Rental car inspection: a ten-minute checklist for pickup and return

Ten minutes at pickup, ten at return, and the same photos both times. That's a rental car inspection. If both sides are looking at the same record, a return takes five minutes and nobody argues. The list below works for any car, a Perodua Myvi or a Lamborghini, and it's written for Grandpride rentals, which are handed over at our Petaling Jaya showroom or delivered to you in the Klang Valley.

Start at the driver's door and go round in one direction, slowly. Photograph each area first, then look closely, then take close-ups of anything you find.

Have ready

1. Your driving licence and ID CHECK: which documents are required at handover, e.g. MyKad, passport, licence, International Driving Permit.
2. Your booking: car, dates, protection level, mileage add-on, toll card amount.
3. A phone with battery and space for photos and a video.
4. Payment for the balance. Online you paid the RM 50 booking fee, which comes off the total; the rest is paid in store or in person.
5. Light. If the car is delivered in the evening, meet somewhere well lit, a hotel drop-off or a lit car park. Marks disappear in the dark. If you still can't see properly, say so, use your phone torch at an angle along each panel, and arrange to look again in daylight.

Outside

1. Bodywork: every panel, door and bumper. Look along the side at an angle; light shows dents and scratches better than looking straight on.
2. Corners and bumpers. The four corners take most parking scrapes. Crouch for the lower edge.
3. Wheels. Every rim, especially the outer lip, which marks on kerbs. Low-profile tyres on performance cars leave very little rubber protecting the rim.
4. Tyres: cuts, bulges, uneven wear. A tyre that looks low probably is.
5. Glass: windscreen, side and rear windows, mirrors. Hold the camera close and stone chips show up.
6. Lights: headlights, indicators, brake and reversing lights. Ask the person handing over to stand behind while you press the brake.
7. Roof and bonnet. Easy to forget on a tall SUV or MPV; hold the phone up.
8. On a supercar, also the front splitter, the underside of the nose, and the edges of any doors that open upwards.

Inside and on the dashboard

1. Fuel. Photograph the gauge with the engine on. The car comes back at the same level, so this one photo settles it.
2. Odometer. Photograph it. Every Grandpride rental includes 120 km a day, with add-ons of 50 km or 100 km a day or unlimited, and extra distance is charged at that car's per-km rate shown when you book. Your allowance counts from this number.
3. Warning lights. Anything still lit after the engine starts, point it out before you leave.
4. Seats and trim: stains, tears, marks on leather, the headlining.
5. Controls: air-conditioning (you'll want it), wipers, windows, mirrors, horn, reverse camera or sensors.
6. Toll card. If you added a Touch 'n Go card, check it's with the keys. You chose its value, RM 50 to RM 500, when you booked.
7. Learn the car. How to start it, find reverse, open the fuel flap and, where the car has one, raise the front. Better to ask now than at the first petrol station or car park ramp. If you're new to fast cars, read how to drive a supercar for the first time.

Make the record stick

1. Take a slow video walk-round as well as the photos. One continuous video is hard to dispute.
2. Don't edit or crop the originals. The timestamps are the point.
3. Show anything you found to the person handing over and ask for it to be noted CHECK: is a written condition report filled in and signed by both sides at handover and at return.
4. Send the photos to us on WhatsApp, or to yourself, so there's a shared copy from the start.

Avoiding rental car damage disputes explains why this record matters and what to do if a charge is ever questioned.

At return

1. Refuel to the level in your pickup photo. The rental car fuel policy has the detail.
2. Take the same photos in the same order: panels, wheels, glass, fuel gauge, odometer. Do it with the person collecting the car if you can.
3. Empty the glovebox, door pockets and boot.
4. Hand back the keys and the toll card together.
5. If there's new damage, say so straight away and show it. After an accident the police report should already have been made, within 24 hours; what to do after a car accident has the steps.

What new damage costs you depends on your protection. Basic Cover is included, a Loss Damage Waiver lowers the excess, and Grandpride Protection+ takes it to zero for damage and theft, glass and tyres included. Car rental insurance and excess in Malaysia sets out each level, and rental mileage and toll cards covers the kilometre side of the return.

Someone else can collect the car and do the pickup inspection for you, if their details are on the booking. Only the named renter may drive it, though.

Apa yang perlu diperiksa sebelum mengambil kereta sewa? Badan kereta, bampar, rim, tayar, cermin dan lampu, kemudian gambar paras minyak dan odometer. Tunjukkan calar atau kemek kepada kakitangan sebelum memandu pergi.

To pick a car and dates, start on the vehicle list. How renting with Grandpride works, from booking to return, is on the rental page.