NCT Guarantee

wadeg

Hi Everybody new poster here.

Just looking for some advice - I bought a 00 Passat about a month ago from a dealer but it had not had the nct done yet. He offered to have it done and I would have to wait for the car for a week or he would give me an nct guarantee with the car. I went with the latter and the car had the test today and duly failed.
I was just wondering what my options are now? Can I call the guy up and say hey the car failed, your paying for all the necessities to get it to pass?

Thanks

Berty

Of course. Give him back the car with the list of failures and collect it when he corrects all the issues.

Lots of garages do this because its easier to fix the issues that it fails on rather than having to it twice as in a Pre NCT and then a NCT issue fix.

Tipsy Mac

Give it back to him to get it ready for another NCT but under no circumstances let him bring it in for the test as ive seen alot of cars "pass" this way which shouldnt have and the test results disappear to cover it up.

Darragh29

Tipsy Mac wrote: »

Give it back to him to get it ready for another NCT but under no circumstances let him bring it in for the test as ive seen alot of cars "pass" this way which shouldnt have and the test results disappear to cover it up.

Actually not possible for this to happen on a lot of the test parameters, if a car is failing brake imbalance or suspension imbalace, no amount of tyre kicking or head scratching is going to get it to pass in the NCT centre. The NCT is more transparent and fair than a lot of people give it credit for. Tipsy, it's weird, I've brought hundreds of cars through the NCT and never have I seen or heard of this happening once...

Quazzie

It does happen Darragh. I know this for a fact. its very easy to manipulate some of the testing equipment so as to read a pass.

Henry Ford III

Quazzie2002 wrote: »

It does happen Darragh. I know this for a fact. its very easy to manipulate some of the testing equipment so as to read a pass.

Can you provide proof?

Quazzie

Only that I've seen it with my own eyes.

biko

What does this guarantee cover? He will make corrections or you get your money back?
What faults did ncts find?

Slidey

Yes certain things can be manipulated and I say that as a DOE tester.

For example, if there was a bad footbrake on the rear axle and a good handbrake this could easily be overcome by pulling the handbrake and pressing the footbrake at the same time.

If it was failing on smoke opacity the conector could be left on the ground instead of on the end of the exhaust.

I'd like to point out I dont condone this, I am the Little Hitler tester from hell apparently but its more important when dealing with buses and trucks

Popples

I've been stung with the same in the past,it's unfortunate, but the only thing that made the dealer sort out the issue was the song and dance i made. I became such a problem for him, by calling him every day asking him what he was going to do about it, he eventually sorted it out, he even paid for the re-test.

You pay for a car from a dealer, then it should be roadworthy....If it's failed it's NCT after you bought it, then he sold you and un-roadworthy car.

I'd get on to the dealer until he sorts it out!

Darragh29

slideways wrote: »

Yes certain things can be manipulated and I say that as a DOE tester.

For example, if there was a bad footbrake on the rear axle and a good handbrake this could easily be overcome by pulling the handbrake and pressing the footbrake at the same time.

If it was failing on smoke opacity the conector could be left on the ground instead of on the end of the exhaust.

I'd like to point out I dont condone this, I am the Little Hitler tester from hell apparently but its more important when dealing with buses and trucks

I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but what I'm saying is that I haven't seen it happen yet, despite putting loads and loads of cars through the process. Obviously no test procedure that charges 49 Euro is watertight and absolutely foolproof.

The fact still remains that if a car is failing brake imbalance because of worn linings or suspension imbalance, or emissions, there is little opportunity for resolving the issue without addressing the root cause of the problem. This often misplaced cynicism and complete paranoia when someone fails an NCT kind of gets on my t*ts when I see it appearing on this forum...

Again, what is a dealer doing selling a car without an NCT cert???

Darragh29

Popples wrote: »

I've been stung with the same in the past,it's unfortunate, but the only thing that made the dealer sort out the issue was the song and dance i made. I became such a problem for him, by calling him every day asking him what he was going to do about it, he eventually sorted it out, he even paid for the re-test.

You pay for a car from a dealer, then it should be roadworthy....If it's failed it's NCT after you bought it, then he sold you and un-roadworthy car.

I'd get on to the dealer until he sorts it out!

