VEHICLE INSPECTION FORM
Free vehicle inspection form — the walk-around before you touch the car
The pre-service checklist detailers, mobile mechanics and body shops fill in with the customer: exterior, wheels, interior, what works, what's in the car, every mark noted with a photo number, and who did the walk-around and when. Free in Word and PDF, with a towing vehicle condition report for pickup and drop-off.
Word and PDF · Free · No email, no sign-up
The short answer
A vehicle inspection form is the record of a car's condition at the moment you take it in: the customer and the vehicle, a walk around the outside panel by panel, the wheels, the interior, what works and what doesn't, anything left inside — every scratch, chip, dent and stain written down with a photo, and who did the walk-around and when. When the car goes back, you walk it again.
It's the piece of paper you reach for when a customer says “that scratch wasn't there when I dropped it off.” Detailers, mobile mechanics, body shops, tint and wrap shops and tow operators all use one, and the good ones never skip it, even for a regular. It takes four minutes.
It is not a state safety or emissions inspection. Those are done by licensed inspection stations against a legal checklist; this form is a record of the car's condition, for you and your customer, not a test of whether it's safe to drive. Below: the printable form, the towing vehicle condition report, which form is which, every line explained, and how the condition you write down goes onto the quote and the invoice.
FREE FORM · WORD AND PDF
The vehicle inspection form, ready to print
Fill in the customer and the car, walk around it together, check each item you looked at, and write anything that isn't right in the damage block with its photo number, then note who did the walk-around and when. Letter size, portrait, two pages. Free, no email address, no sign-up.
Form · fill in with the customer
| [Your business name] | |
| Vehicle Inspection Form | |
| As received, before service — check what you looked at; write the rest below | |
| Customer: __________________ Phone: ____________ Date / time in: __________ | |
| Vehicle (year / make / model / color): _______________________________ | |
| License plate: __________ VIN (last 8): __________ Odometer: __________ | |
| Fuel (circle): E · ¼ · ½ · ¾ · F Keys received: Y / N (how many: ___) Photos taken: ___ | |
| Exterior — walk around, front to rear | |
| ☐ | Front bumper, grille and license plate |
| ☐ | Hood, roof, sunroof and antenna |
| ☐ | Windshield — chips, cracks, wiper marks |
| ☐ | Driver side — front fender, doors and mirror |
| ☐ | Driver side — rear quarter panel |
| ☐ | Passenger side — front fender, doors and mirror |
| ☐ | Passenger side — rear quarter panel |
| ☐ | Trunk or tailgate and rear bumper |
| ☐ | Rear window and tail lights |
| ☐ | Headlights and fog lights — cloudy, cracked, moisture inside |
| ☐ | Paint — scratches, chips, swirl marks, fading, dents and dings |
| ☐ | Trim, badges, decals, wraps and any convertible top or tonneau cover |
| Wheels and tires | |
| ☐ | Rims — curb rash, scratches, missing center caps |
| ☐ | Tires — tread, sidewall damage, pressure warning |
| ☐ | Hubcaps and lug nuts all present |
| ☐ | Wheel lock key received (if there is one) |
| Interior | |
| ☐ | Driver seat — tears, stains, burns, wear |
| ☐ | Passenger and rear seats |
| ☐ | Carpets and floor mats |
| ☐ | Headliner, sun visors, dashboard, console, screen and door panels |
| ☐ | Steering wheel, shifter and pedals |
| ☐ | Trunk or cargo area and spare tire |
| ☐ | Odors — smoke, pets, mildew, fuel |
| ☐ | Child seats installed (noted, not moved) |
| Works as received — check only what you tested | |
| ☐ | Vehicle starts and runs |
| ☐ | Warning lights on the dash (note which) |
| ☐ | Windows, door locks, mirrors and seats |
| ☐ | Radio, infotainment, air conditioning and heat |
| ☐ | Wipers, washers, horn, headlights and turn signals |
| Personal items and keys | |
| ☐ | Items left in the vehicle listed below; valuables removed by the customer |
| ☐ | Glove box and console checked with the customer |
| ☐ | Garage opener, toll tag and parking pass noted |
| Damage and marks noted before service | |
| 1. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| 2. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| 3. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| Personal items left in the vehicle | |
| ________________________________________________________________________ | |
| Record | |
| Walk-around done by: ______________________ Date / time: ______________ | |
| Returned to customer — date / time: ______________ Checked by: ______________________ | |
| This form records the vehicle's condition when it was received and when it was returned. It is not a state safety, emissions or roadworthiness inspection. Keep it with the photos and the invoice. | |
| [Your business name] · [Your phone] · [Your website] | |
The Word file is a standard .docx — add your logo, remove the lines that don't apply to your work (a tint shop can drop “Works as received”), and save it as your master copy. The PDF prints as-is. Print at “Actual size”, not “Fit to page”.
