What the platforms require
Both platforms ask for a completed inspection form before your car is approved, and the form is good for twelve months. After that you need a new one.
The form is a checklist. Each item is marked pass or fail by the mechanic who did the inspection, and every item has to pass. There is no partial pass.
Bring the form for your platform, printed or on your phone. They are similar, but not identical, and the platform wants its own version signed.
What is on the checklist
Brakes: pads, rotors and the parking brake. Tires: tread depth and condition on all four, plus the spare if the car has one. Lights: headlights, brake lights, tail lights, turn signals and hazards.
Steering and suspension, seat belts front and rear, the horn, the windshield and wipers, mirrors, windows, doors that open from inside and out, and the speedometer. The exhaust has to be intact and the car has to have no warning lights that point to a safety system.
The list runs about nineteen points, and most of them are things you can check yourself in the driveway before you come in.
How to pass on the first visit
Walk around the car with a friend and test every light, including the brake lights and the rear turn signals. Burned out bulbs are the most common fail and the cheapest fix.
Press a coin into the tire tread. If the tread is close to the wear bars, replace the tires before the inspection, not after. Replace wiper blades that streak. Make sure every seat belt latches and retracts.
If a warning light is on, get it diagnosed first. A check engine light for an emissions code may not fail the form, but an ABS or airbag light will.
If something fails
The form does not get signed until every point passes. If a point fails, we write the price for the fix, you decide, and we recheck when it is done. Tax is on parts only and you pick the warranty length.
Most fails are small: a bulb, a wiper, a tire. If the fail is a brake job, you can leave the car and we send the written estimate to your phone before any work starts.
What to bring
The inspection form for your platform. The car, clean enough to inspect inside and out. Your registration, because the form asks for the plate and VIN.
The inspection itself takes a short visit, so most drivers wait for it. If you are between rides, tell us when you book and we fit it in.
Keeping a rideshare car healthy between inspections
A rideshare car does the miles of three normal cars. Oil changes come sooner, brakes wear faster, the AC runs all day and the tires need rotating more often.
Set a routine: oil and a look over the car on a fixed mileage, tires rotated with every other oil change, brakes measured each visit. It keeps the car earning and keeps the next inspection boring.
Note that this inspection is different from a DOT inspection, which applies to commercial vehicles above a certain weight. We do both, but they are separate forms.