What Orange vehicles bring to the inspection
Orchard and vineyard utes
The Orange district grows apples and pears and makes cool-climate wine. A ute or trailer that's worked a property for a while without rego needs a blue slip before it's back on the road. Under NSW's rules, goods vehicles up to 4.5 tonnes GVM without power-operated brakes, and trailers up to 4.5 tonnes ATM, are light vehicles.
The run out to Cadia
Cadia, a large open cut gold and copper mine, is about 20 kilometres south of the city. A daily commute on country roads wears tyres and suspension, and a safety check looks at both.
Winters colder than most
At 862 metres, Orange has cold, wet winters with frequent morning frosts, colder than most Australian population centres. A car that lives outside through that can end up with split wiper blades, a chip that's cracked across the windscreen, or a battery that's given up.
Signs a car may not pass
- Tyres worn down to the wear bars, or cracked in the sidewall.
- A windscreen chip that's grown into a crack across the driver's view.
- A brake light or tail light out, or a cracked lens.
- A brake pedal that sinks, or a car that pulls to one side when you brake.
- Rust holes in the floor, sills or chassis rails.
- Oil or coolant dripping under the car overnight.
If it fails
The rego can't be renewed until the faults are fixed. Have the work done, then go back to the same station within 14 days for the recheck with no extra inspection fee.
Whoever does the repairs needs a NSW motor vehicle repairer licence if they run a repair business, mobile operators included. Ask to see it. Bathurst is 56 km away and works to the same NSW rules, so pick whichever station suits where the car spends its week.
Our take
We'd walk around the car with that list before winter sets in, fix what turned up, then take it in. For a ute that's been off rego on the farm, we'd have a mechanic go over it first, since a blue slip checks more than a pink slip does.