TOWING VEHICLE CONDITION REPORT
The vehicle condition report for a tow — pickup and drop-off
The same walk-around, written for a tow truck: pickup and drop-off locations, the reason for the tow, how the car was loaded, whether the owner was there, damage already on the car before it went on the truck, anything new at drop-off, and a line for the driver and for whoever received the car.
Report · pickup and drop-off
| [Your business name] | |
| Vehicle Condition Report | |
| Before the tow and at drop-off — check what you looked at; write the rest below | |
| Customer / owner: ________________ Phone: ____________ Call or job #: ______ | |
| Vehicle (year / make / model / color): ____________ Plate: _______ VIN (last 8): _______ | |
| Pickup location: ____________________ Date / time: __________ Odometer: ________ | |
| Drop-off location: __________________ Date / time: __________ Miles towed: ______ | |
| Reason for tow (circle): accident · breakdown · no start · lockout · impound · transport | |
| Drivable before the tow: Y / N Loaded with (circle): flatbed · wheel-lift · dollies | |
| Keys received: Y / N (how many: ___) Fuel (circle): E · ¼ · ½ · ¾ · F Owner present at pickup: Y / N | |
| Exterior at pickup — walk around with the owner if present | |
| ☐ | Front bumper, grille, hood, windshield and headlights |
| ☐ | Roof, sunroof and antenna |
| ☐ | Driver side — fender, doors, mirror and quarter panel |
| ☐ | Passenger side — fender, doors, mirror and quarter panel |
| ☐ | Trunk or tailgate, rear bumper, tail lights and rear window |
| ☐ | Paint — scratches, chips, prior repairs |
| ☐ | Dents, dings and collision damage (note which panels) |
| ☐ | Underside and spoiler — low clearance noted |
| ☐ | Trim, decals, wraps and aftermarket parts — lift kit, lowered suspension, body kit |
| Wheels, tires and controls | |
| ☐ | Rims and tires — curb rash, bent, flat or damaged (note which) |
| ☐ | Wheel lock key received if there is one, hubcaps and lug nuts all present |
| ☐ | Transmission in neutral or park, parking brake released for loading |
| ☐ | Steering unlocked (note if the wheel is locked or the key is missing) |
| Interior and contents | |
| ☐ | Seats, dashboard and electronics — tears, stains, deployed airbags |
| ☐ | Windows closed and doors locked for the tow |
| ☐ | Personal items listed below; glove box and console checked with the owner |
| ☐ | Loose items secured — child seat, tools, cargo |
| ☐ | Fuel level and odometer recorded above |
| Hook-up and loading | |
| ☐ | Tie-down points clear of body panels, bumpers and spoilers |
| ☐ | Fluids leaking at pickup (note what and where) |
| ☐ | Broken glass or loose parts collected and placed in the vehicle |
| ☐ | Photos taken from all four corners before loading, and of every mark listed below |
| At drop-off | |
| ☐ | Walk-around repeated with the person receiving the vehicle; new damage: none, or listed below |
| ☐ | Keys handed over (to whom — noted below), vehicle left locked, personal items inside |
| ☐ | Photos taken from all four corners after unloading |
| Damage present at pickup | |
| 1. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| 2. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| 3. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| New damage at drop-off, if any | |
| 1. Where: ______________ What: __________________________ Photo #: ______ | |
| Personal items in the vehicle | |
| ________________________________________________________________________ | |
| Record | |
| Driver: ______________________ Truck #: ________ Date / time: ______________ | |
| Received at drop-off by: ________________ (owner / shop / yard) Date / time: ______________ | |
| A condition report records what the vehicle looked like before and after the tow. It is not a state safety or emissions inspection. Keep the copy and the photos with the job record. | |
| [Your business name] · [Your phone] · [Your website] | |
Keep a pad of these in every truck. When the owner isn't there — a breakdown left overnight, a private-property tow — the four-corner photos before loading are the record of how the car arrived.
