Free Vehicle Health Check Template

Add the customer, the registration, make and model, mileage and date. Each area starts as a pass: tyres and wheels, brakes, lights, wipers and washers, fluids under the bonnet, steering and suspension, exhaust and leaks, and road test notes. Change any area to advisory or fail and add a note.

Anything that needs attention before the car is driven goes in the urgent fault box, which prints in red at the top of the report. The PDF has space for customer and technician signatures.

Customers read the colour before the notes, so grade consistently. Decide your thresholds once and use them on every car.

The Highway Code sets the minimum tread depth for cars at 1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tread, around the whole circumference of the tyre. In an MOT, tread below that is a dangerous defect.

Many garages advise customers before tyres reach the limit. Choose an advisory threshold, for example 3mm, and record the depth in millimetres for each tyre so the customer can see the trend between visits.

A health check is only useful if the customer understands it. Write notes in plain words, say what happens if the item is left and, where you can, show a photo.

If a customer declines recommended work, note it on the report and ask them to sign. It gives them a record to plan the cost and gives you a record that you told them.