N.C.T. points

brundlefly

has anybody got any yet?
how strongly is it being enforced?

Rowley Birkin QC

My car failed on Saturday on a few Fail/Refusals, i.e. it wasn't deemed dangerous to drive it away from the centre.

I'm at home now for a few days trying to sort the issues on it, hoping that any Guard that I meet between now and the time of the re-test will take the test result form and my word that I am sorting the issues at face value. Didn't help that a guy reversed into the front of my car on the way to the test centre, knocking out one of my headlights :mad:.

brundlefly

i can sympatise..
i took my own car off the road till i can get an n.c.t.
i left it in my dads yard for safe keeping ....and a trailer rolled into the side of it doing a LOT of damage.:mad:
and the fastest moving part on the loaner car that i have is the petrol gauge!

Black_Knight

What happens if your car is due its NCT, you have a date booked, but not for a few months after its expired?

Just bought a new car back in March, only found out it needed to be NCTd since January but ive now booked it in for mid July (the earliest I could get). Thats over 2 months time! What happens if im stopped? Im getting the NCT as quick as I can but they could easilly see it as ive not done anything at all. Ive not got my confimation letter from the NCT yet either.

shawnee

Think this rule is crazy and like many brought out recently it makes this country a bit more difficult to live in. The nct test and system is in my mind a total rip off. The mot system that is run in the uk , seems to have served well. However it is not nearly as strict as the nct , I have recently read a car mot and many of the smaller things were mentioned but did not cause the car to fail the nct. I can only hope that the gardai use their discression in this area and do not give 5 penalty points to someone who's nct has just run out.
I do not agree with having unsafe cars on the road, however I do feel that if your car fails the nct on , emmissions , wipers etc , these do not make your car unsafe to drive. Many people are quite busy now and sometimes find it difficult to get these things sorted quickly.:)

danjo

Black_Knight wrote: »

What happens if your car is due its NCT, you have a date booked, but not for a few months after its expired?

Acording to Conor Faughan of the AA there is no need for concern. Points can only be applied by a court and it is most unlikely in the current situation that you would receive points. Bring your booking notice with you when you drive.

Also saw a reference to Minister Dempsey advising people to carry thier booking notice. So IMHO you are safe. If not then I'm in trouble also :eek:

Black_Knight

danjo wrote: »

Acording to Conor Faughan of the AA there is no need for concern. Points can only be applied by a court and it is most unlikely in the current situation that you would receive points. Bring your booking notice with you when you drive.

Also saw a reference to Minister Dempsey advising people to carry thier booking notice. So IMHO you are safe. If not then I'm in trouble also :eek:

Cool. I was thinking, if I did get stopped (before I got me confirmation) and a guard was looking to give me 5 points, ask him politely to ring up the NCT booking center, and check am I booked in. Surely it would just save us all alot of hassle in the long run.

Henry Ford III

Black_Knight wrote: »

Cool. I was thinking, if I did get stopped (before I got me confirmation) and a guard was looking to give me 5 points, ask him politely to ring up the NCT booking center, and check am I booked in. Surely it would just save us all alot of hassle in the long run.

Produce you're confirmation of the NCT date. That should do it.

To anyone who has taken and failed the NCT and is still driving the car in question - the Gardai will be enforce the new 5 point penalties I understand. Think about it - car was tested, failed, and is still being driven. That's asking for trouble surely?

Tipsy Mac

shawnee wrote: »

The nct test and system is in my mind a total rip off. The mot system that is run in the uk , seems to have served well.

It's a fairly comprehensive test for €50, bring your car to any garage in Ireland and see how much they will charge to do a similar inspection. The amount of Irish people who drive around with bald tyres, blown headlights and a general lack of common sense to car maintenance is insane. The UK system is massively open to abuse as the test centres are actually just approved garages which will tell you what's wrong and offer their services to fix the problem so it's in their interests to find as many faults as possible.

mickdw

Nobody should panic. You can only get the points following court conviction. Under the previous rules you could get a big fine under the same court conviction but did anyone every get this fine? My point is that you are no more likely to be brought to court now that you ever were and therefore no more likely to get points now than you were get a fine before.
You would have to seriously piss off the garda to have him take you to court for nct if everything else is in order.
If a garda were to catch you doing twice the legal limit somewhere well then it would be understandable for him to follow up the nct problem too as you may well be driving a dangerous car.

Black_Knight

mickdw wrote: »

If a garda were to catch you doing twice the legal limit somewhere well then it would be understandable for him to follow up the nct problem too as you may well be driving a dangerous car.

Especially if its a faulty speedo that failed the test for ya!

Bluebell55

In a similar predicament myself. NCT was out in April, got my test date from the NCTS for the 30th April but this didn't suit so brought it forward to the 25th April. It failed on emissions, so I have got a new exhaust fitted to sort out that problem. Last wk, I called to make an apt for a retest, which says has to be done by 25th May. But there were no apts available until the 26th May. I was assured that it will only be a retest, even though its outside the timeframe.

So Im driving my car, its fixed, with my date rebooked. How is it my fault that the system isn't responding to demand, and I can't get my car checked sooner.... I also asked could I change test centre to get it retested sooned, but they said it wasn't allowed- even though I was told I could get it rechecked at any test centre.

How is it fair to penalise me, who has it all sorted. I am driving a sound car which fits in to regulations, the only thing thats stopping me is the lack of availability of suitable appointments. So carrying my failed cert and a text message from the NCT saying when my new apt is.