National Car Test

PBC_1966

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing here for a few weeks and found several topics interesting, so I decided it was time to join in.

Of particular interest are your posts about the new NCT in Ireland. As I'm sure many of you are aware, over here in the U.K. we've had the MoT vehicle inspection for many yeras, so it's natural to try to draw comparisons.

A specific item: One website I was reading mentioned that the electrical part of the NCT includes a check that any add-on accessories have been wired through the ignition switch. Can anyone confirm that this is the case? If so, I can see no logical reason for this, and if someone wires his radio permanently live I really don't see how that in any way is related to the roadworthiness of the car.

A couple of things which I particularly like about the way the inspection has been implemented in Ireland are:

1. That vintage cars have been exempted. That saves a lot of trouble for old-car enthusiasts, especially since many of the modern test items simply don't apply. It also removes the problem which sometimes crops up in Britain of a new-generation MoT inspector who really doesn't understand old cars and in many cases doesn't even realize that the official rules don't require certain things on cars manufactured before a particular date.

2. That the NCT test centers are independent, rather than being government-approved garages as is the case here. That removes any possibility of a garage deliberately failing a borderline (or not-so-borderline) vehicle in the hope of getting a nice profit out of the "repairs." Such accusations are far from uncommon here.

Best wishes,
Paul
Norfolk, England

dahamsta

Originally posted by PBC_1966
That vintage cars have been exempted.

I did not know that. Do you happen to know offhand their definition of "vintage"? 20 years presumably?

That the NCT test centers are independent, rather than being government-approved garages as is the case here. That removes any possibility of a garage deliberately failing a borderline (or not-so-borderline) vehicle in the hope of getting a nice profit out of the "repairs." Such accusations are far from uncommon here.

We have plenty of accusations of intentional failures to raise revenue from retests though. I've seen mentions of internal memos from on-high, but surprisingly haven't heard anything more of it.

adam

PBC_1966

Do you happen to know offhand their definition of "vintage"? 20 years presumably?

30 years as I understand it -- The same definition that entitles you to tax a car under the cheap flat-rate vintage class instead of the sliding scale based on engine size.

Good point about the re-tests, I hadn't thought about that one.

unkel

Originally posted by dahamsta
Do you happen to know offhand their definition of "vintage"? 20 years presumably?

30 years

mike65

God I wish it were 20! (only another 6 to go!)

I think the fact the NCT is run by an independent concern is a good idea - nothing so corrupt as a local garage owner with a vested interest!

Mike.

Gmodified

20 years to get your car insured as classic through Carole nash but you still have to do NCT (i think)

and 30 to get cheap tax and no NCT

dahamsta

Originally posted by mike65
I think the fact the NCT is run by an independent concern is a good idea - nothing so corrupt as a local garage owner with a vested interest!

Very true, although as I said there is still room for corruption. Wish I could remember where I'd seen a piece on retesting, think it was on the Motornet forums...

Originally posted by Gmodified
20 years to get your car insured as classic through Carole nash but you still have to do NCT (i think)

Ah, that's where I got the 20 years from, thanks.

TBH I was tempted to buy something >20 yo, but car owners in Ireland seem to get the idea that as soon as their cars hits, for example, 20yo, it's a "classic". Whereas of course invariably it's just a 20yo heap of shít. Very little room there for someone who'd just like to customise something, uh, odd.

Another question: I seem to remember reading somewhere that you couldn't get classic insurance from Carole Nash unless the the car was a second car, is that right?

adam

Gmodified

unless the the car was a second car, is that right?

right,

you have to have existing policy in your name , before CN will insure you

PBC_1966

My experience with British insurance companies is that they vary widely on what is considered "classic" or "vintage." (As well as varying widely on quotes.)

By the way, a few years ago the UK Govt. introduced a road-tax exempt category for vintage cars. The plan was to exempt cars as they turned 25 years old. Then in 1998 they quietly changed the rules so that it would no longer be a "rolling" exemption, so only cars made up to 1973 are exempt now.

