercial passenger vehicles must be inspected annually within the first 5 years, and every 6 months thereafter; trucks and large and medium non-commercial passenger vehicles must be inspected annually within the first 10 years, and every 6 months thereafter; imported vehicles, like other types, can undergo periodic inspections at any testing site. Consequences of failing the inspection: vehicles that fail the annual inspection must be repaired within a specified time limit; if they still fail after the deadline, the vehicle management office will confiscate their driving license plates, prohibiting further use; vehicles that do not undergo inspection without reason or fail the inspection are not allowed on the road and cannot be transferred; vehicles that meet scrapping conditions or exceed the prescribed service life will not be inspected, and their license plates will be revoked, their records canceled, and they will be scrapped.
From the Driving Instructor's Perspective: Taking Students for Annual Inspections for Over a Decade, Here Are the Three Major Areas That Must Be Checked. The most stringent is exhaust emissions, which require testing for carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and other indicators. The safety performance section includes checking if the braking force is evenly distributed and if the handbrake passes the slope test. A beam tester is also used to check the headlight alignment—if the left or right headlight's angle deviates by more than 3%, it fails. The chassis inspection looks for oil leaks in the suspension and any play in the steering gear. The exterior check is thorough: tires with tread depth below 1.6mm must be replaced, and modified rims that don’t match the vehicle registration certificate won’t pass. Dark window tints with light transmittance below 70% must be removed on the spot. Under the new policy, vehicles only need to go on the inspection line after 6 years, but none of these checks are skipped.
Professional Driver's Experience: Truck drivers on long-haul routes need to undergo vehicle inspections twice a year. The annual inspection mainly focuses on three systems: Braking performance must produce a braking force curve—if the deviation between left and right wheels exceeds 30%, it's an immediate fail. Headlight brightness for low beams must not be below 10,000 lumens; if the lenses are too scattered due to aging, the lights must be replaced. The most troublesome part is the emissions test—for diesel vehicles, a probe is inserted into the exhaust pipe to measure the opacity of smoke, and if black smoke exceeds 0.8m⁻¹, repairs are required. Remember to bring a warning triangle and reflective vest—new regulations last year mandate that missing either results in an automatic fail. Inspection stations usually keep spare bulbs handy—if a turn signal isn’t working, spending 20 yuan on-site can get it fixed for a retest.
Young car owner's ramble: Just had the vehicle inspected last month and noticed many small details. The staff will check if the chassis number imprint matches the VIN code under the windshield. Rusty or stuck door hinges might be recorded as defects. Modified xenon lights without lenses will get you directly rejected. The most surprising part was checking the seatbelt retraction force—my passenger seatbelt got stuck when pulled out, and I had to spray WD-40 temporarily to pass. The OBD diagnostic port is now mandatory to check; if there are pending engine fault codes that can't be cleared, you’ll need to visit the dealership first. It’s recommended to focus on washing the undercarriage during car washes, as too much mud buildup can affect brake test data.
