Things to look out for for NCT

flogen

Hey all,

I'm looking to buy a car for learning in and so am not looking to get anything too fancy - just something that I can learn what I need in and not get too hung up about any scrapes or bumps that may occour along the way!

So far I've come across one or two cars that are a good price and look ok (going by the pics) and are said to be in either good or perfect mechanical order.

I'll be bringing someone along who knows cars better than myself, but I'm just wondering what I should look out for in terms of passing the NCT, as any cars I've seen have theirs up in the coming weeks or months.

Naturally I don't want to buy something only to find that I need to pay the same again, or more, just to get it road-worthy. I'm not expecting to get a pristine car that will require zero further investment, I just don't want to be spending hundreds on a car I got for €500 or so, if you get me.

Any advice or tips would be appreciated.

Jakey

One 'easy' thing to check is the last NCT report if any of the tests were very close to the fail rate they could have easyily gone over the amount in the past two years, it gives you a full break down of the rate achived and the failure rate.

Thats particularly important with emissions which can be very costly to repair and hard to see when buying at the side of the road without specialist equiptment.

workaccount

Where have you found people selling cars for €500?

Anan1

workaccount wrote:

Where have you found people selling cars for €500?

Believe it or not, perfectly serviceable cars for €500 do exist! That said, I think the OP was just trying to illustrate that (s)he doesn't want to spend a large proportion of the purchase price on repairs.

flogen

Anan1 wrote:

Believe it or not, perfectly serviceable cars for €500 do exist! That said, I think the OP was just trying to illustrate that (s)he doesn't want to spend a large proportion of the purchase price on repairs.

Well yes, that was my point in a way - I'd rather spend €600 or more on a car with a year NCT left on it, than paying €500 on the car and the same again straight after just to get it up to code.

However, I have found two €500 cars, both seem in good shape and both are up for their NCT very soon.

workaccount

Anan1 wrote:

Believe it or not, perfectly serviceable cars for €500 do exist! That said, I think the OP was just trying to illustrate that (s)he doesn't want to spend a large proportion of the purchase price on repairs.

I know I have one! I'm just wondering if theres many more around.

BrianD3

Look for cars first registered before 1/1/94. They have to pass a much less stringent NCT emissions test than later cars.

IMO the ideal 500 quid (or less) car is probably an ould 1990 or therabouts Corolla or Starlet. If it runs OK, drives OK and doesnt have any major rust it could be a good bet. If something does go wrong it should be simple and cheap to fix.

flogen

BrianD3 wrote:

Look for cars first registered before 1/1/94. They have to pass a much less stringent NCT emissions test than later cars.

Really? How come that's the case?

IMO the ideal 500 quid (or less) car is probably an ould 1990 or therabouts Corolla or Starlet. If it runs OK, drives OK and doesnt have any major rust it could be a good bet. If something does go wrong it should be simple and cheap to fix.

The two I've seen are a 1995 Renault Clio and a 1994 Peugeot 106 btw.

BrianD3

flogen wrote:

Really? How come that's the case?

From 1/1/93 EU regs meant that all new petrol cars had catalytic converters to reduce emissions. This was reflected in the NCT when it came in although for some reason the NCT advanced emissions test is carried out for 1994 and later vehicles not 1993 and later as you would imagine.

A vehicle eligible for the advanced emissions test will have fuel injection, an ECU, various sensors and a catalytic converter, all of these will have to be working well to pass the test.

Still I don't want to overstate all of this. The two cars you picked out could well be fine and give years of reliable cheap motoring. However, seeing as they have no NCT, try to get them emissions tested before buying. An emissions test might cost you 40 quid or so.

Also, with those two cars, as well as everyting else you'd look for in an older car, be wary of cooling system problems as both of them are prone to this.

flogen

BrianD3 wrote:

From 1/1/93 EU regs meant that all new petrol cars had catalytic converters to reduce emissions. This was reflected in the NCT when it came in although for some reason the NCT advanced emissions test is carried out for 1994 and later vehicles not 1993 and later as you would imagine.

A vehicle eligible for the advanced emissions test will have fuel injection, an ECU, various sensors and a catalytic converter, all of these will have to be working well to pass the test.

Still I don't want to overstate all of this. The two cars you picked out could well be fine and give years of reliable cheap motoring. However, seeing as they have no NCT, try to get them emissions tested before buying. An emissions test might cost you 40 quid or so.

Also, with those two cars, as well as everyting else you'd look for in an older car, be wary of cooing system problems as both of them are prone to this.

Thanks for that - just to state that they're both currently NCT'd (the Renault until the end of July and the Peugeot until October I think) - obviously things may have changed a lot since they got tested first.

BrianD3

The Clio can do its test now, the Peugeot can do its test in July (tests can be done 3 months before the due date)

If I were the seller I would have already put the Clio through its test before selling it. Perhaps you coudl ask the seller to get it NCT'd and if it passes you'll buy it and you'll give him 50 quid extra to cover the cost of the test fee

zilog_jones

BrianD3 wrote:

From 1/1/93 EU regs meant that all new petrol cars had catalytic converters to reduce emissions. This was reflected in the NCT when it came in although for some reason the NCT advanced emissions test is carried out for 1994 and later vehicles not 1993 and later as you would imagine.

A vehicle eligible for the advanced emissions test will have fuel injection, an ECU, various sensors and a catalytic converter, all of these will have to be working well to pass the test.

I remember when the NCT started there were rumours of people having trouble with older (IIRC pre-'93 carb based) Corollas passing the emissions tests - of course there were a lot more of these cars still on the road back then (when was it, 2000?). Could be bollocks though. My grandad has a '91 Corolla (150k+ miles) and had no problem passing the NCT earlier this year.

daedalus2097

BrianD3 wrote:

From 1/1/93 EU regs meant that all new petrol cars had catalytic converters to reduce emissions. This was reflected in the NCT when it came in although for some reason the NCT advanced emissions test is carried out for 1994 and later vehicles not 1993 and later as you would imagine.

A vehicle eligible for the advanced emissions test will have fuel injection, an ECU, various sensors and a catalytic converter, all of these will have to be working well to pass the test.

Yep, though most of the time when they're working the emissions will be within the limits by an order of magnitude. Would definitely be worth looking at the previous NCT certs, check the braking limits - especially for the rear brakes and handbrake as these are more prone to imbalance problems and while aren't that expensive to replace, they could be a fair proportion of the cost of the car. Also on older cars look into the headlights, if the silver reflector material at the back is damaged, blackened from mould or coming away anywhere I wouldn't touch it as that will most likely fail on pattern definition and replacement headlamp units can be quite pricey.

Also, with those two cars, as well as everyting else you'd look for in an older car, be wary of cooling system problems as both of them are prone to this.

Indeed, get into it, run it until the temp gauge moves to the normal working area in the middle, and make sure heater blows hot air in the cabin. If you don't get plenty of heat the thermostat is probably gone and that can lead onto all sorts of problems quite quickly. Can't think of anything else for the moment, but it's always a good idea to bring someone with you who knows a bit about cars. Check the service history, chances are if you get a good impression of a car that's been well looked after it will serve you well...