Your car failed its safety certificate. What now?
If your vehicle fails, the examiner must give you an inspection report listing exactly what is defective. You then have 14 days — starting the day after the report is issued — to have those faults repaired and return the vehicle for re-inspection. A re-inspection inside that window only covers the items listed on the report. After 14 days, a completely new inspection is required.
A fail is not a disaster, but the clock that starts running is worth understanding — because the expensive mistake is missing it.
You get a written report
The examiner must issue an inspection report stating how the vehicle is defective, and give you a copy. That report is the list. It is not a suggestion of things that might be worth doing — it is specifically what stopped the car passing.
Who re-inspects it
The re-inspection must be done by the same examiner who issued the report, or — if they are away — another accredited examiner at the same inspection station. Once the vehicle passes, the certificate must be issued immediately.
If the station cannot fit you in inside the 14 days, it must either arrange another approved inspection station to do it at no further cost to you, or refund what you paid.
Miss the 14 days and you start again
After 14 days, a completely new inspection is required at full price. This is the part that costs people money, and it is almost always because the repairs took longer to organise than expected — a tyre shop could not fit them in, or a mechanic was booked out a fortnight.
Why where you get it inspected matters
Plenty of places in Queensland only inspect. They hand you the report and refer you elsewhere for the work. That means finding a workshop, waiting for an appointment, then coming back — three businesses inside a 14-day window.
A workshop that inspects, repairs and fits tyres in the same building removes two of those steps. The most common fail items — tread depth, worn brakes, blown globes, steering and suspension wear — are all things that can be quoted and fixed on the spot.
The common fail items
- Tyres below the 1.5mm legal tread limit, or with sidewall damage
- Worn brake pads or discs
- Blown globes and failed lights, including headlight aim
- Play or wear in steering and suspension components
- A cracked windscreen in the driver's line of sight — this one needs a glass specialist
- Seatbelts that do not retract properly
A Grade Tyre & Auto handles this at the workshop on Lawrence Drive, Nerang.
General information only, current as at 11 September 2026. Requirements change and individual circumstances differ — for anything that turns on your specific situation, check with Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads on 13 23 80 or at qld.gov.au.