Warrant of Fitness

A warrant of fitness is an important vehicle maintenance procedure taken every six months for every registered use road vehicle.  It is an inspection to make sure that the vehicles we drive are safe to use.  It is basically a check list of things to check in a vehicle.  It is a 'non-intrusive' inspection which means that nothing should be removed from the vehicle during the inspection eg.  wheels, lights, etc.

Usually a mechanic will do a full inspection then tick off the check list.  They will then tell the customer if there is anything to be noted or failed.  It is then up to the customer to make sure that these things are fixed and met up to standards.  VTNZ has issued a check list for the public to use as a basic check list to make sure that their vehicles are up to standard when taking a WOF inspection.  This check list is very basic but is very useful for the every day driver.  

Reference: http://www.vtnz.co.nz/warrant-of-fitness

Notice how they say at the bottom "After your vehicle passes it's Warrant of Fitness check, it becomes your responsibility to keep it in the condition that it was in when it passed the inspection".  Many people like to be sneaky and change wheels that have bald tyres with the wheels on their mum's car to pass inspections.  This may sound smart, but it is at their own risk when driving in rain with bald tyres.  This means that if the driver is involved in an accident that was caused by bald tyres, although they have the right to go back to the mechanic who passed the inspection, it is in their obligation that they are responsible of making sure that the vehicle is within the same condition of the inspection pass.

Although this check list may seem very basic, an inspection by the mechanic will feature much more.  The mechanic will check the under chassis that there are no dodgy looking things under there, including missing bolts, loose parts like sway bars and sway bar links, etc.  These are all very important when talking vehicle safety.  My cousin in Asia was driving on the motorway when suddenly the car nose dived, having to find out that his steering rack broke, and the front wheels completely toed in.  This is a very dangerous (and typical south-east Asia) for a vehicle to happen, as for example, can cause a pile up on the motorway.

"Check in... drive on" - Yeah right.