Can a car with peeling paint pass vehicle inspection?
During traffic, many vehicles are involved in collisions, resulting in dents and scratches to the bodywork, requiring repainting before vehicle inspection. If the owner does not repaint the vehicle, will it be refused inspection?
According to Mr. Dang Nguyen Khang (Pho Yen City, Thai Nguyen Province), his car's inspection deadline is just a few days away, but due to carelessness, he has scratched a long mark and dented the right side door of his car. Mr. Khang is worried about whether his car will fail the inspection.
According to Circular 08/2023 amending and supplementing Circular 16/2021 regulating the technical safety and environmental protection inspection of road motor vehicles, bodywork that is cracked, broken, punctured, rusted, torn, deformed, or has peeling paint is classified as a significant defect or damage (MaD).
MaD errors are defects or malfunctions that can compromise technical safety or cause environmental pollution when the vehicle is in traffic; therefore, the car will fail this inspection category and will not be issued a vehicle registration certificate or inspection sticker. The vehicle owner must rectify the defects and repair them to re-register the vehicle.
However, in reality, many vehicle inspection centers are flexible in their inspection processes; they consider and evaluate each vehicle individually to find solutions that both ensure the vehicle's technical safety and provide convenience for the public.
If the vehicle only has minor scratches or dents on the bodywork, and the inspector assesses that these do not affect the vehicle's technical safety, then it will still pass this inspection item. When the remaining items are also passed, the car will be issued a certificate and inspection sticker.
Mr. Do Dac Huy, Director of the 2003D Motor Vehicle Inspection Center in Thai Nguyen, stated that vehicles with minor scratches, without significant peeling or dents, can still be inspected.
According to Mr. Huy, if the paint peels or scratches do not affect the safety and environmental quality of the vehicle, it is still allowed to pass the inspection. “However, to ensure the aesthetics and durability of the vehicle's paint, the owner should repaint it as soon as possible. The inspection only checks that the vehicle's paint color matches the registered color,” Mr. Huy explained.