Get paid to do what you already do — for real buyers, on your schedule.
Vehicle Inspectors is hiring vetted independent mechanics, ASE-certified techs, and shop owners to accept paid pre-purchase inspections in their service area. Bronze pays $124.50. Silver $174.50. Gold $224.50. Paid within 48 hours of report delivery. No platform fee. No exclusivity. No monthly minimum.
Side-income examples — pick a pace.
Most inspectors run a mix of Silver + Gold. These are realistic monthly totals at three intensity levels — all paid as a 1099 contractor, no platform fee deducted.
2019 Lexus RX350 · Silver tier
Coeur d’Alene, ID · ~12 mi from your base
One SMS. One tap. Job locked.
- ✓Every dispatch shows the exact payout up front — no surprise rates.
- ✓Distance is shown from your base radius. Too far? Just ignore — no penalty.
- ✓You decide. Accept opens the full job + customer contact. Decline takes you off future blasts on that lead.
- ✓Most jobs are accepted within 2–4 hours of dispatch. First responder wins.
You stay independent. We just send you the work.
Half the inspection fee lands in your account.
Bronze pays you $124.50, Silver $174.50, Gold $224.50 — exactly half of the customer fee, listed up front on every dispatch SMS. No tier games. No "platform service fee" deducted later. ACH within 48 hours of report acceptance.
Accept only the jobs that fit your week.
Set your weekly cap, set your radius, set your blackout days. We dispatch to you first when a lead lands in your area. Accept in one tap if it works. Do nothing if it doesn't — there are zero penalties for passing.
This is a side-income layer, not a 9-to-5.
Most of our inspectors run their own shops or mobile-mechanic routes. VI fills idle hours with paid inspections — your customers, your tools, your hours. Build network-rating points we surface to buyers as you complete more jobs.
What we look for in an inspector.
- ASE certification, OEM factory training, or 5+ years of documented mechanic / diagnostic / inspection experience.
- Active automotive CGL insurance ($1M) and personal auto coverage on the vehicle you use for dispatch.
- Willingness to travel up to 50 miles from your base — we pay your time + mileage inside that radius.
- Ability to capture clear photos and write structured findings — templates, checklists, and field guides are provided.
- No felony record relevant to trust or fraud within last 7 years (required for dispatch insurance).
- Smartphone with working camera — most of our submission tooling runs in your browser.
What you DON'T do.
- No selling repairs, warranties, or roadside plans on-site — we don't allow it, ever.
- No taking the customer's payment — we collect it, we pay you direct ACH.
- No scheduling chase — buyers contact the seller themselves to set the appointment after they accept.
- No exclusivity — keep your shop, your mobile route, your dealer relationships, your other gig apps.
- No monthly fees, subscription, lead-credit purchases, or "deposit to start." Zero up-front cost.
- No haggling — every payout is fixed by tier on the dispatch SMS, paid 48 hours after the report is accepted.
I run a 2-bay independent shop. VI fills 4–6 hours a week I'd otherwise have empty. Same money as a brake job, easier on my hands, and the customer never asks me to fix anything — they just want to know what's wrong before they buy.
I was already driving to do mobile diagnostics — adding pre-purchase inspections to the same route was a no-brainer. I pick the jobs in my radius, the payout shows up on the SMS, and I'm out in an hour. Pay hits in 48h, every time.
Retired from the dealer service drive after 30 years. Wanted side money without going back to a uniform. VI sends me 2–3 jobs a week — I pick the ones near home, skip the rest. Best part: no upsell, no commission pressure.
How much can I realistically earn?
It depends on how many jobs you accept. Light side-lane (1/week) lands ~$700/mo. Steady (3/week) lands ~$2,100/mo. Heavy (6+/week, mix of Silver and Gold) clears $5,000/mo. Payouts are fixed per tier — Bronze $124.50, Silver $174.50, Gold $224.50 — and listed on every dispatch SMS before you accept.
When do I get paid?
Within 48 hours of the customer accepting your report. Payment is direct ACH to the bank account you provide during onboarding. No invoicing, no chasing — once the report is approved, the payout fires automatically.
Do I have to commit to a minimum number of jobs?
No. Zero minimums, zero maximums, zero monthly fees. You set your weekly cap and your radius. We dispatch to you when a lead matches. You accept the ones that fit, pass on the ones that don't — no penalty for passing.
What if I already work for another platform (Yelp Pro, MechanicAdvisor, etc.)?
No problem. We don't require exclusivity. Many of our inspectors run multiple lead channels — VI is just another inbound channel for the inspection-only jobs you'd otherwise miss.
Do I need to sell repairs or upsell the customer?
No — and we don't allow it. Pre-purchase inspections are a neutral, third-party report. You document what you find, photograph it, and that's the job. If a buyer later wants you for repairs, that's your business outside the platform.
What does the application process look like?
Fill out the application (5 minutes), upload your ASE cert / OEM card / equivalent and your insurance COI, and we run a basic background check. If you're in a market with active buyer demand, a coordinator reaches out within 2 business days to onboard you. If your area is over-saturated, we keep your application on file and reach out when demand opens up.
Ready to start accepting jobs?
Book a certified pre-purchase inspection. Photo-documented report within 24 hours. Card authorized, not charged, until an inspector accepts.