NCT Fail....then pass?

giftgrub

I recently had my car NCT'ed, it passed everything but failed on the front brakes which were slightly off balance.

The guy who normally works on it said he didnt know what the problem was, no disc or pad problems etc

anyway i took the car back the other day for a re-test (bear in mind NOTHING has been done to the car) and it passed!

The skeptical side of me is thinking scam..........has this happened to anyone else

masterK

The same thing happened my Dad a few weeks ago, the alignment of the lights were off, my brother who is a mechanic looked at them but they seemed fine to him so my Dad went back for the retest and it passed without anything being done to the car.

I failed last week myself for the same thing after despite having the lights checked beforehand.

It's difficult not be a little sceptical.

Wishbone Ash

It may be an intermittent fault which appeared on the day of the test.

The driver's window on my car does not always work. It did for the last two NCTs but it could easily have failed on one test and worked on the next.

Vegeta

The reason the NCT was introduced was to remove unsafe cars from the roads and reduce road deaths.

Has there been any proof it has done this, if not, remove it.

It is handy knowing a car you are going to buy second hand passed the NCT but its a super scam.

Lord Nikon

I remember when I had my NCt, and they found a fluid leak from the tubing into the rear drum brake. Anyway, I brought it to a garage and it was just surface oil. No fault.

Don't think it was a scam, cause the car had other, more serious faults.

conor_mc

Vegeta wrote:

The reason the NCT was introduced was to remove unsafe cars from the roads and reduce road deaths.

Has there been any proof it has done this, if not, remove it.

It is handy knowing a car you are going to buy second hand passed the NCT but its a super scam.

It is a scam, but the anecdotal proof is there. I remember seeing a land rover defender about 15-20 years ago (was only a young lad) where the rear wheels didn't quite follow the front wheels - they were only about 6 inches to the left of them! You just wouldn't see that nowadays.

Having said that, that sort of thing could just as easily have been a sign of the times. Post-Celtic Tiger, who'd want to be seen in anything pre-2000 anyway - it's, like, sooooo last century!

gyppo

About 3 years ago, I brought my wifes 92 Toyota Starlet to have its NCT. Went away for a coffee, arrived back about 45min later. NCT tester told me he had good news, and bad news.
The good news - the car passed everything fine, with all results well within margins.
The bad news - a third seatbelt should have been fitted in the rear, this had'nt been done, it was a free recall from toyota.
Get the belt sorted, and I can then issue your NCT cert, sez he.


Anyhow, the local toyota garage were very busy, and I was fobbed off a few times before the new rear belt was fitted.


Eventually, by the time I got the car back to the NCT centre, I was a day over the prescribed time (28 days, I think). So, I was told that the car would have to have a full test carried out again. I was slightly pi**ed off, but could'nt see what other alternative there was, so the car was arranged to be tested a few days later (the next slot they had in their timetable)

Imagine my amazement that the car failed the retest! :eek:
The tester (different guy to the previous one) showed me the test report, and the car failed due to a brake imbalance.

Now, imagine the testers amazement when I showed him the NCT report from 30 odd days earlier, showing a clean bill of health. There was something like 210 miles difference between the odometer readings on both reports.

I asked how there could be such a difference in the two reports in such a short space of time, which he could not answer. He then told me that he himself did not test the car this time, one of his colleagues had. He went off to speak to him, and I could see the pair of them having a good chinwag. He then returned, and offered to test the car personally, so I agreed to it.

Suprise, Suprise, it passed!!


As I said earlier, the car passed the test the 1st time, well within any failure limits. I could imagine that if it had been a borderline case 1st time out, it could easily fail 2nd time. However, this was not the case here.

Since then, I have always had a healthy dose of cynicism for the NCT test.

BoozyBabe

There is an appeals process for failed NCTs, that you suspect shouldn't have failed.

Have never been through this process myself, & it probably (knowing this country) costs money to appeal, but maybe you could look into it & possibly get the cost of the retest reimbursed??

gyppo

About 3 years ago, I brought my wifes 92 Toyota Starlet to have its NCT. Went away for a coffee, arrived back about 45min later. NCT tester told me he had good news, and bad news.
The good news - the car passed everything fine, with all results well within margins.
The bad news - a third seatbelt should have been fitted in the rear, this had'nt been done, it was a free recall from toyota.
Get the belt sorted, and I can then issue your NCT cert, sez he.