A car that fails an NCT is not by any stretch of the imagination an unroadworthy vehicle.

Slidey

I doubt many main dealers will get involved with dodgy tests.

But I do know where I could get one done in a county fairly close to me.

I really cant believe that anyone who does NCT testing would risk their job for a quick 50.

Imo e49 is very cheap for quite a comprehensive check on a car.

On the subject of selling a car with no NCT, there is a 6 week waiting list for a NCT beside me.

galwaytt

Darragh29 wrote: »

Again, what is a dealer doing selling a car without an NCT cert???

For one, they're not paying up front for a test on a car that sits ticking away outside..............a big lot, full of Eur49 tests can be a lot cash tied up for some garages........

Another is that, as mentioned, they're using NCT as the QC, and letting that decide what to fix.

And it's not just small garages doing it - main dealers too. I've bought two cars in recent years, one from a (very) large main german car dealership, one from a smaller private concern - both on the premise that it's 'guaranteed' to pass NCT.

In reality, though, both failed !! Main dealer did correct with no qualms, the smaller one........well, it wasn't worth figthing over, tbh, as it was small. Mind you the owner told me, they don't NCT ANY cars, pre-sale. Main dealer in the West, smaller one in Dublin. The Dublin guy seemed to have a view that 'personalities' were at work vis-a-vis his cars and the local NCT place......... .......mmmm

bazz26

OP, book the car in with the garage and give them the NCT fail sheet to get sorted, I hope you got the NCT guarantee in writing as verbal contracts are not worth the paper they are written on.

A good lesson to learn for next time OP, have patience, no matter how long it takes always have the car NCT'd as a condition of the sale before you buy it. Otherwise you could easily be stuck with a lemon for the sake of waiting a week.

It is alot easier to get them to fix things before money has changed hands rather than chasing them afterwards when they can potentially fob you off, especially if the failures are expensive to put right.

Darragh29

galwaytt wrote: »

For one, they're not paying up front for a test on a car that sits ticking away outside..............a big lot, full of Eur49 tests can be a lot cash tied up for some garages........

Another is that, as mentioned, they're using NCT as the QC, and letting that decide what to fix.

And it's not just small garages doing it - main dealers too. I've bought two cars in recent years, one from a (very) large main german car dealership, one from a smaller private concern - both on the premise that it's 'guaranteed' to pass NCT.

In reality, though, both failed !! Main dealer did correct with no qualms, the smaller one........well, it wasn't worth figthing over, tbh, as it was small. Mind you the owner told me, they don't NCT ANY cars, pre-sale. Main dealer in the West, smaller one in Dublin. The Dublin guy seemed to have a view that 'personalities' were at work vis-a-vis his cars and the local NCT place......... .......mmmm

I just think if you are selling cars that are not NCT'd, then that's a joke. There is no benefit in not NCT'ing a car from the point of view of the NCT disc "ticking away" as you put it, because when the car is eventually NCT'd, it is backdated to when ever it fell due.

Your man was right about personalities in NCT centres, if anything, garages get a harder time in an NCT centre, the bar is higher because you are expected to be on top of your game...

ART6

slideways wrote: »

On the subject of selling a car with no NCT, there is a 6 week waiting list for a NCT beside me.

Same in my area. How in Heaven's name are dealers (or any other seller) supposed to deal with that?

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, book the car in with the garage and give them the NCT fail sheet to get sorted, I hope you got the NCT guarantee in writing as verbal contracts are not worth the paper they are written on.

???:D

Popples

Sorry Darragh, I didn't mean that a car is un-roadworthy in the literal sense, I meant that by not passing it's NCT, it means it doesn't meet the State requirements for that car, at that time.

Who would want to buy a car that isn't seen to meet State requirements? I know it's something that comes with buying a second hand car, you run the risk of something going wrong, but the NCT is not an exhaustive list......and it requires the simplest features of the car to run at the required level. Surely it's not too much to ask for a dealer to provide that.......dealers should at least guarantee that any car they're selling will pass the NCT, and if it doesn't, there should be something put in place to ensure that they will fix the reasons for failing and cover the cost of re-test.

I've heard this is standard with some dealers when selling a car they've not NCT'd.

I've experienced it twice!