In typical underhand fashion, the govt. made a big announcement about the exempt class when it was introduced, and said nothing publicly about the later change which prevented cars being exempted at 25.

Unfortunately, pre-1973 cars still need an annual MoT inspection here, unless they fall into some other special category (based on a small island with no test facility and no bridge to mainland etc.)

ToxicPaddy

A little off topic here, but can someone PLEASE tell me, how a blown light on
the back number plate, one of two i might add and the other one is working fine
can possibly be used as an excuse to fail a car on the NCT?????

Everything else is fine on the car, engine, suspension, brakes, windows, lights,
safety belts.. everything, bar one bulb over the back reg plate...

f*ckin idiots :mad:

Tox

lilulila

Hi lads

I have my nct due in june. This is my first year motoring so i havent a clue about things like this. Just wondering does anyone have an idea how much a pre nct will cost. I drive a fiat cinquentio and have only ever had one problem with it ( a seal went on the gearbox) other than that shes ok. I think i might have a prob with one of my wheels though apparently the rim was cutting into the tyre a while ago and i got a new tyre. I asked the fellow in the garage will i get a new one and he said no and i asked will it fail the nct like that he said no ... i just hope hes right. Some people are telling me to let the car go through the nct and wait and see if problems arise but others are saying a pre nct is the way to go. Im trying to find the most cost effective way cause my insurance is due 3 days after the nct so need to save the spondulies. Any tips would be great :O)

Lilu

PBC_1966

A little off topic here, but can someone PLEASE tell me, how a blown light on
the back number plate, one of two i might add and the other one is working fine
can possibly be used as an excuse to fail a car on the NCT?????

Could it be that the rules require all lights originally fitted to the vehicle to be in operating order?

My brother once had an MoT inspector here want to fail him for having a blown warning lamp in the hazard switch! Considering that some cars don't even have such a light, and you can see the hazards operating by both green arrows flashing, it seems rather petty. I think it was another case of the inspector making up his own rules as he went along (and I've had cases where I've had to explain the rules to him!).

ToxicPaddy

well you can still see the number plate clearly at night and its on bulb...

So the number plate can be seen, the car is mechanically perfect and there are no
safety issues...

Makes no sense what so ever....

Tox

Kersh

To get insured by Carole Nash you have to have a second car, and you have to be 30. I actually got a quote off them for a classic and they said I had to be 25/full licence/other car....so I went out and got a car and when I got back onto them I was told I had to be 30 for THAT particular car. They told me I had been misquoted. So thread carefully there.

K2

I had the same problem as Toxic Paddy, only cost 50cent as its a visual re test. The only gripe I would have is the poor hours they make available for these re tests (3 to 4 monday to thursday).

Liluila, I have been thro 3 ncts, passed one, paid for one retest and one foc visual. I would not bother doing a pre test, like most others I reckon its a money making scam by the garages. Just look after the normal maintenance eg brakes, light bulbs (:D I can talk!) and tyres. Most people forget about their shocks and these can be a fail on the test but I've used the nct as an guide to when they should be done. I don't believe you should spend money fixing something which may not be broke, let the nct tell you what has to be done...you never know it may go through it with no fails, thats not unheard of.

lilulila

If the car should fail how long do you get to fix it is it something like 7 days?

Quigs Snr

You have a month.

My test is in an hours time. Just spotted and fixed a rear light bulb blown.

Going to fail on my brakes I think.

K2

had a quick look at the website but could not see mention of it. If you email them info@ncts.ie they will let you know (it does not appear under the faq section).

Victor

Originally posted by Quigs Snr
Going to fail on my brakes I think.

Hang on, you've been going around on brakes that you know aren't up to scratch? :dunno:

Quigs Snr

Nope, as it turns out, brakes are fine, just feel a bit spongy to me. I suppose the car has a lot of torgue and is quite heavy (1.4 tonnes, 200BHP), so it's braking isn't as sharp as my old car which was a small 2 seater.