Build the website
Start your car detailing website now
Add your business name and your town to the sentence, and Zarla builds the site, with a page for each service and town you list. You edit it in chat and publish when you're ready.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.
WHICH FORM IS WHICH
Vehicle inspection forms, side by side
“Vehicle inspection” means five different pieces of paper. Two of them are on this page; here is what the other three are, so you hand the customer the right one.
| Form | Who fills it in | What it's for | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-service vehicle inspection form | A detailer, mechanic or body shop, with the customer | The car's condition before and after your work — the marks you didn't make | This page, free |
| Towing vehicle condition report | The tow driver at pickup and again at drop-off | The car's condition before it went on the truck and when it came off | This page, free |
| State safety or emissions inspection | A licensed inspection station or technician | Whether the car meets the legal standard to be on the road — in the US, where your state requires one; other countries run their own tests | The state's inspection program (in the US) or the national test elsewhere — never a shop's own form; check your local rules |
| Pre-purchase inspection | An independent mechanic, for a buyer | The car's mechanical condition before a sale — brakes, engine, frame, leaks | The mechanic's own multi-point sheet |
| Pre-trip or fleet inspection | The driver, every shift | Safety items on a commercial vehicle — brakes, lights, tires, coupling | The fleet's own form (in the US, the driver vehicle inspection report) |
STEP BY STEP
How to fill in a vehicle inspection form with the customer
Four minutes at drop-off, two at pickup — and the same sheet for every car.
Print one per car
Keep a pad on a clipboard with a pen that writes on glossy paper. Fill in the customer, the vehicle, the plate and the odometer before you walk around.
Walk around it together
Front bumper, around the driver side, the back, up the passenger side. Point at every mark as you write it, and check each item you actually looked at.
Photograph what you mark
One photo per mark, close enough to see it, plus the four corners of the car. Write the photo number next to the line — the time stamp on the photo does the rest.
Inside, with the owner watching
Seats, carpets, dash, the smell, and what's in the car. Ask them to take valuables, the garage opener and the toll tag before you take the keys.
Note who and when
Your name and the time in at the bottom of the sheet. For a tow, the driver and the truck at pickup, and who received the car at drop-off.
Walk it again at pickup
Same sheet, same order, with the customer. Note the time out, hand over the invoice, and file the form with it.
Every line on the form, explained
The header says which car and when. Plate, the last eight of the VIN and the odometer make the form impossible to confuse with another silver SUV; the date and time in put it before your work started. Fuel level and the keys matter more than they look — “a quarter tank is missing” and “where's my second key?” are the two complaints a detailer gets after a scratch.
The exterior walk goes in one direction for a reason. Front, driver side, rear, passenger side, the same way every time, so nothing is skipped and the customer can follow you. Headlights get their own line because cloudy lenses are the add-on most customers assume you caused; swirl marks because a car that arrives swirled and leaves polished is where the “you scratched it” conversation starts.
Wheels are where curb rash lives. It's the most common pre-existing damage on any car and the one customers least remember doing. Note the wheel lock key: a missing key means you can't remove a wheel if a job needs it.
Interior lines record wear, not dirt. You're there to remove the dirt — write down tears, burns and stains that may not fully come out, and say so before you start. Odors get a line because smoke and mildew don't always leave, and the customer should hear that at drop-off, not pickup.
“Works as received” says check only what you tested. If you didn't start the car, leave the line blank. A line marked that you never tested is worse than no line. Warning lights are the exception: note every one that's on, because “the check engine light came on after you had it” is a real complaint.
Personal items and keys get their own lines. List what's in the car, ask the customer to take valuables, and count the keys. Child seats stay installed and noted — moving one is not your job.
The damage block is the form. Everything above is a prompt; this is the record: where, what, and the number of the photo that shows it. Three lines is usually enough; a car with more marks gets a second sheet.
The record block says who and when. Who did the walk-around and the time the car came in; who checked it and the time it went back. File the sheet with the photos and the invoice, and the whole job is on paper.
What a vehicle inspection form is not — and when a customer needs the other kind
This form records condition; it tests nothing. In the US, whether a car has to pass a periodic safety inspection, an emissions test or neither depends on the state — some require a yearly safety inspection, some only emissions testing in certain counties, and some require nothing at all — and the test is done by a licensed inspection station, on the state's own checklist, with the result recorded by the state. In the UK the equivalent is the annual MOT test; in Australia each state runs its own roadworthy or safety certificate, mostly when a car is sold or re-registered. New South Wales is the exception: most light vehicles more than five years old need a safety check every year before the registration is renewed. A detailer's or tow operator's walk-around form is none of these, and the form says so on the sheet.
