MPI - Multi point inspection
What is an MPI: multi point inspection explained
A multi point inspection (MPI) is the standard check a technician carries out on a vehicle's key systems at every service visit, working a fixed list of items and grading each one red, amber or green. It turns a booked job into a documented list of what the car needs now, what it will need soon, and what is fine to leave.
You will see it written as multi point inspection, multi-point inspection or multipoint inspection, and shortened to MPI. In the UK and much of Europe the same process is called a vehicle health check. Same job, different paperwork and a different name on the DMS screen.
What does multi point inspection mean in practice?
A "point" is one line on the sheet. Most manufacturer sheets run somewhere between 20 and 40 of them, which is where names like 27 point inspection and 30 point check come from. The count matters less than the fact that the list is fixed, so every car gets the same check regardless of which technician has it on the ramp.
A typical list covers:
- Wear items: tyre tread depth and pressures, brake pad thickness, disc condition, wiper blades.
- Fluids: engine oil level and condition, coolant, brake fluid, screen wash, and a boiling point test on the brake fluid where the schedule calls for one.
- Electrical: battery state of health, charging system, exterior lights, warning lamps.
- Underside: suspension and steering play, exhaust condition, driveshaft gaiters, leaks.
- Road test items: pulling, noise, vibration, brake feel, anything the customer described on the write-up.
How does the red, amber, green grading work?
Every point gets one of three grades, and the grades are the commercial engine of the whole process.
- Red: needs attention now. Safety or roadworthiness related, and the technician expects the work to be authorised today.
- Amber: worn but serviceable. Plan it for the next visit, or sooner if the mileage is high.
- Green: checked and fine, no action.
Red and amber items become recommended work on the repair order. Whatever the customer says no to becomes declined work, which is the number most service managers watch at month end.
MPI explained: a worked example
A three year old hatchback comes in for an interval service. The technician works a 27 point sheet: 24 items green, front pads at 3mm graded amber, and the nearside front tyre at 1.9mm graded red. The advisor prices two lines onto the repair order, the customer approves the tyre and defers the pads.
The tyre becomes revenue today. The pads sit on the file as declined work, ready for the next service reminder. Nothing about that outcome is a failure. An MPI that returns 27 green points on a high mileage car is the bigger problem, because it usually means the check was signed rather than performed.
How is an MPI different from a PDI or a used car inspection?
An MPI is a recurring check on a customer's own vehicle during a service visit, and its output is a quote. A pre-delivery inspection is a one-off check on a vehicle the dealership is about to hand over, and its output is a sign-off. A used car inspection sits on stock the dealership owns, and its output is a reconditioning bill. The physical checks overlap heavily. Who pays, and what happens next, does not.
Why MPI findings get declined
The technician sees a 3mm pad. The customer hears a number over the phone from someone who was not under the car. That gap is where most declined work is created, and it is not a pricing problem.
The J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Customer Service Index Study, which surveyed 51,228 owners of one to three year old vehicles, found that nearly two thirds of customers want photo or video evidence alongside their inspection results, while only 26 percent of mass market customers and 44 percent of premium customers actually receive it (J.D. Power). Where it is provided, satisfaction with the service advisor is the highest the study records.
Cox Automotive's Service Industry Study, published in November 2025, points at the same wound from the other side: 45 percent of vehicle owners are dissatisfied with their dealership service experience, primarily because of unexpected costs and poor communication (Cox Automotive).
Video MPI: get the direction right
In a video MPI the technician films the finding and sends it to the customer, not the other way round. Thirty seconds on the ramp: the tread gauge in the groove, the pad next to a new one, the leak actually dripping. The customer opens it on their phone and approves from the same page. The mechanics of running one are covered in video MPI for multi point inspections and in the wider guide to digital vehicle inspection video.
That is the job VentaVid does. The technician records on a phone, the video becomes a branded page with an approve button on it, and it goes out by SMS, WhatsApp or email. VentaVid reports that 85 percent of service videos are viewed within 15 minutes of being sent, which is its own reported figure rather than an industry benchmark. The inspection standard itself does not change. The evidence just arrives with the price.