Anyhow, the local toyota garage were very busy, and I was fobbed off a few times before the new rear belt was fitted.


Eventually, by the time I got the car back to the NCT centre, I was a day over the prescribed time (28 days, I think). So, I was told that the car would have to have a full test carried out again. I was slightly pi**ed off, but could'nt see what other alternative there was, so the car was arranged to be tested a few days later (the next slot they had in their timetable)

Imagine my amazement that the car failed the retest! :eek:
The tester (different guy to the previous one) showed me the test report, and the car failed due to a brake imbalance.

Now, imagine the testers amazement when I showed him the NCT report from 30 odd days earlier, showing a clean bill of health. There was something like 210 miles difference between the odometer readings on both reports.

I asked how there could be such a difference in the two reports in such a short space of time, which he could not answer. He then told me that he himself did not test the car this time, one of his colleagues had. He went off to speak to him, and I could see the pair of them having a good chinwag. He then returned, and offered to test the car personally, so I agreed to it.

Suprise, Suprise, it passed!!


As I said earlier, the car passed the test the 1st time, well within any failure limits. I could imagine that if it had been a borderline case 1st time out, it could easily fail 2nd time. However, this was not the case here.

Since then, I have always had a healthy dose of cynicism for the NCT test.

gyppo

Sorry, dont know how I managed to post twice - my apologies.
@ Boozybabe- the tester didnt charge me for the retest in which it passed. I would probably have flipped the lid if he did!!!

gyppo

About 3 years ago, I brought my wifes 92 Toyota Starlet to have its NCT. Went away for a coffee, arrived back about 45min later. NCT tester told me he had good news, and bad news.
The good news - the car passed everything fine, with all results well within margins.
The bad news - a third seatbelt should have been fitted in the rear, this had'nt been done, it was a free recall from toyota.
Get the belt sorted, and I can then issue your NCT cert, sez he.


Anyhow, the local toyota garage were very busy, and I was fobbed off a few times before the new rear belt was fitted.


Eventually, by the time I got the car back to the NCT centre, I was a day over the prescribed time (28 days, I think). So, I was told that the car would have to have a full test carried out again. I was slightly pi**ed off, but could'nt see what other alternative there was, so the car was arranged to be tested a few days later (the next slot they had in their timetable)

Imagine my amazement that the car failed the retest! :eek:
The tester (different guy to the previous one) showed me the test report, and the car failed due to a brake imbalance.

Now, imagine the testers amazement when I showed him the NCT report from 30 odd days earlier, showing a clean bill of health. There was something like 210 miles difference between the odometer readings on both reports.

I asked how there could be such a difference in the two reports in such a short space of time, which he could not answer. He then told me that he himself did not test the car this time, one of his colleagues had. He went off to speak to him, and I could see the pair of them having a good chinwag. He then returned, and offered to test the car personally, so I agreed to it.

Suprise, Suprise, it passed!!


As I said earlier, the car passed the test the 1st time, well within any failure limits. I could imagine that if it had been a borderline case 1st time out, it could easily fail 2nd time. However, this was not the case here.

Since then, I have always had a healthy dose of cynicism for the NCT test.

Jood

My fathers car failed yesterday cos his indicators werent red enough apparently??

Lord Nikon

Jood wrote:

My fathers car failed yesterday cos his indicators werent red enough apparently??

The guy failed my indicators for not being orange enough, I think you meant the same thing.

Jood

Yep that would be it!! :rolleyes:

NUTLEY BOY

For headlights in particular as well as other variable features I sometimes think that the deciding factor is your lane draw at the NCT centre !!

How do we know that the calibration of the test equipment itself is correct and who checks that ?

Tipsy Mac

Both times I have been getting a car NCT'd I have noticed there seems to be a certain "click" there between certain people who bring cars in (perhaps car dealers?) and the testers, it seemed quite dodge.

I support the NCT provided it's not corrupt, there are too many clowns going around with cars which hav'nt been serviced once since they left the showroom or seen any kind of maintenance.

masterK

NUTLEY BOY wrote:

For headlights in particular as well as other variable features I sometimes think that the deciding factor is your lane draw at the NCT centre !!

How do we know that the calibration of the test equipment itself is correct and who checks that ?

I think you may have a valid point, I suspect there may be a certain margin of error with the results. I doubt the calibration is tested all that often.