What I failed on in the end, was not having the county name in irish on my number plate (number plates are nothing special and were on the car from day one, personally I think that if they were non-compulsory at the time of purchase then they shouldn't be allowed to fail you on them. Apart from that they are standard blue/white EU plates, nothing special). Also front tires were worn, so bought 2 yesterday, guess what, on the way to the centre I drove over some bottle, and had a large piece of it in the new tire. Failed on that. Requires a re-test.

Is it possible to have worse luck ?

It is a month by the way for the retest, did my test yesterday and have until 17/06 to retest.

Victor

Originally posted by Quigs Snr
What I failed on in the end, was not having the county name in irish on my number plate (number plates are nothing special and were on the car from day one, personally I think that if they were non-compulsory at the time of purchase then they shouldn't be allowed to fail you on them. Apart from that they are standard blue/white EU plates, nothing special).

County name in irish and EU plate requirements were introduced at the same time.

Quigs Snr

They were obviously not made compulsory at the time. This is the cars 2nd NCT, it has had the same plates since new. The NCT report for the first NCT does not mention anything about plates, no fail advisorys etc..... How this makes a car unroadworthy is beyond me.

Seth Brundle

the NCTS have only been enforcing this law since about September last year, hence why you werent warned on a previous test.

unkel

Originally posted by Quigs Snr
What I failed on in the end, was not having the county name in irish on my number plate

What? - FFS :mad:

That rule is absolutely ridiculous....

Seth Brundle

yes and no - the NCT checks if the car is roadworthy and one of those checks is to ensure that the plates are road-legal.
If there was no enforcement, where do you draw the line?
However, I do think that there are many un-necessary failures for fonts being a few mms short - they could have given a fail/advisory on this for a year or so.

Gurgle

What I failed on in the end, was not having the county name in irish on my number plate

Ah the good old NCT - What a great safety measure, removing the threat of license plates that don't tell what county the car comes from. I know some very very clever people who can figure it out just from the 'D' or the 'MH' etc.

BrianD3

If there was no enforcement, where do you draw the line?

I agree. Basically, your number plates are either legal or they're not. No county name on a post 1991 plate = illegal. And IMO it shouldn't be up to the NCTS to enforce the law on plates. The Gardai should be stopping and fining anyone with illegal plates. No ifs or buts. That's how it works in England, try driving over there with swirly letters etc. on your number plates and you won't go too far without being pulled over.

BrianD3

Victor

Originally posted by Gurgle
Ah the good old NCT - What a great safety measure, removing the threat of license plates that don't tell what county the car comes from. I know some very very clever people who can figure it out just from the 'D' or the 'MH' etc.

Well I've seen this before. :rolleyes:

Gurgle

So if you just wrote 'Baile Atha Cliath' on the top of the plate in permanent marker, you would pass the NCT ?

Originally posted by Victor:
Well I've seen this before.

Whats the point ?
You'll just get a fine for driving around with a defaced number plate.

Besides, you can walk into your local motor factor and order reg. plates with whatever you want on them.

Does anyone remember when the NCT was introduced - It was for safety.
Bullshìt like this has nothing to do with safety.

unkel

Originally posted by BrianD3
it shouldn't be up to the NCTS to enforce the law on plates. The Gardai should be stopping and fining anyone with illegal plates

Exactly, but very sad if they would fine someone over a matter so trivial as the county name in Irish missing

Originally posted by Gurgle
Bullshìt like this has nothing to do with safety.

Indeed - this fits perfectly with the memo sent within the NCT organisation to try and fail more cars :mad:

Quigs Snr

Thing is, I am not into fancy number plates like the boy racers are etc...

My plate is white, it a blue bar saying IRL on the left. This was put on the car from new by the main dealer. It is a D reg, but because no Baile Atha Cliath, its a fail. I totally amazed. I can understand though that they might have to have a catch all policy to cater for all the rather more extreme custom number plates that were doing the rounds.