If a customer asks you for “an inspection” for registration, a sale or an insurance claim, send them to a licensed inspection station or a mechanic. Inspection rules differ by state and country, so check your local rules before you tell a customer what their car needs.
From the walk-around to the quote and the invoice
The form is the first page of the job's paperwork. What you write in the damage block is what goes on the quote as a condition note — “light swirl marks, chip on hood, pet hair in the cargo area” — and on the invoice's condition line when the job is done, so the customer sees the same words three times.
If you build your detailing website with Zarla, add your business name and your town to the sentence above, and Zarla builds the site, with a page for each service and town you list. Zarla sends a quote as one link: your customer picks an option, ticks any extras and accepts it online, and Zarla drafts the invoice for exactly what they chose, with any deposit you asked for — and the invoice goes out from the same dashboard. Customers can add up to five photos of the car to your quote request form, so you can often price the job from the photos before the walk-around confirms it. Your packages and what each one includes go on the site in a section you can edit any time.
Want to see a finished site first? Browse car detailing website templates, see how Zarla builds car detailing websites, or look at car detailing website designs and what agencies charge for them. Towing? See how Zarla builds towing websites and the towing website templates.
The rest of the paperwork
The walk-around is step one. Step two, for a detailer, is the car detailing checklist — what the package includes, in the order the work is done, free in Word and PDF like this form.
Pricing or billing the job? How to start a car detailing business covers the first steps; car detailing pricing has the 2026 rates and a calculator; the car detailing invoice template has a condition line ready for what you wrote on the form, and how to write a quote and how to write an invoice walk through both. Towing? How to start a towing business covers the truck, the insurance and the permits. Towing rates has the hook-up and per-mile prices.
Vehicle inspection forms: common questions
Yes. The vehicle inspection form and the towing vehicle condition report on this page download free as a Word document and a PDF, with no email address and no sign-up. Edit the Word file to match your own work, or print the PDF and fill it in by hand.
The customer and the vehicle (year, make, model, color, plate, the last digits of the VIN, odometer, fuel level, keys received); a walk around the exterior panel by panel; the wheels and tires; the interior; what works, if you tested it; personal items left in the car; a block to write each mark with its photo number; and who did the walk-around, with the time in and the time out.
No. In the US, a state safety or emissions inspection is a legal test done by a licensed inspection station on the state's own checklist, where your state requires one; the UK's MOT test and Australia's roadworthy certificates are the same idea. This form records the condition of the car for you and your customer; it isn't a test of whether the car is safe to drive, and it says so on the sheet. If a customer needs an inspection for registration or a sale, send them to a licensed station, and check your local rules for what they need.
Because a detail makes every mark visible. A customer who never noticed the chip on the hood will see it on a freshly polished car, and without a record nobody can say when the chip appeared. The walk-around and the photos put the chip on the record before you started.
Ideally, yes: walk around the car together and point at each mark as you write it, so there's no surprise at pickup. If the owner isn't there, as happens with tows and key drops, the four-corner photos and close-ups of every mark, time-stamped by your phone, are the record of how the car arrived.
A tow has two moments that matter — pickup and drop-off — and often no owner present at either. The report adds the pickup and drop-off locations, the reason for the tow, how the car was loaded, whether it was drivable, a second damage block for anything new at drop-off, and a line for the driver and for whoever received the vehicle.
Always. One photo per mark you write down, close enough to see it, plus the four corners of the car — before you start and again when you're done. Write the photo number next to each line on the form. The form says what you found; the photos show it.
Yes — that's what the Word file is for. Add your logo and phone number, delete the lines that don't apply to your work, add the ones that do, and save it as your master copy. The PDF is the same form for printing as-is.
Onto the quote as a condition note and onto the invoice's condition line, in the same words. The car detailing invoice template on this site has that line built in; if you send the quote and the invoice from Zarla, put the same words on both.
Turn the walk-around into the quote, and the quote into the website that books the next car
Add your business name and your town, and Zarla builds the site from that one line — with a page for each service you list and a quote form that takes photos of the car, ready to edit in chat.
Already have a website? Bring it across →Zarla keeps your old page addresses where it can and redirects the ones that change, helping you keep the Google standing you've built.