People search for a mechanic and a pink slip in the same breath

Start typing “mechanic penrith” into Google and, on 2 October 2026, the second suggestion it offered was “mechanic penrith pink slip”. Type “mechanic near” and “mechanic near me pink slip” came up fifth.1

Those suggestions show the words people type. They don’t show how many people type them, and they came from one computer, so someone in another suburb may see different ones.

What they do show is a customer asking for the job, not the workshop. So it’s worth having a page that answers that customer before they ring anyone.

What is a pink slip, in the government’s own words?

A pink slip is the safety inspection report NSW asks for before some cars can be registered again. Service NSW says a light vehicle more than five years old will need one, with some exceptions, and that “Your registration renewal notice will state whether or not you need an inspection”.2

The NSW Government also calls them eSafety checks.3 The result goes to the government online: Service NSW says “If your vehicle passes the safety inspection, your provider will send the inspection report to Transport for NSW electronically”.2

Three more rules from the government’s pages are worth knowing word for word, because your customers will ask:

• Who can do it. “Only an Authorised Inspection Scheme (AIS) station can do a safety inspection”.2
• How long it lasts. “NSW safety inspection reports for light vehicles are valid for 6 months, excluding public passenger vehicles”.2
• What happens if it fails. “If you complete the repairs within 14 days and take the vehicle to be reassessed at the same AIS station, no extra inspection fees apply”.3

Who sets the price of a pink slip?

The state does, as a ceiling. The Road Transport (Vehicle Registration) Regulation 2017, clause 68(7), says the charge for an inspection report “must not be more than the maximum charge for the time being specified by Transport for NSW”.4

The NSW Government publishes that maximum on its page “Vehicle Safety check and inspection fees”, which sets out the maximum fees “effective 1 July 2026”.5 I’ve left the figure out of this post, because it changes; read it on that page before you write yours.

So you can charge up to the maximum, not more. Say on your page what you charge, and link to the government’s page so the customer can see the ceiling for themselves.

What should your pink slip page say?

It should answer, in the customer’s words, each question they type. Under “pink slip”, Google’s suggestions on 2 October 2026 included “pink slip near me”, “pink slip cost”, “pink slip cost nsw”, “pink slip today”, “pink slip check”, “pink slip vs green slip” and “pink slip inspection”.1

Here is how I’d build the page, one question at a time:

1. Give it a plain title with your suburb in it. “Pink slips in Penrith”, or wherever you are. A customer searching your suburb should see their own words.
2. Say you are an Authorised Inspection Scheme station, and what you can inspect, such as cars, motorbikes or trailers.
3. Say what you charge, and link to the government’s fee page, so “pink slip cost nsw” is answered in one line.
4. Say how long it takes, and whether you can do one today. If you take cars without an appointment, say which days and hours.
5. Say how to book: your phone number, and a link if you take bookings on your website.
6. Say what happens if the car fails. Copy in the 14-day rule above, and say what repairs you can do on the spot.
7. Put your hours and your address at the bottom, the same as on your Google listing.

Write it as you’d say it across the counter. A customer who reads it should know whether to ring you before they ring anyone else.

Answer the next questions the same way

“Pink slip vs green slip” is a question you can answer in two sentences on the same page. A green slip is not an inspection: SIRA, the NSW insurance regulator, says that before you register any vehicle in NSW “you must buy a Compulsory Third Party (CTP) insurance policy”, and that policy is the green slip.6 It covers injury to people in a crash, not repairs to the car.

Then do the same for the next questions asked at your counter. Write each one down in the customer’s words as you hear it, and answer it on your website, with a price where you can give one.

Put pink slips on your Google listing too

Your Google listing (Google calls it a Business Profile) is the free listing that puts you on Google Maps. Google says “Relevance is how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for”.7

So list pink slips as a service on it, in those words, and blue slips too if you do them (the government now calls those unregistered vehicle inspections, “previously known as a blue slip”).3 Then link the listing to your pink slip page.

If you’d rather hand it over

Answers to what people ask is a card on our Get Found menu: pages that answer what customers type, with prices. We’d start with the pink slip page and work through the questions you hear at the counter.

Start with one thing, or a bundle. If yours is different, we scope it.

Book a free hour. We’ll look at what Google suggests for your suburb on the call, and at what your website answers today.