Check-in process

The vehicle walkaround checklist: 10 angles every service advisor should shoot

By The CheckAuto team · · 6 min read

Illustration for “The vehicle walkaround checklist: 10 angles every service advisor should shoot”: a car seen from above, circled by ten photo points, on a green background

Ask five service advisors how they do a walkaround and you will get five different answers. One photographs every panel, another only shoots visible damage, a third takes a couple of wide shots "for the file". None of them is wrong, exactly. The problem shows up weeks later, when a customer disputes a mark and nobody can find a photo of that part of the car.

The fix is not more effort. It is a fixed sequence that everybody follows on every vehicle. Below is a ten-shot routine that covers the whole car, is quick to run through, and gives you job records that all look the same.

Why the order matters more than the camera

A set sequence does three jobs for you:

  • It stops gaps. Nobody has to remember whether they did the nearside. The routine carries them round the car.
  • It makes records quick to read. If shot 7 is always the nearside, you can jump straight to it when a customer queries a door.
  • It survives staff changes. A new advisor, a temp or someone covering lunch does exactly the same walkaround on day one.

Pick a direction and stick to it. The example below assumes a right-hand-drive car, where the offside is the driver's side: it starts at the front, works down the offside first, then round the rear and back up the nearside. On a left-hand-drive vehicle, simply keep the same order of shots.

The 10 shots

1. Front, full width

Step back far enough to get the whole bumper, grille, both headlights and a readable number plate. This is the shot that identifies the car, so the plate needs to be sharp.

2. Offside front corner

Stand at roughly 45° to the front corner. You get the wing, the headlight and the start of the side in one frame. Corner impacts on bumpers are common, and this angle shows them best.

3. Offside, full length

Square on to the side, wing to tail light. On long vehicles such as estates and vans, take two overlapping shots rather than one from too far away.

4. Offside rear corner

Rear wing, tail light and bumper corner. A classic spot for car park scrapes, and easy to rush past.

5. Rear, full width

Bumper, boot or tailgate, lights, and a readable rear plate. Glance at the boot sill and the tow bar area if there is one.

6. Nearside rear corner

Same framing as shot 4, on the passenger side.

7. Nearside, full length

Same framing as shot 3. The nearside often carries the most marks on town cars: doors opened against kerbs and bollards, scrapes from tight parking.

8. Nearside front corner

Same framing as shot 2. This closes the loop around the bodywork.

9. All four wheels

One photo per wheel, crouched down, the whole alloy in frame. Kerbed alloys are one of the most frequently disputed items, because they are so easy to blame on whoever drove the car last.

10. Dashboard, ignition on

Mileage, fuel level and any warning lights. Not bodywork, but very much part of the condition the car arrived in. A warning light that was on at check-in can save an awkward conversation at handover.

Extras, when the job calls for it

The ten shots are your baseline. Add to them when it makes sense:

  • Close-ups of every existing mark, with a reference point in frame (handle, badge, light) so it can be located.
  • The windscreen, square on, if you see a chip. Chips can spread into cracks while a car is with you.
  • The roof, on taller vehicles or after hail in your area.
  • The interior, for longer jobs or higher-value cars: seats, trim, headlining.
  • Sills and lower edges, crouched, on lowered or sporty cars.

Light, distance and other practicalities

  • Distance. Wide shots should get the whole side in without cropping. Close-ups should still show something recognisable around the mark.
  • Light. Avoid shooting into low sun. Under workshop strip lights, step slightly to one side so the reflection does not hide the panel.
  • Dark paint. A slightly raking angle shows swirls and scratches far better than a straight-on shot.
  • Dirty or wet cars. Say so in the job record. Mud and water hide marks, and the note protects you if something appears after a valet.
  • Winter mornings. Use the flash or a torch and take an extra shot if in doubt. An extra photo costs nothing; a missing one can cost a lot.

Bring the customer with you

A walkaround works best when the customer is there for at least part of it. They see what you are recording and cannot discover it later. A few lines that tend to go down well:

  • "I'll just walk round with you so we're both starting from the same place."
  • "There's a small chip on the bonnet here. Were you aware of that one?"
  • "I'll send you the photos so you've got a copy too."

For key drops, collections or delivered vehicles, still do the full walkaround before the car is moved, and send the record to the customer as soon as you can.

Why this matters when things go wrong is covered in how to protect your workshop from bodywork disputes.

Mistakes we see most often

  1. Photographing only the damage. Without shots of clean panels, you cannot show a side was undamaged.
  2. A different order every time. Sooner or later a side gets missed.
  3. Cropping the car. Half a bumper in frame leaves a hole in the record.
  4. Forgetting the wheels. They are among the most disputed items of all.
  5. Shooting after the car has been moved. The drive to the workshop is part of the time it is in your care.
  6. Leaving photos on a personal phone. They need to be filed against the job straight away.

Laminated card or app?

A laminated checklist pinned up at the service desk is enough to get the habit going. For time stamps, filing and sharing photos with the customer, a digital tool is far more practical. We weigh up both in paper vs digital vehicle inspections. Some tools, like a dedicated check-in app, take the advisor through the walkaround shot by shot.

Printable checklist

  • 1. Front, plate readable
  • 2. Offside front corner
  • 3. Offside, full length
  • 4. Offside rear corner
  • 5. Rear, plate readable
  • 6. Nearside rear corner
  • 7. Nearside, full length
  • 8. Nearside front corner
  • 9. All four wheels
  • 10. Dashboard, ignition on (mileage in mi, fuel, warning lights)
  • Close-up of every existing mark
  • Note if the car is dirty, wet or checked in the dark
  • Photos filed against the job

Ten shots in the same order every time. It takes very little time at the desk, and it means that when a customer queries a mark, you answer with a photo rather than a recollection.