Car inspection: what triggers the dreaded "red sheet" and how re-inspection works

For many drivers, it is one of those motoring “nightmares”. Your car goes in for its annual inspection and, instead of the examiner reaching for a green sheet, a red one is printed - meaning the vehicle has failed.

That is effectively the “verdict”. Within 30 days, you must not only fix the faults listed, but also return to the inspection centre for a re-inspection costing €7.90, intended solely to confirm the recorded issues have been put right (only those items are checked again).

So what, exactly, can lead your car to receive the much-feared “red sheet”? Below, we set out the reasons.

Why cars fail the inspection

A car can fail an inspection in three different ways:

• When more than five minor defects are recorded;
• When one or more serious or very serious defects are identified;
• When defects noted at the previous inspection (and listed on the Inspection Report) have not been corrected.

The different types of defects

Starting with minor defects (or “Grade 1”), these are issues that do not significantly compromise the vehicle’s safe use. Because of that, the car may still pass even if up to four of these are recorded on the inspection report.

Be aware, however, that if the car returns the following year with those “Grade 1” defects still unresolved, they will be reclassified as “Grade 2”. The same applies in the case of a re-inspection.

To avoid this kind of situation, you can book a voluntary re-inspection within 30 days even when the car has passed, but not with a “clean report”. If the minor defects have been fixed, the vehicle can then be issued with a report showing no notes.

Serious defects (“Grade 2”) are faults that affect the conditions of use or safety. In addition, any issues that cast doubt on the vehicle’s identification are also treated as “Grade 2”.

If the serious defects involve the steering, suspension, or braking systems, the car may still be driven to the re-inspection - but without passengers or any load. Where the problems relate to vehicle identification, the driver must go to the IMT to have the situation rectified.

Finally, very serious defects (“Grade 3”) require the vehicle to be taken off the road. In this case, it may only be driven to the place of repair and then from there to the inspection centre for a fresh assessment.

I missed the deadline - what now?

As noted above, once a car fails the inspection, the driver has 30 days to address the defects identified.

If the vehicle is presented for re-inspection and fails again because it is still not in a satisfactory condition, the deadline is reduced to just 15 days. If the re-inspection deadline is missed altogether, the car must undergo a full inspection again.

There is one further rule for re-inspections: they must be carried out at the same inspection centre where the car failed. If the driver chooses a different centre, the vehicle will be put through a new full inspection rather than having only the recorded defects checked.

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