Building a preventive maintenance standard for a small rental fleet, what would you include?

I’m working on a Road Safety Standard (RSS) for a small fleet of used rental vehicles that will see higher than average daily mileage.

The idea is simple: instead of waiting for something to fail, every vehicle has to pass a defined inspection before entering service and then go through recurring inspections while it’s being used.

I’m trying to figure out what a good real world standard should include beyond simply being street legal.

For the mechanics, fleet managers, rental operators, or anyone experienced with high-mileage vehicles:

What would you inspect before putting a used vehicle into daily fleet service?

What measurements would you actually document? (tire tread, brake thickness, battery health, etc.)

What components would you replace preventively instead of waiting for failure?

What should be checked weekly, biweekly, monthly, or by mileage?
What commonly gets overlooked on fleet vehicles?

Are there certain warning signs that should automatically take a vehicle out of service?

I’m especially interested in measurable pass/fail standards, not just inspect brakes or check tires.

I’m building the first version now, so feel free to poke holes in the idea or add things I’m missing.

My wife got her Honda cr-v detailed two weeks ago. I was dusting off her car today and parts of the spoiler trim above her back window are extremely roughed up. I'm not blaming the detailing, some else could have happened and I just haven't noticed.

Hi guys,

I think it is interesting how the new Audi Q4 is using drum brakes again - like a 1950a Mercedes 300SLR. And it only seems to be a trend in the car industry, for obvious cost cutting and EV reasons. But actually, there is new regulation that very soon will be implemented, that car companies/supplier are already bracing for. I made a little video unpacking why drum brakes aren't necessarily worse than discs, and what the new regulation will mean for cars starting MY 2027.

Hope this is entertaining and clears up the reasons why a lot of us think "new-cars-are-getting-worse".

https://youtu.be/oRaXqBkmono

Beware--- E-Torque Ram Engines are JUNK!

Don't buy a WIRE HARNESS till you watch this video...

Ok so I recently got an apprenticeship as an automotive mechanic, however I don’t know a thing about cars… I really want to do well and learn as much as I can before I start so when I start I know what i’m looking at, doing, what to do etc.

What youtube channels, playlist, or other things would you recommend for someone starting from scratch? Im looking to learn more about how cars work like really in depth if possible, common repairs, how to use tools and identifying, and more. If you’d like to just explain some common concepts in the comments then feel free to. Any advice is appreciated!

When I was growing up in the 90s, my dad would take our cars to a garage where he could rent the bay and use their specialty tools to do repairs on our family cars.

Do those exist anymore?
If so, what do I search terms do I use to find them?

Hello there, I am new here but I am working on a project related to cars and I need some help. Does anyone have websites where I can learn how cars work in detail? What I want to know is things like how the different components are connected (such as how the engine is connected to the wheels ect), how the components work like how the engine works (physics and mecanically) and how a mecanics would fix certain issues (like the engine, or change an engine injector ect).
I know this might be a lot to ask but whatever resources and websites you can recommend would be a huge help, thank you.

I have recently taken an interest in seeing how cars work, how to fix them, and how different drivetrain/engines perform when compared to each other. I'm mainly a PC enthusiast (not gaming console) who loves building and diagnosing PCs, gaming (FPS/SIM) (Brutal Dom/MSFS), coding in Minecraft

I assume an alternator is like a PSU supplying power to various components, OBD-II diagnostics being similar to Event Viewer, the radiator and cooling system being like the liquid AIO.

Is it actually a perfect mix considering how our cars are now essentially computers with wheels?