Before performing inspection and maintenance, wash the car body (see «car care»).
To perform the work, an inspection ditch or overpass is required.
Execution sequence
1. We prepare the car for work (see «Preparing the car for maintenance and repair»).
2. We inspect the car from the outside for paint chips and the presence of foci of corrosion on the car body.
Comment. Paint chips most often appear on the front of the car and are the result of impacts on the body of stones flying out from under the wheels of cars moving nearby. The chipped area can be painted over with a commercially available felt-tip pen, matching it to the color of the car.
If measures are not taken to restore the coating, subsequently the places of chipped paint become centers of corrosion. You can temporarily stop rust with converters that turn rust into soil and create a protective moisture-proof coating. But a more reliable way is to remove corrosion mechanically, for example, with sandpaper, then prime the corrosion center and paint over.
Traces of corrosion should also be looked for on the thresholds of the car, on the lower edges of the doors, around the windshield and rear windows and along the perimeter of the roof.
3. Alternately opening the hood and doors, we check the operation of their locks.
4. We make sure that the power windows and drives of rear-view mirrors are in good condition (see «Adjustment of rear-view mirrors»).
5. In the passenger compartment, we check the operation of the front seat adjustment mechanisms, the possibility of folding and the reliability of fixing the rear seats. We make sure that there is no mechanical damage to the seat belts and check the clarity of their locks and reels.
6. Raise the carpet in the foot area of the driver and front passenger, check the condition of the bottom of the car from the passenger compartment for moisture and corrosion. If they are found, completely remove the carpet and check the entire bottom.
7. Having installed the car on a viewing ditch or overpass, we visually check the condition of the bottom and lower load-bearing elements of the body for the integrity of the anti-gravel coating and the absence of corrosion centers. If necessary, we restore the damaged areas of the anti-corrosion and anti-gravel coating with special compositions from aerosol cans.